Infosecurity Europe is unquestionably the biggest and most significant cybersecurity conference and event on the European calendar, a mainstay that is enjoyed by the entire industry and that serves as an important opportunity for members to meet each other and engage with the (ISC)² team on our stand.
Like so many key industry events, Infosecurity Europe has been operating as a virtual event for the last two years due to the pandemic but made a triumphant return to physical being this year along with a move to a brand new venue. 2022 saw the show move from London’s Olympia Exhibition Center to ExCel in East London, a larger and more modern facility capable of accommodating the growing show and expanding industry. However, a national train strike risked undermining this return to physical events, but ultimately failed to do so. Such was the enthusiasm for returning to physical shows and events, attendees turned to everything from boats to cable cars to make it there on day one, while day two and three allowed attendees to make use of the new Elizabeth Line, a £19 billion high speed train line that cuts the journey time between Excel and Central London to just 12 minutes.
Leadership and Uncertainty
Inside the show itself, this year’s conference program had no shortage of stark warnings and recognition of the difficult challenges facing cybersecurity practitioners and the organizations they work for. The growth in encryption use and complexity was the subject of considerable debate for Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller, the former head of MI5, the UK intelligence service. In her keynote address, Manningham-Buller told delegates that widespread use of encryption has created challenges for governments and the private sector alike, making it harder to surveil individuals as well as to intercept illegal, fake and other problematic content in-flight.
Manningham-Buller also discussed the need for greater diversity in the intelligence service and in the wider cybersecurity sector. “How can we do our job properly if we only reflect part of the population?” she said. “Why would we not wish to get the best people from across the spectrum?” Shaking off the James Bond persona and making it clear that careers in MI5 and other agencies are open and accessible to all is essential to its wider mission of protecting the nation and dealing with uncertainty.
Meanwhile, author and journalist Mischa Glenny discussed the impact of cybersecurity on geopolitical affairs (and vice versa). Best known as the author of McMafia (which spawned a drama series of the same name) and the radio show How to Invent a Country, Glenny discussed the “age of uncertainty” we now find ourselves in as a result of the Ukraine conflict, tensions between the West and China and the economic scars left by COVID-19. He did this by charting the history of cyber-attacks and mapping many of them to high points in geopolitical unrest.
Themes from the Floor
Across over 200 different sessions on three days, attendees heard firsthand from practitioners, vendors, politicians, industry commentators and other information security leaders about the issues, technologies, strategies and ideas of the moment.
From issues of possible industry regulation to the growing threats posed by phishing and ransomware, from the threat posed by fake news and disinformation to the spike in social engineering-based hacking that the pandemic has encouraged, from end-user behavior to enhancing technology countermeasures to extend the organizational forcefield to cover all its remote workers as well as those returning to the office. The program at Infosecurity Europe was as broad as it was relevant.
Risk and compliance were a consistent focus throughout the show. Whether it was discussing the ethics and merits of whether to pay a ransom or discussing the risk/cost dynamic of business continuity and disaster recovery measures, this year’s conference illustrated the more analytical shift in our industry’s thinking and focus, providing a balance between technological innovation and understanding the role of training, education, culture and awareness in both reducing risk and successfully implementing policies and countermeasures.
(ISC)² helped wrap up the event with a final talk on strategies for finding, nurturing, and growing cyber talent that referenced our recent Cybersecurity Hiring Managers Study, followed by a panel looking at the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, discussing the challenges facing them and the opportunities available to them and to their employers.
Infosecurity Europe 2022’s theme, Stronger Together, intended to shine a spotlight on the need for cybersecurity practitioners and employers to be more collaborative, representative and accessible. The content for this year’s show certainly achieved that, while the thousands of attendees embodied two other important traits – triumph over adversity and determination – in their refusal to let external obstacles derail their mission to keep us safe and secure.
