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Dutch research institute TNO, in collaboration with various partners, has developed self-healing security software. This software is based on the functioning of the human immune system, based on the concept that by mimicking the human regeneration process in IT systems, cyber attacks can be averted much more quickly. Cyber security is high on the agenda at almost all Dutch organisations. While it is difficult to completely protect a company’s systems, cyber criminals only need one weak spot and can’t afford a single a slip. This means that criminals are, by definition, one up. Bart Gijsen is a consultant at TNO and involved in the self-healing project team in the Partnership for Cyber Security Innovation (PCSI). “Every time the attacker comes up with something new, the victim has to find a defence mechanism, and once new protection is found, the attacker comes up with a way to crack that again,” he said of the cyber security rat race. To break through this, TNO and various Dutch banks and insurance companies had already been ...