Event Overview

The world of cybersecurity is in perpetual flux, requiring constant innovative approaches to navigate the ever-growing complexity of the cyber landscape, as frequent and widespread incidents continue to emerge rapidly.

The 11th Annual European Cyber Security Conference will gather policymakers, industry players, high level cyber security and defence experts to explore Europe’s response to cyber and hybrid security issues in what has become a dynamically evolving global risk landscape. It will discuss how Europe can stay at the forefront of cybersecurity advancements and contribute to global collective efforts in securing our digital future. The conference will examine the effectiveness of the overall European cybersecurity policy framework in safeguarding the continent’s digital economy and debate what the priorities for the next mandate should be. It will debate how trust in the digital age can be fostered through security by design efforts, supply chain integrity, and through the understanding of the transformative impact that Artificial Intelligence can have on the cybersecurity landscape. Finally, it will highlight the importance of boosting collaboration, between Member States and with allies, in cybersecurity, defence, and diplomacy in this currently volatile geopolitical context.

Check out the highlights from the 11th Annual European Cyber Security Conference...

Forum Europe’s European Cyber Security Conference took place in Brussels in March 2024 for the 11th year. The achievements in cybersecurity in recent years were discussed over a series of panel discussions and two keynote sessions. One key topic covered at the event, was implementation of the cyber rules and how the next Commission will look to do this over the next 5 years.

Testimonials

Key Themes

The European cybersecurity policy framework

The European Cybersecurity Policy Framework

Security by Design and Supply Chain integrity

Security by Design and Supply Chain Integrity

Artificial Intelligence: a double-edged sword in cyber security

Artificial Intelligence: a double-edged sword in cyber security

Strengthening Cyber Security Cooperation Mechanisms

Strengthening Cyber Security Cooperation Mechanisms

Global Synergies for Cyber Security

Global Synergies for Cyber Security

Confirmed Speakers

Despina Spanou

Despina Spanou

Head of Cabinet of Vice President Margaritis Schinas

European Commission

Roberto Viola

Roberto Viola

Director General, DG CONNECT

European Commission

Lorena Boix Alonso

Lorena Boix Alonso

Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity, DG CONNECT

European Commission

Katarzyna Prusak-Górniak

Katarzyna Prusak-Górniak

Head of Digital Affairs Unit Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU

Deputy Chairperson GB European Cybersecurity Competence Centre

Christiane Kirketerp de Viron

Christiane Kirketerp de Viron

Head of Unit Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Policy, DG CONNECT

European Commission

Stefania Ducci

Stefania Ducci

Head of the National Strategy and Policy Division

Italian National Cybersecurity Agency

Daiva Tamulioniene

Daiva Tamulionienė

Head of the Systems Administration Division,
National Cyber Security Centre

Ministry of National Defence,
Lithuania

Nelly Ghaoui

Nelly Ghaoui

Team leader Cybersecurity

Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate policy, The Netherlands

Oleksandr Tkachuk

Oleksandr Tkachuk

Counsellor

Mission of Ukraine to NATO

Martin Spät

Martin Spät

Executive Director’s Office

ENISA

Manon Le Blanc

Manon Le Blanc

Coordinator for Cyber Issues and Deputy Head of Hybrid Threats and Cyber Division

EEAS

Paul Watrobski

Paul Watrobski

Information Technology Security Specialist

NIST

Ioannis Askoxylakis

Ioannis Askoxylakis

Policy Officer

European Commission

Liesje Klomp-van Beek

Liesje Klomp-van Beek

Political and Security Counsellor

Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the EU and NATO

Rigo Van den Broeck

Rigo Van den Broeck

Executive Vice President, Cyber Security Product Innovation

Mastercard

Aldo Sebastiani

Aldo Sebastiani

SVP Cyber Security Center of Excellence

Leonardo

Christopher Porter 240 x 240

Christopher Porter

Head of International Security Cooperation

Google

John Fokker

John Fokker

Head of Threat Intelligence & Principal Engineer

Trellix

Stephen Boyle

Stephen Boyle

Chief Trust Officer

Workday

Florian Pennings

Florian Pennings

Director for European Cybersecurity Policy

Microsoft

Ilias Chantzos

Ilias Chantzos

Global Privacy Officer and Head of EMEA Government Affairs

Broadcom

Joanna Świątkowska

Joanna Świątkowska

Deputy Secretary General

ECSO

Barbara Wynne

Barbara Wynne

Head of Digital & Technology

FIPRA International

Iva Tasheva

Iva Tasheva

Co-Founder & Cyber Security Lead

CYEN

Visiola Pula

Visiola Pula

Cybersecurity Senior Analyst

Cullen International

Agenda

*** Times are listed in CET ***

The 11th Annual European Cyber Security Conference 2024
2024-03-19
09:00 - 09:40
Keynote Session
Keynote Session image
Despina Spanou
Head of Cabinet of Vice President Margaritis Schinas, European Commission
Keynote Session image
Roberto Viola
Director General, DG CONNECT, European Commission
09:40 - 11:00
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future?

Just a few months before the end of the current mandate and as cyber threats keep growing in volume, nature and sophistication, European policymakers and Member States’ governments continue to work on a number of initiatives aimed at strengthening the block’s cybersecurity, defence and resilience. Acting as an introduction to the discussions held throughout the day, this panel will take stock of what has been achieved in the cybersecurity realm in Europe, analyse the current state-of-play of various policies and explore what the next priorities should be, both in the short and long term.

With the deadline of October 2024 approaching for European countries to transpose the NIS2 Directive into their national laws, and ahead of the review of the Cyber Security Act while files such as the CRA and the CSA are still going through the legislative process, this session will discuss what governments and businesses are doing in practice to meet the requirements laid out in the various files and explore the challenges and opportunities ahead. It will also discuss the extent to which the EU’s work on cybersecurity, including via the EUCS and other certification and standardisation schemes, will boost digital security in Europe while fulfilling the bloc’s strategic autonomy ambitions.

Possible questions:

  • How can it be ensured that NIS2 will be implemented and enforced in a coherent way throughout Europe? What support, tools or mechanisms are available to companies to help them comply with the requirements of NIS2 considering its broadened scope and key provisions such as vulnerability handling and incident reporting? Will this be enough to strengthen the security and resilience of Europe’s critical infrastructures?
  • How has it been ensured that the provisions and objectives in the measures included in NIS2, CRA, CSA and in other relevant laws such as the AI Act, DORA or sectoral laws complement each other and do not create confusing overlaps for industry players? Should a ‘cybersecurity impact assessment” be considered for future regulations?
  • What is the latest on the discussions around certification schemes, and what are the implications for global and European players, be they large companies or SMEs if voluntary schemes become mandatory depending on the level of assurance?
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Lorena Boix Alonso
Director for Digital Society, Trust and Cybersecurity, DG CONNECT, European Commission
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Katarzyna Prusak-Górniak
Head of Digital Affairs Unit, Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU and Deputy Chairperson GB, European Cybersecurity Competence Centre
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Martin Spät
Executive Director’s Office, ENISA
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Florian Pennings
Director EU Government Affairs – Cybersecurity, Microsoft
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Ilias Chantzos
Global Privacy Officer and Head of EMEA Government Affairs, Broadcom
Panel 1 | How is the European cybersecurity policy framework securing Europe’s digital future? image
Visiola Pula
Cybersecurity Senior Analyst, Cullen International
10:55 - 11:25
Morning Coffee Break
11:25 - 12:40
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem

In our hyperconnected world, ensuring the security of digital products and networks, and the resilience of the entire value chain is essential for maximising the benefits of digital technologies.

 

Despite security by-design, by-default and supply chain security considered as integral components to the protection of digital assets, vulnerabilities continue to emerge with recent large-scale DDoS attacks targeting IoT products and networks, underscoring the severe consequences of poor device security having spill-over effects to entire networks or supply chain. With the Cyber Resilience Act, centred on a security-by-design approach from consumer products to critical infrastructure, the EU aims to boost the security of the whole cyber ecosystem, enhancing the functioning of the internal market, improving consumer confidence and give European manufacturers a competitive edge by mandating baseline cybersecurity standards for products with digital elements and imposing stricter conformity assessment procedures for critical products.

 

This panel will ask whether what is being considered at technical, standardisation, and regulatory levels to ensure end-to-end security is fit-for-purpose and whether the measures are proportionate. It will discuss the extent to which the CRA provisions will impact the European cyber market, including an analysis of practical aspects around incident reporting, vulnerability disclosure, conformity assessment and open-source development. Aside from the CRA, speakers will discuss what is being done on the technological front to address Europe’s cyber dependencies and fulfil its ambition to create a European cybersecurity market.

 

Possible questions:

 

  • How can a multistakeholder approach be further promoted to enhance security-by-design and supply chain security in Europe to drive technological sovereignty and boost the development of the European cybersecurity market?
  • To what extent will the provisions of the CRA help enhance the security of the entire cyber ecosystem in Europe? 
  • What new opportunities, and challenges do the new obligations for businesses (including start-ups) bring, and how can it be ensured that the Act does not impede the roll-out of future technologies and services in Europe? Are the different roles, responsibilities, and obligations of the different actors in the supply chain (manufactures, distributors and exporters) clear enough? 
  • How well defined and coherent are the risk categories of critical products? What will the implications of certification schemes for ‘highly critical’ products be? What role will the EU Common Criteria Cybersecurity Certification Scheme play?
  • How can the concerns around the Vulnerability Disclosure Requirements be addressed? 
  • What effect could the CRA have beyond Europe and to what extent can this give Europe a competitive edge? 
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Christiane Kirketerp de Viron
Head of Unit Cybersecurity and Digital Privacy Policy, DG CONNECT, European Commission
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Nelly Ghaoui
Team leader Cybersecurity, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate policy The Netherlands
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Paul Watrobski
Information Technology Security Specialist, NIST
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Rigo Van den Broeck
Executive Vice President, Cyber Security Product Innovation, Mastercard
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Stephen Boyle
Chief Trust Officer, Workday
Panel 2 | Building Trust in the Digital Age: Security by design and supply chain integrity in the European cyber ecosystem image
Joanna Świątkowska
Deputy Secretary General, ECSO
12:40 - 14:00
Networking Lunch
14:00 - 15:15
Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape

While Artificial intelligence has captured the public’s imagination and legislators’ interest globally, it is also rapidly transforming the cybersecurity landscape. AI can be both deployed in sophisticated attacks and fraudulent activities, and act as an enabler for cybersecurity by being used in threat detections systems to predict, notify and respond to attacks or incidents. This session will discuss how Europe is navigating the complex interplay between AI-powered threats and innovative AI-driven defence mechanisms, identify the opportunities that AI cybersecurity can offer, shed light on the evolving operational models and risk management strategies and highlight best practices for implementing AI-driven cybersecurity to enhance incident response and mitigate cyberattacks’ impact. It will also explore the role that human expertise in combination with AI can play and how the technology could help address the cybersecurity skills gap. These topics will be covered in the context of the discussions being held around the establishment of the Cyber Security Shield, the European network of SOCs powered by AI and ML.

 

Possible questions:

 

  • To what extent does the adoption of AI technologies present both challenges to cyber security and opportunities for bolstering cyber resilience? How can security risks that are specific to AI, such as hallucinations, be addressed?
  • Which principles should be established for the use of AI in cyber security specifically? Does the AI Act cover cyber security appropriately, and what regulatory gaps, if any, need addressing?
  • What do successful innovative strategies to defend against AI-driven cyber threats look like? How are critical infrastructure operators using AI-based solutions to enhance their incident response and mitigate the impact of cyber risks?
  • What support do businesses need to protect against AI risks whilst leveraging the technology for competitive advantage? How can collaboration between governments, cybersecurity experts and data scientists in that realm be supported?
  • How will the establishment of the ‘Cyber Shield’ of AI-powered SOCs concretely improve threat and incident detection? What role will there be for Edge Computing, Quantum computing and other advanced technologies that are scaling up?
  • How can the combination of AI with human intelligence transform cybersecurity, and to what extent can the technology ‘democratise’ cybersecurity by providing tools accessible to all users? How can AI help solve the cyber talent shortage and will initiatives such as the Cyber Skills Academy be enough to address the lack of skilled AI Cybersecurity professionals in Europe?

 

Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape image
Ioannis Askoxylakis
Policy Officer, European Commission
Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape image
Daiva Tamulionienė
Head of the Systems Administration Division, National Cyber Security Centre, Ministry of National Defence
Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape image
Christopher Porter
Head of International Security Cooperation, Google
Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape image
Aldo Sebastiani
SVP Cyber Security Center of Excellence, Leonardo
Panel 3 | Artificial Intelligence – Disrupting the cyber security landscape image
Iva Tasheva
Co-Founder & Cyber Security Lead, CYEN
15:15 - 15:30
Coffee Break
15:30 - 16:45
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability

The growing intersection of cyberthreats and geopolitical tensions presents substantial risks, and as cybersecurity cannot be a one-actor, one-nation, one-time effort, a united and coordinated response between Member States and with like-minded partners is needed to address the heightened threats stemming from the currently volatile context. Given the global dimension of the issues at stake and with malicious operations through APTs or state-sponsored attacks now expected as part of concerted hybrid warfare efforts, a number of EU and multilateral initiatives have emerged these past years to strengthen capabilities, improve attribution policies, develop norms and create strategies for deterrence. But how efficient are instruments like the EU Cyber Diplomacy toolbox, the UN Digital Compact, the Ad hoc Group of Cybercrime, NATO’s Comprehensive Cyber Defence Policy and its newly created Virtual Cyber Incident Support Capability? This session will discuss the role, responsibilities and coordination mechanisms for all stakeholders in the international cybersecurity, defence and diplomacy communities to protect societies from malicious cyber exploitation and politically motivated cyber operations and preserve an open, stable and secure cyberspace.

 

Possible questions

 

  • What is being done in Europe to encourage better collaboration between Member States and with international partners on intelligence sharing, deterrence strategies, sanctions, defensive and offensive capabilities, incident response and recovery measures? How do the provisions of the CSA strengthen existing cooperation mechanisms? 
  • To what extent will the revision of the EU Cyber Diplomacy Toolbox and the development of a Public-Private Partnership help ensure better coordination?  How will this interact with the creation of the Cyber Reserve and the European Detection Infrastructure foreseen in the Cyber Solidarity Act? How can it be ensured that these initiatives create opportunities for both established players and smaller businesses?
  • What can be done to create a more cohesive and better synchronised approach to international cybersecurity efforts? How can capacity building be improved in developing countries?
  • How will NATO’s VCISC bolster cyber defence measures and improve cooperation between civilian, military and cybersecurity industry communities?
  • What is being done to enhance collaboration between the EU, NATO, the private sector and academia in R&D research for emerging and disruptive technologies? 

 

Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
Stefania Ducci
Head of the National Strategy and Policy Division, Italian National Cybersecurity Agency
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
Col. Oleksandr Tkachuk
Counsellor, Mission of Ukraine to NATO
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
Manon Le Blanc
Acting Head of Division for SECDEFPOL.2-Hybrid threats & Cyber, EEAS
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
Liesje Klomp-van Beek
Political and Security Counsellor, Permanent Representation of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the EU and NATO
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
John Fokker
Head of Threat Intelligence & Principal Engineer, Trellix
Panel 4 | Cyber Security, Defence and Diplomacy: promoting global synergies to ensure cyber robustness and stability image
Barbara Wynne
Head of Digital & Technology, FIPRA International
16:45
End of Conference
Select date to see events.

Sponsorship opportunities

Our packages have been designed to enable sponsors to take advantage of the enhanced face-to-face networking benefits that are made possible by a physical meeting environment.

To discuss sponsorship and visibility opportunities at the 10th Annual European Cyber Security Conference, please contact Anne-Lise Simon on [email protected] / +44 (0) 2920 783 023.

Why sponsor the European Cyber Security Conference?

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Exclusive speaking positions | Your organisation can contribute to the discussion in person. 

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Engaging and Interactive format | Engage in a fully immersive and interactive debate with decision makers, businesses and policymakers, either onsite or online

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European and global outreach | Convey your message to a broad and international audience

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Networking opportunities |  Networking opportunities will be available to all in person attendees throughout the day.

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Visibility Opportunities | Ensure maximum visibility through branding on the event website and marketing activities

Partners & Sponsors

Broadcom
Google
Mastercard
Microsoft
Trellix
Workday
ECSO
Cloudflare
Fiscal Note
Leonardo
Encompass logo for WS

Sponsorship Opportunities

To discuss sponsorship and visibility opportunities at the 11th Annual European Cyber Security Conference 2024, please contact Anne-Lise Simon on [email protected].

Exclusive speaking positions | Your organisation can contribute to the discussion.

Engaging and Interactive format | Engage in a fully immersive and interactive debate with decision makers, businesses and policymakers.

European and global outreach | Convey your message to a broad and international audience.

Networking opportunities | Connect with your fellow attendees during coffee and lunch breaks throughout the event.

Visibility Opportunities | Ensure maximum visibility through branding in the room, on the event website and marketing activities. 

Venue

Sofitel Brussels Europe, Brussels
Paul Henri Spaak Rooms
Pl. Jourdan 1, 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium

Should you need accommodation during the conference, we have secured a preferential rate for delegates and speakers. Booking information will be sent in the confirmation once you have registered. 

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Contact

Should you need any further assistance regarding this event, please do not hesitate to contact us and we will happily help.

Melanie Thomas
Event Manager
Forum Europe
[email protected]
Tel: +44 (0) 7845 657 722