13th Annual Cyber Week Conference Wraps Up with Global Leaders and Experts Discussing Cybersecurity Challenges and Opportunities

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Jul 03, 2023, 10:08 ET

With over 11,000 attendees from 99 countries, Israel's annual Cyber Week conference convened top government officials, leading private companies, startups, entrepreneurs, VCs, academic experts, the military, and AI professionals. They addressed challenges posed by cybercrime projected to cost a staggering $10.5 trillion annually by 2025, and foster collaboration to combat this growing threat.

TEL AVIV, Israel, July 3, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Cyber Week, the annual cybersecurity event, successfully concluded its 13th conference, bringing together prominent figures from industry, government, military, and academia. The event was jointly organized by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center (ICRC), the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security at Tel Aviv University, and the Israeli National Cyber Directorate under the Prime Minister's Office along with the Ministry of Economy and Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Participants showcased the latest developments, challenges, and opportunities in the field of cybersecurity.

The conference featured esteemed speakers from around the world, including leading Israeli government officials such as Gaby Portnoy, Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate (INCD), and Ronen Bar, Director of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet). Maj. Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, widely recognized as the "father" of the Israeli Cyber industry, led the conference.

Distinguished global cyber officials also made significant contributions, including Kemba Eneas Walden, Acting National Cyber Director in the Office of the National Cyber Director; Nathaniel C. Fick, Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy at the U.S. Department of State; Minister Audrey Tang, Ministry of Digital Affairs Taiwan; Sami Khoury, Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security; H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security for the United Arab Emirates Government; Craig Jones, Cybercrime Director at INTERPOL; and Ann Dunkin, Chief Information Officer of the U.S. Department of Energy. The conference also welcomed renowned private sector leaders, such as Eric Doerr, VP of Engineering and Cloud Security at Google Cloud; Gil Shwed, Founder & CEO of Check Point; Aviv Cohen, CMO of Pentera; Bret Arsenault, Corporate Vice President, and Chief Information Security Officer of Microsoft; Udi Mokady, Founder and Executive Chairman of CyberArk; Chris Roberts, CISO of Boom Supersonic; Lane Bess, CEO of Deep Instinct and many more. This diverse lineup of speakers provided invaluable insights into the current cybersecurity landscape.

The 13th Annual Cyber Week Conference took place amidst the backdrop of rapid AI development, Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine, and an alarming rise in cybercrime and cyber-related damages, which are projected to reach an annual cost of $10.5 trillion by 2025. While concerns about the impact of AI across sectors, including cybersecurity, were discussed, speakers also expressed optimism about the transformative potential of this technology in addressing cybersecurity challenges.

H.E. Dr. Mohamed Al Kuwaiti, Head of Cyber Security, United Arab Emirates Government, discussed the importance of allies, detailing how Israel recently helped the UAE fend off a serious DDoS cyberattack. "Thank God for the Abraham Accords... Cybersecurity is an important aspect for us all. "The UAE is going through great digital transformation across all sectors: aviation, education, healthcare, oil and gas, transportation. And as a matter of fact, we need to ensure a safe and secure digital transformation." Dr. Al Kuwaiti continued, describing how the UAE plugs into the Start-Up Nation's many companies to build and extend his country's "cyber dome" to defend against cyberattacks.

Ronen Bar, Director of the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet/ISA), spoke about how the Shin Bet is harnessing AI: "AI technology has been incorporated quite naturally into the Shin Bet's interdiction machine." He describes how "an alarming number of [cybersecurity cases] have a strong basis on the web – posts, inspiration, knowledge, or social groups. The trend is clear. Traditional security organizations must adapt to the new situation, where any angry person with access to the Internet may become a threat. Already today, with AI, we have identified a significant number of threats," he said. "Since we have understood we can't fight this war with sticks and stones, we recognize the threats but also see opportunities of using AI."

The importance of global collaborations was made clear. Craig Jones, the Cybercrime Director of INTERPOL, commented on the legal challenges of cybersecurity: "When people say cybercrime is borderless, that really infuriates me because, as law enforcement officials, we are totally constricted by the countries and the legislation." To address the problem, Interpol has teams based around the world, providing "a framework for those countries and with secure platforms for communications." Ann Dunkin, CIO of the US Department of Energy, spoke on the importance of employing "a collective defense approach to cybersecurity." She said: "We must cooperate with like-minded international partners, focusing on innovation and cybersecurity capacity-building measures, cybersecurity for industrial control systems, the sharing of best practices, as well as workforce development strategies and training."

About Cyber Week:

Cyber Week is a leading international cybersecurity event that provides a unique opportunity for experts from industry, government, military, and academia to share their knowledge about the challenges and opportunities in the field. Cyber Week is hosted by the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center and the Yuval Ne'eman Workshop for Science, Technology, and Security at Tel Aviv University, headed by Major Gen. (Ret.) Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel, together with the Israel National Cyber Directorate at the Prime Minister's Office, The Ministry of Economy and Industry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

For more information about Cyber Week, please visit www.cyberweek.tau.ac.il.

SOURCE Cyber Week