Businesstalk on the Kudamm – Interview with Patrick Kurtz: "The Human Factor as an IT Security Gap"

Patrick Kurtz is the owner of Kurtz IT Service. In an interview with Businesstalk on the Kudamm, he talks about the race between IT security systems and cybercrime.

The Shortage of IT Specialists in Germany

In information technology (IT), there is currently a shortage of tens of thousands of specialists, who apparently are not being replaced by graduates from German universities. Does it make sense to hire and integrate specialists from abroad?

 

Patrick Kurtz: In the short term, this can certainly fill competence gaps. However, the question of perspective arises. The federal government has never hidden the fact that it has little connection with IT – most impressively demonstrated by Angela Merkel’s famous statement that the internet is “new territory for all of us”. If a country is governed for fifteen years with such an attitude, it is hardly surprising that it shows a significant development lag compared to many other industrialised nations and even some so-called developing countries. If this trend continues, where domestic education does not meet the demand for qualified IT specialists, one inevitably becomes dependent on third parties, not only in terms of personnel but also technologically. I consider this very unwise, especially in an industry of such future relevance.

The Future of Storage Capacities

Industry, commerce and private individuals increasingly rely on IT. Storage capacities must grow continuously, and data volumes are becoming ever more gigantic. Will we soon reach a point where data security can no longer be guaranteed?

 

Patrick Kurtz: From a technical perspective, I currently do not see a critical point regarding storage capacities. The development of capacities can easily keep pace with demand growth. Nevertheless, storage capacities should not be treated carelessly. From a business perspective, it is highly advantageous to keep your own data organised and to consistently remove unnecessary data. IT is also becoming increasingly relevant for the climate. The goal must be not only to prevent the ecological footprint from growing but even to reduce it with more energy-efficient storage options. Achieving the balance between full functionality and climate-conscious action is far from easy, and unfortunately it is not a focus everywhere.

The Ultimate IT Security System

There are constantly new reports of hacker attacks on vital servers and facilities (hospitals, administrations, banks). When will there be the ultimate security system that blocks cybercrime?

 

Patrick Kurtz: Never. It is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem. Attackers and defenders depend on each other. The better the protection mechanisms, the better the hackers become. Based on previous experience, they are always able to adapt quickly and keep up with every development. It is a race in which there can only ever be stage winners, but never a championship trophy.

 

The greatest security gap in any system is the human factor. The safest system is one that is completely closed and operated under controlled conditions. Weak passwords, untrained personnel and laziness can compromise even the strongest security system. I am convinced that cybercrime cannot be prevented as long as there are people who click links in unknown e-mails, pass their data to phishing sites due to lack of digital literacy, download suspicious attachments from unknown sources, or use extremely simple passwords. If I cannot swim, I do not go into the water. For the internet, however, this seems not to apply. Those who value security should first learn the rules of the game. In this regard, everyone is to some extent the architect of their own fortune.

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The International Data Trade

Issues of data protection are apparently increasingly being taken lightly, with social networks such as Facebook and TikTok making billions from user data. Why are there no uniform guidelines to protect customers?

 

Patrick Kurtz: You would have to ask the politicians. But the essence of the answer is probably already contained in the question: because of the billions involved. When weighing money against individual citizen interests such as data protection, the outcome is usually predetermined. Moreover, there is no international consensus on how data transactions should be regulated. This is mainly because Germany is likely to have very different interests in uniform guidelines than, for example, Ireland.

Requirements for IT Specialists

The IT industry is evolving: today, IT graduates should bring teamwork, communication skills, and business acumen, as well as cross-technical competence and human resource awareness. Do you see these requirements reflected in the industry?

 

Patrick Kurtz: These skills are of course desirable. But the perfect all-round worker does not exist; everyone has a different distribution of strengths and weaknesses within their job-relevant abilities. This is not limited to IT, but is simply human, and therefore a rather banal observation. Especially in IT, there are certainly many “nerds” who are outstandingly competent in some areas and understand nothing at all in others. This stereotypical image of IT specialists is not coincidental and is frequently used in TV fiction (keyword: “nerd”).

 

I am fundamentally of the opinion that in IT recruitment, less focus should be placed on requirements and more on support and opportunities.

Conflicts of Interest in Digitalisation

To what extent does electronic data processing (EDP) differ from information technology (IT)?

 

Patrick Kurtz: One is part of the other (EDP is part of IT), roughly as financial accounting is part of economics. Accordingly, no clear point of distinction can be defined.

 

Where do you see the greatest challenges for the industry in the future?

 

Patrick Kurtz: In finding the right balance. There are technophobes who want to avoid digitalisation at all costs and technophiles who believe everything must be digitalised no matter what. The important thing is to act moderately and find a healthy middle ground: when and to what extent can and should digitalisation take place? This is not an easy question; it requires public discussion and intelligent case-by-case decisions.

 

Mr Kurtz, thank you very much for the conversation.

Note

The original article by Dr Manuela Diehl appeared in Businesstalk on the Kudamm. Emphasis (bold) and links on this page may differ from the original.

Kurtz IT Service | IT Forensics and IT Security
Tel.: +49 163 8033 967

E-Mail: kontakt@it-forensik-it-sicherheit.de

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