Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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58. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to outline the role of the National Cyber Security Centre in tackling cyber scams [21487/24]

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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Will the Minister of State outline the roll of the National Cyber Security Centre in tackling cyber scams?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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There is close co-operation across many sections of Government regarding cyber risks and threats and the specific issue of cybercrime is under the remit of the Department of Justice and An Garda Síochána. The National Cyber Security Centre, NCSC, which is part of my Department, monitors, detects and responds to cyber security incidents in the State, and builds resilience in IT systems with particular emphasis on critical infrastructure and Government. Those resilience-building measures include a set of security requirements applied to critical infrastructure which is to be augmented and expanded through the transposition of the new network information security directive, NIS2; a formal information sharing network, which is called the CyberCORE network; a development of national and EU certification schemes; and advisories circulated relating to vulnerabilities and risks across critical infrastructure and Government. The NCSC works closely with An Garda Síochána, ensuring we have a cohesive national response to cyber-related risks. The national programme for EU Cyber Security Month is organised jointly by both organisations. An Garda Síochána and the Department of Justice are members of the national counter ransomware task force, which was founded by the NCSC.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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When we hear of cyber scams, we initially think of the attack on the HSE in 2021, or the large-scale attacks on our institutes of higher education. These are the headline stories but the reality is that there is no one in Ireland today who has not been touched in some way by cyber scams. Whether it is a credit card scam, a hacking of a social media account or the stealing of a password, cybercrime is now unfortunately a common occurrence. These crimes can have devastating personal, professional and financial consequences for victims. The mid-term review of the national cybersecurity strategy committed to developing and publishing, on a more frequent basis, tailored advice and guidance documents on steps that can be taken by citizens to prevent and mitigate these cybercrimes. Will the Minister of State confirm if the tailored advice and guidance documents are being updated and published frequently in order to protect our citizens?

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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I can confirm the NCSC is doing that in co-operation with An Garda Síochána because the gardaí are the people who see first-hand what the effect of these scams is. The scams are always changing because people are protecting themselves. It is an arms race. The criminals then change their methods. Then the NCSC and An Garda Síochána communicate to the public through communication campaigns. They have a cybercrime week in October when they tell people about how to protect themselves from cybercrime. It is not just aimed at vulnerable or older people. It is aimed at everybody because it could happen to you or me. You are not concentrating for a second, you click on a link or follow something and you are scammed. These crimes are not just about a large organisation being hacked. They are also about having your identity stolen, your social media account or your bank account hacked. There are stories of people experiencing this, and not just stories. An Garda Síochána reports that people lose their entire life savings or are encouraged to take out loans and then transfer the money. It is an increasing problem which the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau tackles.

Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)
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What the Minister of State is saying is correct. This was brought to my attention. Just last week, it was discovered that 76,000 websites had been set up by a network of criminals based in China. The websites were marked as official sites of well-known brands, many of which have a well-established customer base in Ireland.

Experts are now calling it one of the biggest online scams ever. Up to 800,000 people, mostly in Europe, were tricked into providing personal and financial information to these bogus sites run by criminals. While An Garda Síochána is not as yet aware of any Irish citizens impacted by the scam, it is not beyond the realm of possibility that Irish people have fallen victim to this or a similar highly-sophisticated scam. What is being done to protect the citizens from these sophisticated scams, which are not easily identified as scams and, therefore, may trick a large number of people? I know the Government is working with An Garda Síochána but what is happening is mind-boggling. This is really worrying. As the Minister of State said, it affects everyone. What else can we do?

Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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A lot of us learned, if we had not already understood, the dangers of cybercrime with the HSE attack. We all get scams through mobile phones, whether number generation and a call from Revolut or text messages that plague us every day. It is an issue. It impacts everybody. So many are sent that, unfortunately, even if a small percentage are executed, it will impact a huge number of people on the basis of the information they get. Is there any update on whether the legislation has been progressed around Pegasus and Predator? They are directed Trojan horses. We all know that the clients of the companies that use them are generally inhospitable people and some inhospitable regimes. They are generally directed at politicians and journalists and others. We need to make sure, particularly with anything operating in this State, that there are rules and regulations to deal with them.

Ossian Smyth (Dún Laoghaire, Green Party)
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It is not just a matter for the Garda. As our lives go online, criminals go online. We spend more of our time there so it is natural that more crime happens online. That is why the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau is a growing division of the Garda - as so many crimes are reported. During the pandemic, there was a huge increase in the amount of scam texts and calls with people trying to get money with fake deliveries and so on. I convened a meeting of the chief executives of all the phone companies and asked them to work together. Through co-operation with ComReg, we came up with an action plan and a number of scams were defeated as a result. There were five different points, which I cannot reveal because that would give the information to criminals. Representatives of banking organisations work closely with us because the money stolen from people ends up in banks. They help to provide guidance to the NCSE and the Garda on how to stop that movement of cash out of the system. Regarding Pegasus and Predator, Ireland signed up to a global anti-spyware initiative to stop the companies that produce these technologies operating in an unfair way in our jurisdictions.