third Cyber Security Assessment Netherlands - NCSC

Detailed section » 6 Grip on information
6 Grip on information
We are all constantly producing, collating and processing
increasing volumes of information. This has its benefits,
because bundling all this data provides valuable insights
to science and business. However there are also social
risks and technical risks with respect to securing privacy
and information. Are we sufficiently aware of the risks
and what can we do to reduce them?
6.1 Introduction
We are producing, collating, analysing and processing increasing
volumes of information. This information era has its benefits
because bundling all this information provides valuable insights
and makes a clear contribution to economic and social wellbeing.
However there are some social and technical risks regarding privacy
and the security of information. At the same time, there is limited
awareness of these risks. Recent incidents highlight the potential
consequences when something does go wrong from breach of
privacy as in the data leaks from Bol.com [155] , Groene Hartziekenhuis
[156] or Tix.nl [157] or even disruption of public order as in the case
of ‘project X Haren’ [158] .
Are we underestimating the privacy risks and the power of information
of large parties as a result of this far-reaching digitalisation and
developments such as the Internet of Things, mobile devices, big
data, cloud and social media? How can we ensure that we maintain
a grip on this information?
6.2 Aggregation and exchange of information
Citizens, companies and governments are producing and aggregating
information in increasing volumes and there is also greater
exchange of this information. This increases the importance and
value of information for these groups of our society.
Citizens
The trend for citizens is to increasingly share information, such as
personal details, photos and videos on social media and that social
media will play an increasingly important role in the way in which
information is shared. On average, Europeans spend 6.7 hours per
[7: CS 2013]
month on social networks and blogs.
Table 7 shows the usage figures for the various social networks in
the Netherlands, [36: Newcom 2013] in the past six months the number of
Facebook users in the Netherlands increased by almost 250,000. [159]
Worldwide, 1 billion users log in to Facebook each month and
upload 300 million photos per day on Facebook, resulting in
7 petabytes (1 petabyte = 1015 bytes) in photo content per month.
Social media Number of users Number of users daily
Facebook 7.900.000 500.000
Youtube 7.100.000 900.000
LinkedIn 3.900.000 400.000
Twitter 3.300.000 1.600.000
Google+ 2.000.000 500.000
Hyves 1.200.000 300.000
Table 7. Usage figures for the various social networks in the Netherlands
Companies
Companies hold competitively sensitive information, production
information, employee and customer details, etc. They have been
collating and analysing information from customers for some time,
but are increasingly combining usage and location-related data with
business data to create new insights and services. Other trends are
that consumer devices are increasingly being used in organisations
(consumerisation) and questions, complaints or problems
concerning companies are increasingly being advanced through
social media. [160]
Governments
The government’s information housekeeping includes all kinds
of data regarding individuals, companies, addresses, buildings,
vehicles and incomes. One current trend is to make information
accessible and available (open data [161] ). The government manages
both open data such as vehicle details and (closed) central records
such as the Municipal Administration Personal Data (GBA).
An iGovernment has emerged characterised by flows of information
and networks focused not just on service delivery, but also control
and care. This iGovernment is heralding far-reaching changes in the
[59: WRR 2011]
relationship between citizens and governments.
155 http://webwereld.nl/nieuws/111012/marketingsite-bol-com-lekt-gegevens-84-000-mensen.
html
156 http://www.ghz.nl/over-ghz/organisatie/faq-inbraak-op-server-groene-hart-ziekenhuis/
157 http://www.nu.nl/internet/2895992/tixnl-lekt-duizenden-paspoorten-bankafschriften-encreditcards-.html
158 http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_X_Haren
159 SocialBakers: Netherlands Facebook Statistics,
http://www.socialbakers.com/facebook-statistics/netherlands
160 Interxion: Big Data – Beyond the hype, http://www.interxion.com/about-us/whats-new/
only-a-quarter-of-eu-organisations-have-built-a-business-case-for-big-data-finds-survey/
161 See the websites https://data.overheid.nl/ en
http://opendatanederland.org/ for details of available Dutch open datasets.
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