The Digital Trust Centre (DTC) looks back on 2023 with satisfaction. Major steps have been taken in the 5th year of the DTC's existence to increase the digital security of entrepreneurial Netherlands. In 2023, for instance, almost 140,000 alerts (notifications) were sent about vulnerabilities at Dutch companies. The business community knows how to find the tools better and better; the website was visited more than 336,000 times in 2023 and the interactive tools were used more than 20,000 times.
DTC From knowing to doing
2023 was dominated by 'from knowing to doing', with the DTC using interactive tools, surveys, advice, awareness campaigns and a new subsidy scheme to focus on bringing about behavioural change among entrepreneurs. The CyberSafe Check was launched, for instance, a low-threshold tool that gives SME entrepreneurs comprehensible instructions for basic measures they can take themselves today to increase their cyber resilience.
In May, the DTC Benchmark survey was published, a study on the use of various cyber security measures by Dutch self-employed and (small) SMEs with and without an IT service provider. A survey to gain more insight into behavioural change is also underway, the results of which are expected to be published in the first quarter of 2024.
Notification service quickly scaled up
The DTC Notification Service experienced marked growth last year. The number of vulnerabilities being warned (or notified) has grown substantially in recent months. Since its launch in summer 2021 until the end of 2023, 156,921 notifications have been sent to companies that were victims of or vulnerable to a cyber-attack, with nearly 140,000 notifications in 2023. This growth was partly made possible by the CSIRT-DSP, the NCSC and the DTC joining forces and working intensively on victim and target notification in summer 2023. The DTC has improved and further automated the process of notification, allowing a small team to contribute very efficiently to the resilience of the enterprising Netherlands.
The cyber community is growing fast
The DTC Community is an online cyber forum where entrepreneurs and security professionals exchange up-to-date and relevant cybersecurity information, tips and best practices. The cyber forum has experienced impressive growth. Since its launch in 2021 until the end of December 2023, 2,855 companies and organisations have joined. A large proportion of members (19%) are entrepreneurs, CEOs or directors. CISOs are also well represented at 23%. In addition, many IT managers, system administrators, consultants, engineers and CTOs are active on the DTC Community.
Looking ahead to the DTC revamped organisation
To combat fragmentation in the cybersecurity system, the cabinet decided to integrate the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), the Digital Trust Centre (DTC) and the Computer Security Incident Response Team for Digital Service Providers (CSIRT-DSP) into a single cybersecurity organisation. Some staff from the NCSC, DTC and CSIRT-DSP look ahead to the integration of the three cyber organisations.
