Is Poland resistant to hacker attacks? Expert: “We have a new problem”

Szymon Krawiec, “Wprost”: What is the condition of the industry of producers and sellers of electronics in Poland?

Michał Kanownik: I am an optimist. Although the industry is of course demanding, because the consumer’s requirements and the market are changing, we also have very positive signals.

This is even a growing awareness among small and medium -sized enterprises in the field of cyber security, which causes a greater tendency to invest. Artificial intelligence, which is more and more boldly entering the market, also stimulates companies to spend money on new products and services.

So it is an industry that on the one hand uses the growing awareness and investment of companies, and on the other hand, it benefits that other companies based on our technology produce new products and services.

We also have positive signals from the public market. These are huge government orders for students – whether it is a “laptop for a student” or AI workshop. It will be a powerful stimulator for the entire Polish consumer electronics market.

During the Economic Forum in Karpacz, you presented the report “Road map of Polish cyber resistance”. What is this document and what are the conclusions of it?

First of all, we did an update, i.e. we collected basic facts about our cyber resistance. About the growing number of attacks, which in Europe is the largest in Poland. But at the same time, which is a positive signal, we write that these attacks are not entirely successful. Our services are actually up to the challenge. Apart from a few examples, we did not have a spectacular hit on our critical infrastructure.

In the report we also show where we are when it comes to the scale of danger and where we are with the awareness of them in enterprises. We have an example that only about 17 percent Polish companies did not experience the attack, but we also have a growing awareness of the need to invest, especially in small companies, in cyber resistance, in tools for the protection of our business. On the other hand, however, we still have a shortage of funds on the market. Companies need money for investments in this area. Still for most companies, cybersecurity expenditure is a cost, not an investment.

Finally, we show that we need to create regulations that would stimulate investing in cybezing. For example, introduce relief to cyber security as we have today relief for robotization or research and development.

We absolutely need to effectively implement the amendment to the Act on the National Cybersecurity System. Without this buckle, which will regulate this market regulatory, without entering high -risk suppliers, without sealing our digital security system, we will not be able to create a safe ecosystem in Poland, where we will be able to develop the Polish economy effectively and security.

Today, cybersecurity is not only telecommunications and energy infrastructure, we are only widely said that it is a component of every aspect of our lives – social, professional, state. We are developing e-services, subsequent functionalities of the mobile, and this is also associated with the need to secure the ecosystem, so that all citizens have the feeling that they use safe tools.

We still have a new problem that dominates our map of cyber threads, i.e. disinformation and fake news. This is today the biggest problem of our market. Of course, phishing, ransomware or DDOS attacks are still very popular, but today the biggest threat to us is disinformation, i.e. attacks to undermine the trust of citizens in the state as an institution, and here we must invest a lot of funds in building awareness and knowledge how to verify media information, especially in the young generation. We must create a sense of consciousness in public figures, even journalists, to pay attention to what they give further, what information they comment.

In addition to cybersecurity, of course, the next big slogan is artificial intelligence. We talked about the media, the question remains whether you have any proposals for regulating artificial intelligence and copyright. AI models learn from journalists.

Artificial intelligence needs development. And to develop wisely, he must have access to good data she will learn. If we do not create these conditions for development, we will all lose. Both journalists and ordinary consumers. We must have clarity and have such a social agreement that we are building wise artificial intelligence based on good added value in Europe.

Today we are facing how to reconcile the interests of all entities on the digital market. In my belief, however, the key to success and in AI, and in subsequent technological generations, which will be in a moment, is to arrange mutual relations on partner terms. It will be important to learn how to use the technology that appears in the hands of journalists to use it, and not worry that technology will take my money. These are related dishes. Journalists create content that people read just by reaching by digital tools. I dare say that if it wasn’t for digital access tools, journalistic content ranges would be much smaller, because the paper now has a much smaller range. The question remains how to arrange these relationships so that both sides have a sense of being a team.

As an industry, we are working on a comprehensive report on the relationship between artificial intelligence and copyright, in which we will present our solutions and ideas. In autumn we will show him publicly and count on a broad discussion on this subject.

In December, the union celebrates the 20th anniversary. What were the past 2 decades for the industry and how do two more promise?

Speaking of our twenty years, I wonder if we can talk more about evolution or revolution. On the one hand, it was evolutionary progress. In fact, we gained new skills step by step, new technologies entered the market and learned to operate them. On the other hand, we had revolutionary jumps, such as Pandemic, which was a revolution in digital life, then the war in Ukraine when it comes to access to digital services and cyber security. During these 20 years we have jumped from the laptop stage to artificial intelligence. We made an incredible technological jump.

He treats the next 20 years as a challenge that we learn effectively, wisely and safely from this technology as consumers for the benefit of the entire economy. I deeply believe that digital technology will be a flywheel for the Polish economy. For this to happen, we must meet three conditions. We must have wise, responsible regulations, not a barrier to technology development. Secondly, create financial tools that will support public and private investments in new technologies. And thirdly, build consciousness and competences of consumers, entrepreneurs, politicians, how these technologies can be wisely used for the good of the general public.