One Hacker interviews Julio Vivero, GMV’s Manager of the Consultancy and Infrastructure Area

He is thrilled to see how internet is changing the world. As Manager of GMV’s Consultancy and Infrastructure Area he is working towards a securer net. To do so he develops technologies like atalaya, checker, arkano; which seem to be taken from the world of science fiction but are part of today’s world already

We are becoming increasingly connected …
Yes. Our lives depend on internet. We do our shopping online, pay our taxes, look for a partner … we even meet up without actually seeing each other in the flesh. Beforehand we spoke on the phone; now we send text messages … and we do it without ever thinking about the risks we run. For example the photo we post on our WhatsApp profile or the phrase identifying our status might give priceless information to delinquents who want to know something about us and have only to get our telephone number to lever themselves into our lives … Neither do we realize that when surfing Google – especially if we have a Gmail account - our searches are recorded. And if we do so from the cell phone we can leave a traceable record even of the places where we have been. To forestall this we have to enter the Google account –https://acount.google.com and delete them. Nothing comes free: what we are really doing on internet is to pay with our data.

What fascinates you and what worries you?
I’m fascinated by the sheer speed with which new technologies are changing our daily lives. On the other hand I find the associated loss of privacy a bit disquieting. For example, the latest models of electricity meters, the so-called “smartmeters”, store hour-by-hour consumption information. If a delinquent gets hold of this information he or she would know when we are at home and when we are out . . . and even which appliances we are using at what time, just by checking the electricity consumption rate. Even worse, this information could then be used to burgle us. Everything we do in the virtual world has a knock-on effect in the real world.

Tell me three technologies that seem to be science fiction but are already part of today’s real world
First an incredible project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Called RF Capture and using sensors and a wi-fi network, it can tell us who is on the other side of a wall and how they are feeling. It has been conceived for the care of elderly, housebound people but it also has obvious civil and military applications. The second technology I’d like to mention is Microsoft’s Oxford project. Its facial recognition technology tells us a person’s emotions through their facial gestures. In an airport this technology could help to detect people who are showing signs of nervousness because they are carrying drugs or explosives.

Last but not least, the most awe-inspiring major technology for me is artificial intelligence. Some scientists like Stephen Hawking are warning that these technologies will allow machines to rise up against us. At the moment, however artificial intelligence allows us to analyze all cyberspace data - including in the Deep web, the network accessed through special gateways not visible from “normal” internet - and thus head off a cyberattack against a company, country, banking, etc. In GMV we have developed atalaya, a product that “intelligently” learns from its own experience to look for threats, vulnerabilities, frauds, etc.

What makes you different from the rest?
First and foremost we never turn down any challenge because innovation forms part of our DNA; we are not out for short-term profit. We are a firm making steady progress, aware of the fact that our company’s success lies in the hands of our clients, so our outlook is long term. GMV was born over 30 years ago; we are driven by talent and quality, two reasons why our clients count. We accompany them for years in their growth … We help them in their day-to-day problems, protecting their business.

What will be the most serious attacks in 2016?
These will be the so-called Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs). These are cyberattacks that fly under the radar, robbing company’s critical information and even forcing them to the wall. The hackers we are facing now form part of large groups; they are highly organized and call on all sorts of resources. Fortunately, products like checker help to combat these threats, enabling banks to control the software run on their ATMs, ensuring that only known software allowed by the bank can be run inside the ATM. But we should never forget that the most critical aspect of security is the people involved, for good or bad. The biggest attacks always occur because of human oversight or bad intentions.

What is the most curious thing you’ve done within cybersecurity in GMV?
Our clients include many organizations for whom security is top priority, such as Europol or the European Space Agency (ESA) to name only two of the best known. So there are many projects I could highlight. But to mention only one, this would be a cybersecurity risk analysis we carried out for ESA: we drew up for them a series of recommendations for controlling the risks of their various types of space missions.

Source: One Hacker