PRESS RELEASE
Swiss Cyber Security Days has announced its program for this year’s conference, which will once again feature a panel of leading experts. Speakers at the two-day event dedicated to cybersecurity in Switzerland and the world include Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer, the head of the Swiss Army and the chief of France’s cyber defense command, as well as many organizations, such as Interpol, WEF, the Geneva Center for Security Policy, the CyberPeace Institute and the European Space Agency. This year’s themes focus on global hacking and national sovereignty, with Thursday 11 March devoted to SME security.
Switzerland’s leading cybersecurity event, Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD), will bring together key decision-makers and experts on domestic and international cybersecurity for two days on Wednesday 10 and Thursday 11 March. The first day will focus on core issues of overall security for Switzerland, while the second will explore specific and innovative preventive solutions for businesses, particularly SMEs. The program comprises more than 60 lectures, keynote speeches, panel discussions, best practice presentations and round tables. The full program can be viewed here with online registration.
Registration is now open
This year, Swiss Cyber Security Days will take place virtually via a new interactive platform, SCSD 365, which will be accessible all year round on any device. On 10 and 11 March, participants will be able to interact live with speakers and the numerous exhibitors and partners. They will then be able to replay everything on-demand for the rest of the year. Access to all content offered live and on-demand via the platform will be chargeable, with prices that reflect this new digital package.
As a reference resource, the SCSD 365 platform will allow the larger cybersecurity community to follow the news throughout the year and also give partial access to the SCSD 2021 programme, including good practice presentations and exhibitors. Access to this part of the SCSD 365 platform is free of charge.
Sovereignty and Cyberspace Security (10 March)
The cyber dimension is at the heart of modern conflicts and threatens our national interest, and businesses and governments are confronted with cyber criminality every day. How should we respond to cybersecurity challenges to protect – or rather ‘immunize’ – our organizations and infrastructure? How can we help to make a digital society that is more resilient and secure on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution?
Highlights of the conference’s first day include lectures by Lieutenant General Thomas Süssli, head of the Swiss Army, Air Vice-Marshal Didier Tisseyre, commander of France’s cyber defence command (COMCYBER), who will talk about shows of force in cyberspace and other issues, and federal cybersecurity delegate Florian Schütz.
In the morning, EPFL president Martin Vetterli will chair a roundtable debate on the shortage of cybersecurity specialists in Switzerland. Also taking place will be the CyberPeace Institute panel on ‘A road to global cyber peace’, and the World Economic Forum round table.
SME Day (11 March)
With Ueli Maurer in attendance, head of the Federal Department of Finance, of which the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) is part, SME Day on 11 March is designed to be a practical follow-up that will look at preventive solutions for businesses and provide an opportunity to share experiences. As a recent study[i] shows, a quarter of Swiss SMEs have been targeted by a cyber-attack and more than a third have been financially affected or suffered reputational damage.
Among the speakers, André Duvillard, delegate for the Swiss Security Network (RNS), will contextualize the strategy for countering cyber risk, and Nicolas Mayencourt, founder and CEO of Dreamlab and author of a book on IT security for SMEs, and Dr Marc K. Peter, author of a study on the digital transformation of SMEs, will examine the tactics used to attack online infrastructure. Their talks will be followed by a panel on ransomware. Hosted by André Kudelski, president of Innosuisse, the afternoon will focus on cyber innovation, with the unveiling of a new Swiss watchdog for digital space.
About Swiss Cyber Security Days
Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD), the Swiss cybersecurity platform, has set itself the goal of presenting key topics that outline the challenges that our society currently faces in the field of cybersecurity. It focuses on politics, the economy, education and research. Since SCSD is a national information exchange platform, all the stakeholders should find inspiration there and have the opportunity to meet with key cybersecurity experts. SCSD is based on key values such as transparency, knowledge transfer, discussion and open communication.
Fribourg, 9 February 2021
For more information:
Andreas Schneider
Media officer SCSD
Mobile +41 76 410 09 67
E-Mail: andreas.schneider@scsd.ch
[i] Marc K. Peter, Andreas Hölzli, Andreas W. Kaelin, Karin Mändli Lerch, Patric Vifian and Nicole Wettstein: Digitalisierung, Home-Office und Cyber-Sicherheit in KMU: Ein Beitrag zum Verständnis und zur Stärkung von Schweizer KMU mit 4 – 49 Mitarbeitenden im Umfeld von Corona (COVID-19). FHNW School of Business. December 2020
