Rudolph Giuliani: The ex-Mayor of New York is still well known to many.
(Photo: dpa)
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Berlin Potsdamer Platz in Berlin, 15th floor. Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani sits in a light-flooded conference room of the US law firm Greenberg Traurig with his back to the window. He gets up slowly to greet his guest, smiles, firm handshake, statesmanlike. The now 72-year-old has not been mayor of New York for 15 years – but he always seems to remain so. Today he’s doing something completely different.
Mr. Giuliani, what makes the ex-mayor of New York look into cybersecurity?
Before I was mayor, I was a public prosecutor for 18 years. My life revolved around fighting crime. As mayor, one of my greatest achievements was reducing the crime rate by 65 percent in three years. This made New York the safest city in America from the capital of crime. In this context I also developed a cyber program called CompStat. That was in 1996. The cyber world was still in the Middle Ages.
What was it about?
It’s kind of a distribution program. The information about crime in every “borough” of the city flows together, then it is evaluated in order to be able to send our 41,000 police officers to the right place as quickly as possible. New York City is by far the largest city in the United States. It used to be so dangerous in the city that films were made about it. The reason people chose me back then was because of my experience as a prosecutor. I have indicted hundreds of mafiosi, drug cartels and corrupt politicians. CompStat has helped make the city safer.
When did you specialize more in the fight against cyber criminals?
After I gave up my position in 2001, I first started a security company. Since 2003 I have focused more on cybercrime, and now I head the cybersecurity and privacy practice of the US law firm Greenberg Traurig.
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What do companies have to do?
It takes a number of measures. One of them is identity protection for all employees. Most companies protect their senior management so that hackers cannot access sensitive data through their accounts. But criminals always look for the thinnest weak point, and when in doubt, it is located lower down. Once you get into the system, you look for your way to your goal. It is therefore important to protect all employees.
What do you mean by that?
There are systems that recognize deviations from typical behavior. If someone logs on to their computer in the middle of the night and does not normally do so, the system triggers an alarm.
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