Danish firms and institutions have found out to their cost that hacking can have a major impact on their bottom line and cause great inconvenience – both Maersk and DSB being recent examples.

In an effort to change behaviour amongst companies and employees and to strengthen IT security the industry fund, Industriens Fond, has earmarked 100 million kroner for new initiatives.

Here to stay
“The problem is that this type of crime impacts in many different ways and it will not decrease in future,” said Sten Scheibye, a member of the board of the fund.

“It is all about being clued up – both technically and competence-wise – in order to be able to resist these attacks best,” he added.

As more and more products become digitalised, so the risk of hacking increases. Even household appliances can act as ‘Trojan horses’ for hackers.

Security gives the edge
Much of Danish industry is comprised of subcontractors. “When large companies buy from their subcontractors, security has to be ok otherwise the finished products will not be good enough,” said Mads Lebech, the fund’s administrative director.

For subcontractors, it is all about being able to devise secure products and safe technical solutions and at the same time, being able to document this to current and future customers. That will give a competitive edge,” adds Lebech.

At the moment, the fund is in dialogue with industry and other interested parties to assess their needs and decide which areas should be supported.