Deutsche Telekom Security Dashboard Shows Cyber-Attacks in Real Time

Deutsche Telekom has launched a website that reports attacks on honeypot systems in real time. Russia is the top country under cyber-attack, followed by Taiwan, Germany and Ukraine, according to a press release.

The online portal www.sicherheitstacho.eu is based on more than 90 sensors worldwide that act as early warning systems. More than 200,000 new versions of viruses, trojans and worms appear every day, and Deutsche Telekom alone records up to 450,000 attacks per day.

“Our honeypot systems show that once attackers have identified weaknesses, they exploit them immediately,” said Thomas Kremer, board member responsible for Data Privacy, Legal Affairs and Compliance. “If, for example, a provider announces an update for its operating system, attackers launch themselves at the old system to find the gap that the update is intended to close. For this reason, customers should install updates immediately – this successfully prevents 90 percent of attacks.”

The website has a digital map of the world which shows the origin of cyber-attacks and a real-time ticker that reports new targets. Statistics also show the most common forms of attack.

Their location is not necessarily the hackers` country of origin. “Most attacks are automated,” Kremer said. “Figuratively speaking, the attackers shoot into the network with a shotgun to work out where the weaknesses in the systems are.”

The cyber-attack portal was unveiled to the public at CeBIT in Hanover.