Member Article

Smarter, safer, stronger cybersecurity is now critical to digital future

• Innovation and collaboration top the agenda for Infosecurity Europe 2023, as security leaders tackle overwhelming security threats
• Industry must leverage talent, shared knowledge and awareness to conquer key cyber threats

The cybersecurity industry must collaborate and innovate to secure our digital future. As organisations grapple with growing trends, security leaders and industry bodies are encouraged to come together to pool their knowledge, resources and talent in order to become Smarter, Safer, Stronger - the overarching theme of the conference at this year’s Infosecurity Europe 2023 (20-22 June), Europe’s most influential information security event.

Infosecurity Europe’s organisers spoke with its advisory council and network of CISOs to garner some insight into how the theme talks to existing challenges they are facing and how the industry can become smarter, safer and stronger together.

“Cybersecurity is not just about technology, it’s about people, process and strategy - working together to create a smarter, safer, and stronger digital world”, commented Barry Coatesworth, Director, Guidehouse. This starts with establishing visibility in organisations’ environments to gain a clear picture of the workforce and the technologies and processes in place to support and secure them. Having this insight will enable better detection and response to threats, and ultimately, faster recovery.

This is increasingly difficult when “today’s cyberthreat landscape is continuously evolving and posing greater challenges to defenders” said Brian Honan, CEO BH Consulting. “With businesses adopting new technologies, new ways of working, or engaging with third party vendors, the already stretched resources employed by defenders are coming under ever more strain.

“In addition, criminals are becoming more and more organised as they are collaborating more and more, adopting new attack methods, and employing variations of existing attacks. As a result, defenders need to examine how they can leverage the scarce resources they have and employ innovative solutions to better manage risks to their organisations.

“Infosec Europe’s theme of “Smarter, Safer, Stronger” exemplifies this requirement perfectly and as ever, will provide the opportunities and environment for those responsible for cybersecurity to meet today’s cybersecurity challenges”, Honan added.

This year’s Infosecurity Europe exhibition and conference will run from Tuesday 20 to Thursday 22 June 2023, at ExCeL London. The conference programme will be announced over the coming months and will cover a number of topics that underpin the need to be Smarter, Safer, Stronger, including:

• Tackling the mounting threat of ransomware attacks
• Evaluating the needs and requirements for cybersecurity insurance
• Addressing the risks posed by supply chain attacks
• Enhancing the incident response strategy to minimise reputational risks
• Recruitment and retention to grow and support the workforce and fill the cybersecurity skills gap

Mark Nicholls, Head of Information Security, Risk & Compliance - Ramsay Health Care UK, noted: “Year on year the attack surface is growing, this creates greater opportunities for cyber criminals to be successful. The line between personal digital spaces and work digital spaces is so blurred now that a breach in any situation has larger consequences. It is therefore imperative that the InfoSec community uses events like InfoSec Europe to come together to work Smarter, to leverage new technology that creates Stronger and Safer digital spaces. Ultimately, humans can be the strongest line of defence against the cyber criminals, so for me, education and awareness remains a top priority too.”

Nicole Mills, Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Group, says: The industry has recognised, and is taking huge steps to prioritise consistent, transparent communication across the cybersecurity community. We need to build an ecosystem for collective defence, and Infosecurity Europe allows us to bring like-minded security professionals together, with a willingness to learn from one another to become smarter, safer, and stronger.“

The challenges are stacked against us “as the internet descends ever further towards cyber anarchy, with increased virtual looting and profit influenced mob rule, netizens and businesses are at risk like never before”, said Ian Hill, Director of Information & Cybersecurity, Upp Corporation.

“While politicians, legislators and regulators continue to procrastinate and revert more to victim bashing, it is down to the InfoSec industry and community to continue to evolve and confront the threat head on. Smarter, safer, stronger is not about a blind dependency on technology, but a leveraging of knowledge, talent, and capability, through innovation, collaboration & awareness to protect & support netizens and businesses alike.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Infosecurity Europe .