Turkey: “We are prepared for a cyber attack; all measures have been taken”
On January 4th 2016, the Hurriyet Daily News reported that Fikri Işık, Turkish Minister for Science, Industry and Technology declared his country to be ready for the possibility of a cyber attack and that “all necessary measures [had] been taken” by the Ministry of Transport, following the recent attacks that shut down hundreds of thousands of websites throughout the country. The Department of Science, Industry and Technology is responsible for taking protective measures with regards to cyber security. Işık added that the Department “[provides] technical assistance, particularly for the Cyber Security Institute and the Institute of Information Technologies, which are part of TÜBİTAK (Council for Scientific and Technological Research in Turkey).”
The Minister added that every country is vulnerable to cyber attacks, and attributed the recent attacks which hit Turkey to the “latest developments in domestic and foreign policies.” According to Işık, “the crisis with Russia and other developments in the area may have caused the attacks”.
This statement came after TÜBİTAK launched a comprehensive project, including research and development, to ensure the security of critical infrastructure servers, such as banking, energy, transport, water and health. In addition, the project will develop broadband systems to monitor critical infrastructures, as well as including “firewalls” against international attacks, and measures to close security loopholes in local servers. A budget of 6 million TRY has been allocated for the project, which is designed to strengthen the country’s cyber security.
Further indication that Turkey may be vulnerable to cyber attacks came in March and April 2015, when the country faced two events that disabled power throughout the country. The Prime Minister and Minister of Energy at that time did not rule out the possibility of a cyber attack.
