Lviv IT Cluster organized the third conference IT Meets Tech: Cybersecurity – Lessons from War and Practical Dimension. The event took place offline and gathered over a hundred participants, including representatives from government institutions, critical infrastructure facilities, and businesses. Top experts in cybersecurity, tech, and information protection shared insights into current cyber threats and approaches to enhancing cyber resilience.
During the event, industry experts discussed the importance of building information network defense systems during times of full-scale war, that not only takes place on the battlefield but also in cyberspace. They also talked about ways to prevent cyber attacks, such as proactively searching for vulnerabilities, implementing effective defense systems, and reducing the probability of attacks. Key topics covered at IT Meets Tech – Cybersecurity: Lessons from War and Practical Dimension included:
“We work with innovations that emerge every day. If we don’t share the latest developments with each other, we’ll fall behind. Cybersecurity is vital in our time, both for Ukraine and globally, considering global trends and the aggressive war launched by Russia. Every day, the enemy attacks us in cyberspace. So, we gathered experts who can share valuable knowledge and interesting ideas with IT Meets attendees and help them protect themselves, their businesses, and government structures from cyber attacks,” says Ivan Babichuk, a representative of the Lviv IT Cluster’s Supervisory Board.
One of the key challenges is ensuring a sufficient number of highly qualified professionals in cybersecurity. Both the government and businesses need true professionals. Lviv IT Cluster updated three educational programs in cybersecurity at the leading universities in the city: Lviv National University, Lviv Polytechnic National University, and Lviv University of Life Safety. Within these educational programs, students receive quality knowledge and skills necessary for the industry.
According to Deputy Chairman of the State Special Communications Service, Oleksandr Potiy, cyberspace knows no borders, and anyone can experience attacks from hackers, regardless of the region. It is a common problem that concerns the state, businesses, public organizations, media, and the general public. Therefore, it is essential to ensure effective cooperation to strengthen resilience through the implementation of advanced practices and active information sharing on various tools and approaches for defense against attacks.
“The state’s priority is a secure cyberspace. The state is interested in ensuring safe services. Thus, it is essential to ensure compliance with an adequate level of cybersecurity. Our business is cautious about the word ‘control’ due to possible interference in economic activities. However, we should talk not about control but about monitoring the implementation of cybersecurity systems and reporting to the authorities within sectoral directions on the implementation of certain norms in practice,” emphasizes Oleksandr Potiy.
The State Special Communications Service is a key agency in Ukraine responsible for developing the regulatory and normative framework that enables everyone to use and implement the best global practices. The institution collaborates with leading countries to ensure the implementation of practices required for achieving the desired results.
The event also highlighted the importance of effective collaboration between businesses and government agencies to protect information systems and enhance overall cyber resilience in the country. Often, the Government Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UA) notifies businesses of potential issues. However, companies may not react to warnings until an attack occurs, after which they seek help from CERT-UA. The State Special Communications Service is also prepared to conduct preventive measures to help identify weaknesses in information system protection.
At IT Meets Tech: Cybersecurity – Lessons from War and Practical Dimension, participants also discussed that the threat comes not only from their own imperfect information system defense but also from vulnerabilities in the security of partners. Therefore, gaps in the cybersecurity of partners who provide services to critical facilities can have consequences as severe as a successful attack on an energy distribution system, water supply system, or major bank.
As threats change daily, constant improvement of defense systems is necessary. Building a defense system once and expecting it to always help is not realistic. Additionally, continuous training of employees and officials is necessary. A significant portion of attacks starts because people are unaware of common cyber hygiene practices, let alone the ability to react quickly and correctly to non-standard situations.
IT Meets Tech: Cybersecurity – Lessons from War and Practical Dimension was supported by the State Special Communications Service and the USAID Project “Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure in Ukraine.”
Media partners of IT Meets Tech: Cybersecurity – Lessons from War and Practical Dimension: Happy Monday, Speka.media та ONE DAY Network.
Lviv IT Cluster organized the third conference IT Meets Tech: Cybersecurity – Lessons from War and Practical Dimension. The event took place offline and gathered over a hundred participants, including representatives from government institutions, critical infrastructure facilities, and businesses. Top experts in cybersecurity, tech, and information protection shared insights into current cyber threats and approaches […]
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