how the publishers of National Education ENTs try to thwart cyberattacks

After the wave of hacking that hit digital workspaces last March, Nicole Belloubet, the Minister of National Education, promised better security for these digital platforms. Report from one of the main publishers.

One of the main publishers of ENT software, these digital workspaces, is Kosmos. He is behind My digital office, used by all high school students in the Grand Est, but also Eclat BFC, that of the Burgundy Franche-Comté region and even Mon ENT Occitanie in the South-West. In all, it manages five million users… with just as many opportunities for hacking.

These sites are, in fact, much more often than we think, targeted by cyberattacks, as explained by Jean-Luc Conq, the “mr security” of Cosmos. “We have them every three to four days, because as they are very successful, they have become more and more used and more visible, so we are regularly attacked.”

Alongside the technicians, a Kosmos team manages direct relations with the establishments and receives around 8,000 calls per year, in the event of a blockage, glitch or hacking. “I had the case of an establishment that contacted me at 8 a.m., completely panicked because their name had been changed on their portal, with Daesh in it, explains Audrey Lallier. In this case, we cut off access to the portal, they went to file a complaint with the gendarmerie and they sent us a legal request to provide the encrypted material data.” The procedure is precise and the monitoring system operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round.

The most sensitive point regarding security remains on the side of users, who must be careful with their password. The hacks of March 2024 also came from identity theft, that is to say, someone connected with the stolen credentials of another person.

The boss of Kosmos, Jean Planet, insists on the necessary awareness of all Internet users: “There are a few rules to follow, in particular changing your password regularly, not sharing it, nor putting it on a post-it, on your screen. This is the main source of risk.”