Ireland Cyber Readiness Opportunities

Since Ireland received its major wake-up call on cybersecurity with the significant ransomware attack on its health service in May 2021, the government has undertaken a series of measures to strengthen the nation’s cyber preparedness.  It announced a package of measures to strengthen Ireland’s CS-IRT at the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC).   Cyber Security Baseline Standards for government ICT systems and services were published to improve the resilience and security of public sector ICT systems.  The NCSC issued cybersecurity guidance documents to commercial, industrial, public sector, and small business users.  Irish businesses are also rising to the challenge, with the PWC 2022 Global Risk Survey highlighting that Irish businesses are significantly increasing their spending on risk management technology with a focus on data analytics and process automation.

At the same time, there is no room for complacency, with global specialist insurer Hiscox reporting the frequency of cyberattacks in Ireland has increased by 26 percent. Hiscox’s 2022 cyber readiness report cited nearly 50 percent of businesses reported suffering a cyberattack in the previous 12 months, compared to 39 percent in the previous year.  In August 2022, the NCSC and the Garda National Cyber Crime Bureau (GNCCD) issued a public alert to SMEs of an increased threat of ransomware attacks as they observed a trend of SMEs being increasingly targeted by cybercrime groups. The NCSC believes hackers are diverting their attention away from big business and government departments to focus on smaller businesses in an attempt to breach global supply chains.

With cybercriminals increasingly seeking to breach automated industrial systems, Grant Thornton Ireland (GTI) reports Operational Technology (OT) attacks are likely to continue their upward trend.  Securing legacy OT systems is of particular concern.  In 2021, GTI reported a significant increase in the economic cost of cybercrime in Ireland to €9.6 billion.

The ongoing threat of cyber-attacks is driving increased spending on cybersecurity solutions and services across all major end-user segments. There is increased adoption of emerging solutions utilizing Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML).  U.S. cybersecurity vendors are playing a leading role in the Irish market while Irish distributors, systems integrators, and value-added resellers (VARs) continually seek to identify and source the latest innovative cybersecurity solutions from the United States.

For more information on Ireland’s cybersecurity sector, please contact Padraig O’Connor at U.S. Commercial Service Ireland