THE STATE HAS held a major exercise behind closed doors to test how Ireland will deal with a complete loss of the internet after a targeted attack, The Journal has learned.

It is understood that the event, known as a tabletop exercise, was held in February and involved multiple Government departments and agencies including the Defence Forces, An Garda Síochána and other emergency services. 

The scenario, which loosely mirrors the plot of Netflix’s recent Robert De Niro-fronted drama Zero Day, was a concerted cyber attack which was combined with the loss of multiple undersea cables. 

There are a large amount of fibre optic internet cables connecting Europe to the US and other parts of the world running through Irish waters. They carry all high speed internet traffic, including banking and other critical data.

Massive attack 

This type of mass cyber attack has been repeatedly spoken about in European security meetings.

The exercise heard from leaders from each department and agency, who spoke about how Ireland would be impacted in such a scenario. 

Sources with knowledge of the meeting said that the loss of internet would impact energy supply, medical services, emergency communications and banking sector. 

Finance experts, it is understood, warned that any interruption the availability of digital payments could result in a run on the banks as people sought to secure cash.

There were warnings that financial institutions would not be able to access their databases and necessary international financial systems. 

Another key issue was around communications – as revealed by The Journal the emergency services digital radio system Tetra crashed in some areas during the recent Storm Eowyn.

It is understood that this was identified as a risk again in this exercise. 

There were other issues around managing energy supply if computer systems go down. Another risk is understood to be specific around the gas pipeline in the Irish Sea which provides gas to Ireland from Scotland. 

It is understood that key learnings from the HSE’s response to the mass cyber attack that struck its systems in May 2021 were discussed at the meeting.

Inside the National Emergency Coordination Centre in Dublin. rollingnews.ie rollingnews.ie

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, Climate and Communications confirmed that the exercise was held inside National Emergency Coordination Centre (NECC).

“Routine exercises are held regularly – to stress-test the systems and procedures that are in place to ensure that the Government, State agencies and industry are prepared to effectively manage a range of potential scenarios.

“Such exercises play a key role in ensuring a coordinated response to major incidents in the unlikely or rare event that they occur.

“An emergency exercise was successfully held during February, to test the response to a hypothetical and unlikely disruption to Ireland’s internet connectivity and current national structures and capabilities for countering hybrid threats,” he said. 

The Department also confirmed that the European Centre of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats also attended and acted as observers. 

“The exercise was held in-person at the National Emergency Coordination Centre (NECC) with valuable input from all of the key stakeholders involved. This will inform future exercises and ongoing emergency planning.

“The exercise explored a scenario involving a hypothetical cyber incident compounded by hypothetical damage to subsea cables in the Irish Exclusive Economic Zone.

“While a significant disruption to internet connectivity in this manner is unlikely, it would have an impact across multiple sectors domestically and internationally.

“The Government is acutely aware of the effect that such a disruption would have and is committed to ensuring that the risk is minimised and prepared for. As such, the established Strategic Emergency Management (SEM) Framework structures for dealing with a major emergency ensures a ‘whole of Government’ response,” the spokesman added. 

There have been a number of incidents of apparent accidental damage to cables in the Baltic Sea which has prompted a robust response from NATO countries. 

Sources have said that the most likely cause of cable damage is accidental but that there are also briefings that it maybe part of a large hybrid campaign of sabotage by Russia which has included a number of arsons as well as incidents involving critical infrastructure. 

The drama Zero Day, which rated highly, with Irish audiences, paints a nightmare picture of what could happen in the event of a concerted attack on US cyber systems. It features De Niro as a popular former president who’s brought back to spearhead the investigation into the attack. 

Journalist Michael S. Schmidt, who co-created the drama, said he was inspired to put pen to paper after visiting Washington DC for a story and hearing from senior national security officials that potential cyberattacks are a constant concern.

Cybersecurity specialists refer to a zero-day incident as an attack that takes advantage of unaddressed flaws in systems, meaning that the software creators have ‘zero days’ fo fix those flaws as malicious actors can already use it to access vulnerable systems.