When hackers recently attacked the systems and data stores of the Road and Highway Authority, this important Czech institution had to return from the 21st century almost to pen and paper for a relatively long time. In short, the paralysis that modern cyberattacks can cause practically knows no boundaries.
But now comes a Czech novelty that should be able to prevent similar situations. “We have developed a unique solution using a GPU to decrypt the entire ransomware key and recover all encrypted data of the victim of such an attack. We can recover even one hundred percent of the data on servers with the Windows operating system,” says Vladimír Vencálek.
He is the CEO of Invictus Development and also the co-founder of Callisto Security. It is this new company that believes that its solution means a breakthrough in the fight against so-called ransomware, i.e. extortion software.
The fundamental difference compared to existing solutions that are already available on the market should be the fact that the new technology can effectively combat even the most advanced attacks of the fifth generation. “After the last battles, we know that we are able to defeat even the most modern ransomware in the world,” said Vencálek.
Another advantage is that, in addition to long-term preventive solutions, Callisto Security also offers the rental of a special IT team that intervenes directly at the moment of an attack.
“The number of hacker attacks both on private users and on companies or public institutions increases exponentially every year, and some operators talk about hundreds of attacks per day on companies connected to their network. Data is extremely valuable today, and war, whether economic or any other, may take place in cyberspace in the future,” Vencálek reminds.
According to Forbes, Petr Otava, owner of the MTX Group and a member of the list of the richest Czechs, is also cooperating with the project.
After all, in April of this year, MTX Group together with Vencálk Group Invictus Development announced that it would invest more than one billion crowns in building modern data centers. Their computing power then plays a role in the new solution developed by Callisto Security. Thanks to him, the fight with attacks is much faster.
The new Callisto Security company falls under Callisto Enterprise, which primarily supports the development of blockchain applications and the Callisto Network blockchain network. But more and more focus is on cyber security, which is why a new direction has arrived.
“Actually, we’re here so that no one has to even think about paying a ransom anymore and can effectively defend themselves. We see room for cooperation in the direction of both the private sector and public institutions, which, especially in the current situation, are targeted more often than ever before,” adds Vencálek.
In addition to the attack on the ŘSD, this was recently manifested, for example, in a hacking campaign aimed at the Brno University Hospital. “When I consider that the average damages for such an attack are around fifty million crowns, we can provide a significant helping hand both in terms of acute solutions and corrections, as well as in long-term protection,” added Vencálek.
Fresh data from the cybersecurity company Check Point Software Technologies, for example, shows how topical the topic is. According to them, at the beginning of the year, one Czech organization faced an average of 1,100 cyber attacks per week, but after the start of the war in Ukraine, there was a dramatic jump to a record 1,800 attacks.
“The most frequently attacked Czech organizations were from the manufacturing sector, facing more than two thousand attacks per week. The number of attacks on Czech government and military organizations is also alarming. In the first half of the year, one government or military organization detected an average of 1,712 attacks per week,” Miloslav Lujka, its country manager for the Czechia and Slovakia, said on behalf of the company.
