As cities become increasingly digitized, a failure of a single digital system can cascade into a complete halt of urban life. Data transmission networks, data centers and cybersecurity systems have become the backbone of national infrastructure, linking energy, transport, banking and healthcare. If one of these elements fails, the domino effect can paralyze entire metropolises.
Digital infrastructure is no longer just a support layer for the economy – it is a condition for the functioning of the state. Grzegorz Wawryniuk, director of Product and Marketing at EXATEL, emphasized during the CYBERSEC EXPO&FORUM conference that today’s critical infrastructure cannot be discussed without including the digital layer. „If the data transmission network fails, or data center services go down, or cybersecurity systems stop working, it automatically affects all other critical sectors. This is an entire ecosystem that supports the state,” he said.
The shift in thinking about security is profound. A cyberattack is no longer an IT problem, and a data center outage is no longer just a supplier issue. In an economy where public services, business and administration rely on a common digital layer, a disruption in data transmission or cloud availability quickly translates into halted operations across entire sectors. „Just a few years ago, a data center failure was a business problem for the provider. Now, with migration of data and services to the cloud – private or public – it requires data transmission, data itself, and IT security. One failure in this ecosystem can stop cities from functioning,” Wawryniuk added.
From it security to national resilience
The key to modern state resilience is not preventing every incident – that is impossible. Instead, the goal is to maintain operations despite disruptions and to recover services quickly. „We have moved from managing IT security incidents to building institutional resilience. We cannot eliminate all incidents. But we must build all the necessary elements to be resilient to both physical and digital threats, and to restore continuity as quickly as possible,” explained Wawryniuk.
This requires a fundamental rethinking of how states prepare for crises. Redundancy in critical infrastructure, the ability to restore data and services, and skilled personnel are now essential. „The most important elements of infrastructure should have redundancy to maintain continuity. That is the digital resilience we as a state and society must build,” he said.
Digital sovereignty is about control, not self-sufficiency
The debate around digital sovereignty often focuses on building everything domestically. Wawryniuk argues that true sovereignty means control over critical infrastructure – data transmission networks and data centers – not necessarily owning every piece of technology. „It does not mean the state should build all technologies and have code for everything. The state should have control over critical infrastructure – data transmission networks and data centers,” he said.
In practice, this means collaboration between telecom operators, energy companies, data center providers, technology firms, government agencies and incident response teams. „Such nationwide cooperation will make the state more resilient to threats,” Wawryniuk concluded. Competent specialists are also crucial. „Technology exists, but we need skills and experts. I believe our country has the resources to build these competencies,” he added.
Cyber security cannot start at the moment of attack. Incidents will happen. The real test is whether states, cities, operators and companies can maintain services, restore systems and learn before the next crisis hits harder. „We must build resilience, not manage single crises. Incidents will occur, but thanks to resilience we will be able to respond, improve and eliminate such events in the future,” Wawryniuk summed up.
Źródło: WNP.PL, Fot. materiały prasowe
