On 1st and 2nd June 2022, the 17th RISK conference was held in Laško, organized by the Slovenian company Real Security. It is a traditional international event that brings together leading experts in cyber security and systems optimization with representatives of local partner companies, consulting companies, government institutions, critical infrastructure, banks, insurance companies, service providers and all other companies from the entire Adriatic region.
The main purpose of this year’s conference was, after a three-year break, to once again organize a live conference and thus raise the awareness of cyber security threats. The aim was to gain insight into current strategies, tactics and solutions in preventing information threats, to present the latest security approaches and good practices, and thus enable the gathering of security experts and representatives of various public and private organizations.
The conference was attended by more than 500 participants and more than 50 plenary lectures and professional workshops were held. Lecturers from various reputable organizations such as Trellix, Forcepoint, Netwrix, CyberRes, Radware, Extrahop, Group-IB, Skyhigh Security, LogRhythm, Mandiant, Infoblox, Cisco, as well as some companies and lecturers from Slovenia which presented their views on development trends, including Sfera IT, S&T Slovenia, UnistarPRO, NIL, Softnet, Carbonsec and Telekom Slovenije. Lectures were held in English and Slovenian.
At the opening, the participants were addressed by representatives of Real Security d.o.o., General Manager Renato Uhl, Sales Director David Ivačič, Regional Director Matic Knuplež and Technical Director Alen Šalamun. The latter pointed out the dynamics and changing environment of the data protection industry and the new trend of returning computer networks to constellations, which we knew 20 years ago, emphasizing and warning all organizations that information incidents and intrusions are no longer rare events. All the organization, regardless of size, industry or geographical location, can be the target of the perpetrators. He also pointed out that the threats to information systems are increasing dramatically and the perpetrators have an advantage over the victims, so the number of attacks doubles every six months.
The inaugural address was followed by plenary lectures, first by the general sponsor of the RISK 2022 conference, TRELLIX, which was formed by merging two renowned companies, FireEye and McAfee, and lectures by Netwrix and the rising star in the field of cyber attacks, ExtraHop.
Most of the lectures focused on the current – post-pandemic state of information threats, which shows that the perpetrators are changing their purpose. Their goal is no longer just theft of data, but also the destruction of organizations or business processes, which is visible in the drastic increase in extortions – malicious programs (so-called ransomware) and the “Denial of Service” attacks, which seriously threaten the business flow of companies. Even greater is the increase in global attacks aimed at destabilizing countries, the so-called cyber warfare.
After a very varied program on the first day, visitors enjoyed a gala dinner, called the Great Gatsby Party at which visitors could watch the awards ceremony for the best achievements and projects in 2021 in the Adriatic region. Prizes were awarded on a country-by-country basis. This year, S&T received the award for Slovenia, and KING ICT received the award for the project and partner of the year in the Adriatic region. The official dinner was followed by an informal gathering where REAL security celebrated its 20th anniversary with a giant cake and a laser show.
The main topic of the second day was the rapid pace of development of security vulnerabilities in areas such as clouds, Internet of Things (IoT), social media and smart cities. A round table was held within the conference with representatives of leading companies from abroad, as well as a representative of the Slovenian organization SI-CERT, Gorazd Božič, talking about smart cities. The round table was moderated by Alen Šalamun, who challenged the participants with relevant questions to talk about cases and experiences from abroad, together with a representative of SI-CERT presented examples that reflect the current situation and talked about what awaits us in the development of digitalization and smart cities
This year’s end of the conference was followed by a traditional auction, at which visitors were able to compete for various products using the conference currency (RISKO). The jersey of the silver medal winner from the Beijing Olympics, Tim Mastnak, and the signed jersey of the Slovenian flying aces, winners of the gold medal from the Beijing Olympics, was also up for auction. The auction was supported by the company VBO as the general sponsor and with Goodtimers as the honorary sponsor, which also brought a very rare sports car for participants to see, THE SHELBY COBRA, a few conference participants even had the luck to get a ride. All in the spirit and slogan of the conference »Back to good old times«, to experience something unforgettable. There were also 6,300 euros raised at the auction, which at the end the organizer divided into 3 proportional parts and donated in the form of checks to three organizations with the desire that they continue to work for the benefit of the children and the community.
The conference ended with a picnic on the outdoor terrace of the conference center where we all enjoyed a long-missed real, live socializing while. We would like to inform all those who failed to attend the conference this year, as well as all those who were with us, that the next RISK conference will be held on June 7 and 8, 2023. And because the years sure pass by quickly, it is best to enter the date on your calendar right away.