October 9, 2024
The National Office for Cyber and Information Security (hereafter NÚKIB or the Office) had the honor of welcoming the President of the Czech Republic, Petr Pavel, on October 9, 2024, to its headquarters in Brno. During this visit, the management of NÚKIB presented to the president the main areas of activity, the vision of future development and direction, as well as selected strategic projects. Primarily, the draft of the new law on cyber security, current threats and risks in cyberspace and the plan for the construction of the Office’s new headquarters in Brno’s Černý Polý were discussed. Experts from NÚKIB also prepared practical demonstrations of the TEMPEST security technique, penetration testing and proactive detection of cyber threats for the President.
Director of NÚKIB Lukáš Kintr personally presented the current agenda and planned strategic development of the Office. In particular, they discussed the draft of the new law on cyber security, which is currently being discussed in the Chamber of Deputies of the Czech Republic. The proposal in its current form aims, among other things, to strengthen the protection of the most important systems and increase resistance to cyber threats not only in the Czech Republic, but also to contribute secondarily to strengthening the resistance and defense capabilities of the Czech Republic in an alliance environment.
Specialists from the Office prepared several practical examples of their work for the President. One of them was a presentation from the field of TEMPEST, which is a method of protecting classified information from possible leakage in the form of electromagnetic signals. The department’s work, which is focused on the possibilities of detecting acoustic signals using optical cables, has received international attention in the past, and NATO and many of the alliance’s member countries have shown interest in it. Another demonstration was the penetration testing of personal mobile devices, which demonstrated the wide range of possibilities today’s attackers have to target ordinary users. Finally, the department dealing with the solution of cyber security incidents presented a case study of proactive detection and solution of cyber threats.
“It was a great honor for us to welcome Mr. President to our office today. In addition, it was the first ever visit of the President of the Czech Republic to the headquarters of NÚKIB. However, at a time of intense geopolitical competition and increasing digitalization of society, the most important thing is that we agreed with Mr. President that cyber and information security is an increasingly important domain for all of us, from the state to the citizen. The President also perceives current and future threats in a similar way and highlighted the need for closer coordination and cooperation in the protection of Czech cyberspace at the national level. And last but not least, we were very pleased that President Pavel appreciated the work of our office and its employees for the security and prosperity of our country,” said NÚKIB director Lukáš Kintr after the meeting.
At the end of the visit, Director Lukáš Kintr invited Mr. President Petr Pavel to the next edition of the Prague Cyber Security Conference, which NÚKIB will organize in the spring of 2025 in the premises of the Congress Center of the Czech National Bank.
The National Office for Cyber and Information Security was established in 2017 as a spin-off from the National Security Office. It currently employs almost 400 people. It is the central administrative authority for cyber security, including the protection of classified information in the field of information and communication systems and cryptographic protection, and for the public regulated service of the European satellite navigation program Galileo. In addition to setting conditions for mandatory entities, it also educates the public in the field of cyber security and cooperates in the creation of legislation within the European Union.
