President Iohannis convenes the Supreme Council of Defense (CSAT) to analyze possible risks to national security generated by the actions of state and non-state cyber actors on IT&C infrastructures supporting the electoral process.
DNSC: We recommended public institutions to ban TikTok in 2023
The National Directorate of Cyber Security (DNSC) states, in the context of discussions regarding the role of the Chinese company TikTok in the victory of candidate Călin Georgescu in the first round of the presidential elections, that it has recommended that public institutions ban the TikTok application in 2023. The DNSC also stated that monitoring social media accounts and investigating tactics and techniques for propagating posts on social networks through algorithm manipulation are not within the institution’s remit. DNSC also emphas.
Representatives of the National Directorate of Cyber Security sent, on Wednesday, clarifications regarding the role of the institution following requests and questions from the public in the context of the results of the first round of the presidential elections.
“It is important to emphasize that monitoring social media accounts and investigating the tactics and techniques of propagating posts on social networks by manipulating algorithms are not part of the attributions of our institution. DNSC has clear responsibilities in the field of cybersecurity and does not have the legal mandate to carry out individual monitoring of personal social media accounts,” DNSC representatives sent.
They added that they recommended banning the TikTok application. “In 2023, at the request of the Cyber Security Operational Council (COSC), DNSC officially recommended public institutions to ban the TikTok application due to significant cybersecurity risks and data manipulation, especially in the context of the risks of influencing public opinion and decision-making processes through social networks. These measures were aimed at protecting public infrastructure and were not related to monitoring posts on the network,” the quoted source said.
DNSC noted that, in January 2024, it developed a detailed guide for recovering social media accounts, including TikTok, in response to numerous reports of compromised accounts, providing users with recommendations and measures to protect and restore the security of their personal accounts.
“Subsequently, DNSC launched on April 1, 2024 a guide dedicated to deepfake technologies, a technology that can be used to generate or alter graphic materials (photo and video), a technology that at the time was successfully used by attackers to trick users into providing money or sensitive data, including card data. The guide highlighted the risks associated with the use of deepfake and recommended measures to public institutions to prevent digital fraud,” DNSC also stated.
Also, through this guide and the accompanying awareness materials, the Directorate publicly warned about the dangers that advanced technologies can pose for the transparency and accuracy of information. “At the same time, in November 2024, DNSC also developed a social engineering guide, designed to help users on social media networks identify and protect themselves against manipulation and fraud techniques used in cyber attacks based on deception and exploitation of human trust. During the elections, DNSC actively collaborated with the national specialized authorities – AEP, STS and ANCOM – to prevent cyber attacks on the electoral infrastructure and to ensure a transparent and secure electoral process,” DNSC representatives also stated.