On 10 March 2015, the Guardian will be hosting a panel discussion on how to protect your business from the threat of government-backed hackers.
Hacking is no longer the preserve of cybercriminals, let alone teenage computer enthusiasts. Hackers today are as likely to work for governments, intelligence agencies or the military – or shadowy, government-backed companies. And nor is it only governments’ systems that are being attacked by state-sponsored hackers.
Countries including China, Russia and North Korea have been implicated in hacking campaigns, with North Korea standing accused of last year’s attack against Sony Pictures that disabled the studio’s computer network.
Western powers, too, have been associated with the use of cyber attacks and hacking to disrupt adversaries’ operations and to infiltrate their networks and systems.
Companies in industries such as defence and high technology seem to be especially at risk of government hacking, but the number of attacks against energy installations, public transport, telecommunications, banking and other parts of critical national infrastructure is growing too. Firms are also finding that government-backed hackers are trying to infiltrate their networks, in order to steal valuable intellectual property.
All of this means that the government-backed hacker presents a growing challenge to companies’ chief information officers, especially in a climate where western governments are contemplating restrictions on defensive measures such as encryption, and where there are growing calls to increase surveillance of both public and business use of the internet.
This event will set out the scale of the challenge, understand the motivation and tactics of the government-backed hacker, and share best practice on ways to protect the business against infiltration and disruption.
This event is designed for senior IT security professionals who are responsible for protecting their organisations from hackers.
It is free to attend but by application only. Please fill in the form below to register your interest to attend.
The programme for the morning is as follows:
09.00 Registration and breakfast
09.15 Welcome from the chair
09.20 Setting the scene: How can organisations and businesses protect themselves against filtration and disruption from state sponsored hackers.
Paul McEvatt senior analyst, enterprise & cyber security, Fujitsu UK&I
Symantec representative to be announced
09.35 Panel discussion
(Chair) Stephen Pritchard contributing editor and columnist, IT Pro and Infosecurity Magazine
James Hanlon, Symantec
Paul Glass, Taylor Wessing
Stephen Bonner, KPMG
Chris McIntosh, ViaSat UK
Andy Herrington, Fujitsu UK
Topics will include
• Setting the scale of the challenge, looking at the motivation and tactics of government- backed hackers
• What are the threats to an organization’s intellectual property
• Sharing best practice, to protect against infiltration
10.45 Short refreshment break
11.00 Breakout discussion; participants will discuss in smaller round tables groups the following topics:
• Identifying hackers, their origin and their motivation
• Formulating a response to state-sponsored hacking attacks
• Protecting against intellectual property theft from state-backed hackers
• Protecting the business when governments are restricting defensive measures and increasing surveillance
11.40 Roundtable feedback
11.50 Informal networking
12.30 Close of event
