Reference Saxon State Chancellery

HoneySens for the Saxon State Chancellery

Fend off hackers and lure them into a honey trap

Benefits to our customer

Detect and patch vulnerabilities in IT-security quickly and cost-effectively
Prevent losses caused by IT-system outages, manipulation and data access
Permanently safeguard the working capacity of the Saxony state administration

We cannot prevent our networks from becoming targets for hackers. But what we can do is prevent cyber spies from being successful. Karl-Otto Feger; Ministerialrat A.D., Ciso of the free state of saxony

Requirements

Solution

Benefits

Requirements

Detect cyberattacks and eliminate security vulnerabilities

As a public service provider for citizens and companies, the Free State of Saxony is further expanding its online services - from address changes to trade and patent applications. And internal administrative procedures are also being increasingly converted to electronic business processes throughout the state.

With increasing digitalisation, however, Saxony's state administration is increasingly becoming a target for cyberattacks. According to the Ministry of the Interior, the number of cyberattacks on the Saxonian administrative network in 2017 rose by around 28 percent compared to the previous year. In total, more than 1800 attacks from the Internet could be fended off.

In the almost 31 million incoming mails, scanners detected around 36,000 malicious programs such as Trojans or viruses. The sources of danger in one's own network should also not be neglected: whether it be computers infected with malware or even unnecessarily communicating devices such as print servers.

However, classic security measures such as firewalls and virus scanners can only counteract these dangers to a limited extent.

Solution

Cyber defence solution lures hackers to the honeypot

In order to detect hackers and malware more quickly in the future and make them harmless, the Free State of Saxony is building a powerful infrastructure for information security. This involves strengthening approx. 40,000 PC workstations in numerous subnetworks against unauthorized external access.
The subnets are created by connecting various public authorities, some of which exchange highly sensitive data. The Saxon State Chancellery, which is responsible for the information security of the state administration, has therefore initiated the "HoneySens" project. Together with the Technical University of Dresden and Telekom MMS, "HoneySens" was developed and put into practice. HoneySens is made up of the words "Honeypot" and "sensors".

The software developed for this purpose uses sensors in the network to simulate vulnerable - and therefore attractive to attackers - weak points, the so-called "honeypots". The hacker traps record all data streams during suspicious access to the network and forward them to a central server for checking and alerting. With the help of the user-friendly, low-maintenance web application, the aggregated data can be evaluated in real time.

The "honeypots" thus collect valuable information to protect the entire IT system against unauthorized external intrusion. The device, which was specially developed for this scenario, can be installed in any office and is not connected to regular PCs in the government network, which makes access practically impossible.

Benefits

No system outages and no data theft through cyberattacks

As the use of the HoneySens hacker traps is cost-effective, and they are easy to administer, the information security of Saxony’s administrative network can be further increased with minimal resources. By evaluating the data in real time, those responsible can respond automatically to potential dangers and nip them in the bud.

The aggregated sensor data can also be used to keep track of attack patterns and to further reinforce internal IT infrastructure systems. This enables vulnerabilities to be patched and repeated cyberattacks to be averted immediately. With the help of these measures, the working capacity of the Saxony administration can be maintained at a high level. At the same time, attempted data theft and manipulation can be detected at an early stage and averted.

About Saxony State Chancellery

The Saxon State Chancellery supports the Prime Minister in the performance of his duties, including the determination of policy guidelines, departmental coordination, protocol matters, fundamental questions of state administration as well as the coordination of international relations and the state government's funding policy.

Do you have any questions?

Dr. Cornelia Mossal

Corporate Communication

+49 351-28 20-0
Send e-mail

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