Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, said Hungary's intelligence services will make every effort to protect the country against cyber-attacks and trace every possible threat. Hungary’s national security strategy “places great emphasis on this type of threat,” Minister Szijjártó said, noting that the European Union and NATO will soon adopt a new cyber security strategy.
Speaking at the Parliamentary-Intelligence Security-Forum in Budapest, the foreign minister said the digital revolution in recent decades has redefined all areas of people’s lives. Data has become the most important resource, almost as important as the steam engine was when it was invented in the 18th century or hydrocarbons discovered in the 20th century, Minister Szijjártó said, noting a six-fold jump in the number of broadband mobile subscriptions from 820 million to 5.2 billion over the past ten years. “At the same time, the number of cyber-attacks has increased with hackers posing a serious threat to private and corporate users and state organizations as well,” he said. Minister Szijjártó said cybercrimes have so far cost the global corporate sector USD 6,000 billion this year alone and are estimated by experts to cost over USD 10,000 billion in 2025.