Lawyer proposes using white-hat hackers to test state critical infrastructure

Sworn attorney Olavs Cers has put forward an idea to involve so-called white-hat hackers in protecting state critical infrastructure. Speaking on the TV24 program "Press Club," he said such an approach could help identify system vulnerabilities before they are exploited by malicious hackers.

Cers drew a parallel with pharmaceutical development: new drugs are thoroughly tested before they are certified and enter circulation. He suggested that a similar principle could apply to cybersecurity, allowing white-hat hackers to examine systems that have already been built.

The attorney stressed the importance of creating incentives for people to report security flaws to the system maintainer. One possible solution would be a reward, bonus, or other benefit for discovering a vulnerability that developers and testers had missed. This would give white-hat hackers a clear motivation to use their skills to eliminate weak points and make systems more secure.

Cers also floated the idea of organizing competitions for white-hat hackers, where participants would be tasked with testing the security of a new system. He described the concept as follows: "We developed a new product. Go, try to hack it, and whoever hacks it gets a prize." He acknowledged that this might sound absurd at first.

In his view, such an approach could reveal flaws that system developers might overlook. A white-hat hacker would approach the system from a different angle and try to bypass its defenses. Cers explained, "A white-hat hacker, who is a bit more of a hooligan, would nevertheless approach it all with a different perspective, and that would be a very good test mode."