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Addressing cybersecurity

Date and time: 5 June 2014 13:45

Today’s world is more interconnected than ever before. Information technology and associated communications' networks and services pervade every aspect of our lives. Yet, for all its advantages, increased connectivity brings increased risk of theft, fraud, and abuse. This makes the protection of our digital assets and activities in cyberspace of critical importance, whether for individuals or a prosperous and sustainable society.

As we become more reliant on modern technology, we also become more vulnerable to cyber attacks such as corporate security breaches, spear phishing, and social media fraud. The challenge to understand cyber risk and deliver effective and accessible security becomes harder as technology continues to rapidly evolve and our systems become ever more complex. Meanwhile, the threats we facing are organised and geared towards to exploiting our dependency on information and communications infrastructures.

There is an urgent need for creative thought leading to the next generation of cyber security capability. Current approaches are simply not able to meet the demands of a global society growing in cyberspace on the current trajectory. New business models are forcing greater interdependence between people, organisations and nation states in order to successfully manage cyber risk. Success will necessarily require an ability to anticipate, deter, detect, resist and tolerate attacks, understand and predict cyber risks, and respond and recover effectively at all levels, whether individual, enterprise, national or across international markets.

The panel will discuss these issues and address the following questions. What can companies and individuals do to address these threats? What role can and should policy makers play

Speakers

Richard Boscovich, Assistant General Counsel, Microsoft
Jacques Crémer, Scientific Director of the Toulouse School of Economics
Michael Riordan, Professor, Columbia University
Paul Timmers, Director of the Sustainable & Secure Society Directorate, European Commission, DG CONNECT
Chair: Karen Wilson, Senior Fellow, Bruegel

Biographies

Jacques Crémer is Scientific Director of the Toulouse School of Economics, the Director of Research CNRS, GREMAQ, at the University of Toulouse I, and a Fellow of the Council of the Econometric Society. He has also served as a Professor at the École Polytechnique, and as Director of the École Doctorale de Sciences Économiques at the University of Toulouse I. His research interests include the Theory of Organizations, Political Economy, and Networks, Software, and the Internet.

Richard Boscovich is an Assistant General Counsel on Microsoft’s Digital Crimes Unit, Richard Boscovich leads a team that focuses on malicious code and spyware enforcement cases. His work in the field includes legal strategies used in the take downs and disrutions of the Waledac, Rustock, Kelihos, Bamital, Zeus, Nitol, Citadel and Zero Access botnets. Boscovich began his career as a corporate tax attorney in New York, NY, and then served for 17 years at the U.S. Department of Justice as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in Florida’s Southern District. He directed the District’s Computer Hacking & Intellectual Property unit, where he prosecuted high-profile computer intrusion cases, including the first federal juvenile prosecution of a 17- year-old hacker. With Microsoft since 2008, he holds both a B.A. degree in Political Science/History and a law degree from the University Of Miami.

Paul Timmers is Director of the Sustainable & Secure Society Directorate in the European Commission Communications Networks, Content and Technologies Directorate General (DG CONNECT). Previously he headed the ICT for Inclusion and the eGovernment units. He was also member of the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Enterprise and Information Society.

Before joining the European Commission, he was a manager in product marketing and software development in a large IT company. He also co-founded a software start-up. He holds a PhD in theoretical physics from the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands and a MBA from Warwick Business School, UK. He has widely published in the field of technology and policy, including a book on electronic commerce strategies and business models. He was a visiting professor and lecturer at several universities and business schools across the world including an EU Research Fellow at the University of North Carolina in the USA.