UK – German Cyber-Security Forum

On 26.07.2017, the second Cyber-Security Forum of the British Consulate and the Munich Security Network was held at the Hilton Park Hotel. CISOs from well-known German companies such as Siemens, Audi and MAN gave various specialist presentations. Topics such as Industry 4.0 and AI were presented in a contemporary and practical manner. In addition, British companies were given the opportunity to present their company. Companies such as Whitehat, Darktrace and Origone were represented.

Conclusion

The technical presentations were all very informative and exciting. My personal conclusion:

1. Company
   • Siemens
     Pursued the right strategy for information security in Industry 4.0, in my opinion, and will secure its place in the business community. For example, the presentation pointed out that you have to accept that attackers get into the systems, but you have to detect them as soon as possible (I hope other companies will accept this soon)
   • Audi
     Took a very critical look at the topic of AI. I am very glad that even top German companies, like Audi, are addressing this issue to draw attention to dangers (we must prevent a Skynet).
   • MAN
     Ships have to deal with very specific problems, as they consist of many systems (and accordingly many manufacturers). For example, these almost all require remote access for maintenance, etc.. , which could pose a significant risk to the information security of the entire system.
   • British companies
     Check out the companies Darktrace and Origone, they really have very innovative approaches to information security with today’s threats! Origone searches sources on the Internet as well as on the Darknet in order to assess possible vulnerabilities in advance and, if necessary, to inform the people responsible for the system. If, for example, a “hacker” were to present or discuss his new finding in a forum on the Darknet, this would be recorded, evaluated and registered by Origone.
2. Staff
   There are far too few professionals in the field of information technology and even fewer in the field of information security. It was mentioned several times in the plenary that we can only protect ourselves together against today’s dangers from professional attackers. Why couldn’t good staff be shared (provided there is no competitive relationship)?
3. Outlook
   We can learn a lot from the British, if the speaker has not exaggerated 😉 , still a lot to learn.