Potential Brexit Implications – Expert Comments

Dr. Csaba Krazsnay, Product Manager at Balabit:

“I don’t think anyone really knows whether or not Brexit will materially weaken cross-border intelligence sharing on cyber-crime. UK citizens’ decision have to be respected, however from an IT Security point of view, uncertainty is the worst situation that could happen in international relations. There were some good signs of information sharing in cybersecurity in the past few years, but that might be reduced between UK and other EU members. UK, as part of the Five-Eyes countries, had to find the right balance between US relations and EU regulations. Now, this balance is questionable, and might reduce trust dramatically. I would hope that sense prevails, and governments – EU or not – continue to treat this threat as something that transcends political divisions.”

Craig Kensek, Security Expert at Lastline: 

“It would be shortsighted on the part of both the UK and the EU to change the extent to which they exchange cyber threat and security information, and detrimental to both parties.

“Cyber criminals will continue to view the UK as a target, since from an economic perspective, they remain one of the largest economies in the world, but the Brexit vote is unlikely to cause any immediate or sudden spike in cyber threat activity against the UK.

“If the pound continues to drop, it conceivably could make planned cyber security investments more expensive, but organizations will have to step up and make those investments nonetheless. Short term, shifting the investments more to SaaS solutions may smooth the necessary expenditures.

“Financial systems may become more vulnerable if the UK (and the EU) delay investments in security for any reason, including changes in the value of currencies. The UK’s withdrawal from the EU doesn’t make the need for these investments disappear. Financial institutions are the number two target after the health care vertical. The sector’s ‘primary target’ status won’t suddenly switch as a result of this vote.”