Think global, act local - INSECON Congress responds to today's cyber security challenges! [SUMMARY]

Threats in the cyber domain affect not only strategic elements of the functioning of a state or company, but also every user. The dangers lurking in the network and ways to protect data were discussed for two days by participants of the first edition of the INSECON International Cyber Security Congress. Lectures on two stages were given by 36 experts, 21 companies and institutions presented their offer in the Expo Zone, workshops were also held as part of interactive special zones: CyberHackLab, Cyber Fortress and the First National Cyber Security Olympiad. Nearly 2,000 professionals from 15 countries (Saudi Arabia, Belgium, Denmark, Georgia, the Netherlands, South Korea, Lithuania, Germany, Peru, Poland, Rwanda, Singapore, Slovenia, the United States, Italy) who are shaping the present and future of IT security participated in booth meetings and lectures.

The organizational partners of the Congress and the fair are the Department of Cyber Security of the Ministry of Defense and the MTP Group.

- The INSECON project is all the more of a priority, as no events of a similar nature and scale are organized in Central and Eastern Europe. On the other hand, those held in Western Europe and the US, although they continue to enjoy growing interest, do not take into account Poland's place in the geopolitical perspective, so there is a space in our region that the Ministry of Defense is developing. - stressed Dominik Rozdziałowski, Director of the Department of Cyber Security of the Ministry of Defense.

Polish cyber security scene

On Monday, the first day of the INSECON Congress, one could listen to speeches by representatives of the Polish Government and military (Cezary Tomczyk - Secretary of State at the Ministry of Defense, Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Defense for Cybersecurity, and Krzysztof Gawkowski - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers, Minister of Digitization, Brig. Gen. Karol Molenda, Commander of the Cybersecurity Defense Forces Component) and talk to prominent experts of the Polish cyber security scene. Among them were Miroslaw MAJ and Robert KOŚLA of the Safe Cyberspace Foundation, who talked about the foundation's mission (to work for cyber security in the strategic area by implementing practical projects that build operational competence), as well as presented a plan for building and developing Poland's cyber capabilities over the past decade. Also on stage was the editor-in-chief of a popular information security website - Adam HAERTLE of Trusted Third Party presented a wide range of information on: “When a criminal encrypts conversations, and the services listen anyway.” Adam LANGE, a cyber security specialist with more than 20 years of experience in detecting cyber threats in the financial sector (Standard Chartered Global Business Services), shared his knowledge of the impact of the armed conflict in Ukraine on the private and public sectors in Poland. The last speech belonged to INSECON Congress strategic partner Microsoft. Its representative, Krzysztof Malesa, introduced participants to digital technologies in the face of Poland's alliance commitments.

Cezary Tomczyk - Secretary of State at the Ministry of National Defense, Plenipotentiary of the Minister of National Defense for Cybersecurity, during the opening ceremony of the INSECON 2024 Congress, drew attention to a number of important factors that affect the development of the cyber security sector. - Today we have managed to bring together in one place the entities of the Ministry of Defense, state services, local governments, administration - the purpose of the meeting is to continuously build a strong position of Poland on the international arena, to create a secure cyberspace. We face threats here and now, which is why this cooperation is so important. I would like to thank everyone: soldiers, state services, representatives of the state administration for standing up for security - this cooperation is now at an exemplary level.

Global dimension

On the second day of the Congress, the main topic of discussion was cyber security issues around the world. On the Main Stage, experts, policymakers and representatives of international organizations discussed strategic aspects of this issue, identifying global challenges and seeking effective solutions. Thanks to speeches by speakers such as Gen. Krzysztof KRÓL - Lieutenant General - Advisor to the Chief of General Staff of the Polish Army, Brig. Gen. Antonio CARUSO - Head of the Cyber Operations Division, Italian Cyber Command, (Italy), Fergal O'REGAN - Acting Director of the European Security and Defense College, Giuseppe ZUFFANTI - Coordinator of the Cyber Command. Cyber and the ETEE Cyber Platform, European Security and Defense College, Christian-Marc Lifländer - Head of NATO's Cyber and Hybrid Policy Section, Lt. Col. Tim ZAHN - Commander of the Bundeswehr Cyber Security Center (Germany), David MCKEOWN - Deputy Director of Information, Director of Information Security. Information Security Director, Director of Special Access Software, Department of Defense (United States of America), Luka MGELADZE - Director of the Cyber Security Bureau of the Ministry of Defense (Georgia), Sunyoung CHO - Director of the Department of Cyber and Electromagnetic Policy of the Ministry of Defense (Republic of Korea), attendees were able to learn how like-minded states are dealing with cyber threats and resilience, especially in the face of an increasingly dynamic international environment.

Local challenges

Parallel to the main event, on the Business and Local Government Stage, speakers focused on the specific needs and challenges of businesses, local governments and public institutions related to cyber security. Representatives from these sectors shared experiences and best practices in data protection, preparation for the NIS 2 Directive, prevention of hacking attacks and response to cyber incidents. In addition, perspectives on legal and administrative regulations related to cyber security, which are important for smooth operations, were discussed.

Among the interesting presentations of the Business and Local Government Stage, it is worth mentioning the representative of CHECKPOINT - Marcin Idec defined a modern security architecture in the form of the Infinity AI platform. In turn, Bartlomiej Ziolkowski (VECTOR SYNERGY) focused on the practical elements of the NIS2 directive - from formal and legal aspects to technological requirements. Marcin Klimowski (CISCO) talked about how to map the various elements of the directive into solutions, and Dawid Haczkur (CISCO) showed how this can be packaged into Security Suites - both speakers presented methods for protecting networks in companies and discussed the new NIS2 regulations. Norbert Meyer and Michal Mizgalski from CyberSec EDIH - European Center for Digital Innovation presented the topic: “Cyber security without costs. Yes for SMEs.” Adv. Arkadiusz Habiera spoke during INSECON about liability to the contractor and state institutions in case of data leakage. Digital transformation and cyber security are strategic areas for business development. Digital infrastructure must respond not only to the expectations of the audience - customers or employees, but, above all, it is supposed to help entrepreneurs themselves and achieve their goals. Representatives of the Bydgoszcz IT Cluster: Krzysztof Blaszkiewicz, Przemysław Kaldowski and Bartosz Czyżewski presented a diagnosis of the level of cyber security in technical and legal aspects.

Deputy Director of the Center for Digital Poland Projects - Agnieszka Krauzowicz talked about the “Cyber Secure Local Government” project, which is implemented in partnership with NASK. - Nowadays, the topic of cyber security is extremely important, and data protection in our small homelands is crucial for the cyber resilience of the entire country. Thanks to the Cyber Secure Local Government project, we will jointly increase the level of cyber security in local governments by strengthening resilience and the ability to effectively prevent and respond to incidents in information systems. - She stressed on the Business and Local Government Stage.

Stanislaw Jesiak, IT Security Manager, Amica Group in his presentation “Security Awareness in practice - how to protect the company together with the employees” shared his experience of building threat awareness among employees of a manufacturing company. He showed how they organize training, why an employee does not have to be an expert in recognizing attacks, how to facilitate the reporting of suspicious messages, or how they respond to such reports. Adam Danieluk (CEO of ISSA Poland, Information Systems Security Association) and Artur Markiewicz, in a lecture titled. “ISSA Poland - an Association that gives value”, as members of the Board of Directors shared their experiences in leading the Association. They talked about the projects that ISSA Poland carries out to spread knowledge in the area of information systems security. They also pointed out what values the Association delivers to its members, content recipients, and projects. The last speech, closing the Business and Local Government Stage, was by the trio: Beata Kwiatkowska, Rafał Rosłaniec and Bartek Cieszewski, with the topic: “Why hack - just steal the login and password! How to simply and effectively thwart cyber criminals (live attack and defense demonstration) and meet NIS2 requirements in the process.” During simulated attacks during the presentation, they talked about and showed what the FIDO standard is - how it works and how it stops cybercriminals where passwords and SMS fail.

Together we can be more effective

The most important goal of the Poznan meetings was to develop coherent and effective strategies and actions that will help protect digital infrastructure, data and information systems from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats.

- Cyber security is becoming increasingly important due to the growing role of information technology in various spheres of life - social, economic and political. Awareness of this fact was confirmed by the numerous participants of the INSECON Congress - adds Konrad Fleśman from the Grupa MTP.

The joint discussion on both stages during the two days of the INSECON 2024 Congress allowed a holistic view of the problem of cyber security, taking into account the diversity of perspectives and needs, both at the global and local levels.

We would like to invite you to the second edition of the International Cyber Security Congress INSECON, which is scheduled for 2-3.04.2025 in Poznan. See you there!

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Organizers: Ministry of National Defense, Grupa MTP

Honorary Patronage: Ministry of Development and Technology, Center for Digital Poland Projects, NASK

Strategic Partner: Microsoft

Silver partner: Vector Synergy

Industry Patronage: Military Communications Institute, Central Military Recruitment Center, Cyber Defense Forces Component Command, Expert Cyber Security Training Center, Naval Academy, Military University of Technology, ISOA, ISSA Poland, Territorial Defense Forces, Securex International Security Fair

Content Partner: Secure Cyberspace Foundation, Trusted Third Party, CISCO, ISSA Poland, SMM Legal, Bydgoszcz IT Cluster, Be In, Checkpoint

Expo zone partners: Sycope, Fortinet, Quest, Xopero, NetiaNext, Military Communications Institute, Central Military Recruitment Center, Cyber Defense Forces Component Command, Expert Cyber Security Training Center, Naval Academy, Military University of Technology, ISSA Poland, Territorial Defense Forces

Media patronage: RMF FM, Business Insider, Forbes

Media cooperation: Cyber Defence 24, Polska Zbrojna, MilMag, Security OPS, Open Security