On January 9, the Electrical and Computer Engineering Days and Técnico Debate Club organized the debate Cybersecurity and the resilience of Critical Infrastructures, which featured Bruno Morisson, Global Head of Offensive Security, João Alves, Head of Security at ANACOM, Pedro Zeferino, Head of Cybersecurity at NOS SGPS, and Pedro Adão, professor at Instituto Superior Técnico. The conversation was moderated by Luís Correia, faculty member of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

Throughout the event, the speakers addressed real challenges related to critical mission telecommunications networks, such as server failures with destructive impact, and other topics, including cooperation between different entities in system recovery.

Regarding cybersecurity, the importance of investing in protection systems against current external threats was highlighted, ranging from phishing to espionage cases, which impact various types of organizations. For this reason, collaboration agreements currently exist between entities, including national and European operators, with the aim of sharing information in this area. A national emergency planning system has also been established, which includes several sectoral committees, such as those for telecommunications and cybersecurity. This system is conducting a national risk analysis, will propose critical infrastructures, and subsequently develop security measures for them.

The panel emphasized the need to develop strategies that incorporate all relevant information in order to prevent as many risks as possible, in accordance with the various regulations.

On the other hand, the speakers noted that a high level of investment is essential, not only regarding infrastructures but also in terms of individual skills in the field, emphasizing that the expansion of access to artificial intelligence tools also contributes to the increase in threats.

However, artificial intelligence can also be used for detecting vulnerabilities and patterns in systems by the entities, complementing the work of analysts. In addition to vulnerability detection, systems are also being developed for scenarios where an intruder is present in the network, enabling the detection of their movements.

The session included questions from students and concluded with the announcement of Telethon 2026: the hackathon on Telecommunications, which will take place on February 7 at the Técnico Innovation Center.