About the conference
The National Cyber Security Directorate (former CERT-RO) is pleased to announce the 11th edition of the Annual International Conference “The New Global Challenges in Cyber Security” (CERTCON11) that will take place in a hybrid format between 13-14 October in Bucharest, Romania at the Palace of Parliament.
Each year, the CERTCON conference brings together around 300 cybersecurity experts, government officials and policy makers, as well as representatives of private companies from different fields and industries, NGOs and representatives of the academic milieu. It provides a generous space for debates and presentations dealing with various technical and legislative issues in the field of cybersecurity, both at the national and international levels.
This year’s edition of the CERTCON focuses on some of the most pressing topics of cybersecurity, ranging from policy and law enforcement to more technical aspects. As such, we will discuss the relation between the COVID-19 pandemic and cybersecurity, touching both the public and the private sectors; the launch of the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre in Bucharest and its larger implications; the prospects of the Joint Cyber Unit and the NIS 2 Directive; how to effectively tackle cybercrime through coordinated efforts; aspects of democratic resilience in the digital age; the difference between offensive and defensive cybersecurity; last but not least, participants will have the opportunity to learn more about cyber-attacks and incidents produced during the pandemic.
History
The CERTCON conference has been held each year since the foundation of CERT-RO in 2011. Starting out as a small focus group dedicated to cybersec professionals in Romania, it has progressively grown to become one of the largest gathering for public representatives and private decision makers on cybersecurity in the country, and a regional point of interest. Moreover, the focus gradually shifted to a global perspective, as both speakers and participants are now coming from various corners of the world to attend the two-day conference.
2020
Due to COVID-19 related restrictions, the 2020 edition of the CERTCON conference had to take place solely online. Regardless, the overall quality of discussions, debates and presentations made up for the lack of physical networking opportunities between participants.
Among the discussed topics featured: the European Union’s 5G Toolbox; certification and standardization schemes; cybercrime and social engineering; developments in e-Governance; women in cyber; the NIS Directive and European and national cybersecurity strategies; emerging technologies (IoT, Blockchain, Machine learning, etc.); Information Sharing and Analysis Centers. The event gained notoriety through the participation of representatives from Romania, EU institutions and Member States, as well as experts from private sectors and the academia.
2019
The 2019 edition of the CERTCON addressed some of the most critical subjects of cybersecurity, ranging from policy and law enforcement to technical aspects. We have discussed the challenges of 5G Networks from cybersecurity perspectives, the action and the counteraction against cyber crime, education and awareness needed to maintain the population alert, lessons learned and the challenges of the NIS implementation, the vision and the challenges of artificial intelligence, but also the research and development in cybersecurity.
The event gained notoriety with the participation of representatives from Romania, EU Member States and EU institutions, as well as experts from private sectors and academia. CERTCON9 was supported by the Romanian Ministry of Communications and Information Society and the US Embassy in Bucharest.
2018
In 2018, CERT-RO provided a mix of debates, presentations and workshops addressing technical and public policy issues relevant to cyber security in Romania, Europe and beyond. Antedees had a chance to discuss diplomatic and legal challenges in the attribution of cyber incidents, while providing insights into capabilities and combating global threats. Parallel sessions were dedicated to technical discussions on the latest cyber security technologies and solutions in Critical Infrastructure Protection, Machine Learning, Smart Investigations and IoT.
The New Global Challenges in Cyber Security’ International Conference reached its 8th edition. Every year, it has brought together cyber experts, government officials and policy-makers, as well as representatives of private companies from across all sectors and industries, NGOs and Academia.
2017
The 2017 edition offered presentations and debates centered around the NIS Directive transposition project and the EU General Data Protection Regulation, bringing together 300 attendees over two days. Moreover, the event accommodated guests from 18 countries and enjoyed the presence of the EU Commissioner for the Digital Single Market, the Romanian Minister for Communication and Information Society and the Romanian Minister for European Affairs, who addressed the most pressing challenges from a regulatory and strategic perspective at both European and national level. Other key institutions, such as NATO, UN’s International Telecommunications Union, US Embassy and EU’s Cyber Security Agency, ENISA, have also been represented at the highest level and joined the discussion with their own perspective.
2016
The sixth edition of the conference gathered over 300 participants from Romania and abroad, as well as decision-makers from national security and public administration organizations, CERT delegations from Europe and Asia and business and academia representatives.
The event reunited world-class specialist such as Eugene Kaspersky, Ramses Gallego, Robert Kosla or Peter Traven, launching debates on the current and future threats, intelligence strategies, botnet network monitoring and cybersecurity legislation. Moreover, CERT Representatives from Korea, Germany and other European states shared their experience in incident handling and vulnerability management.
2015
The 5th edition of the conference was held during 5th and 6th of October 2015, with the support of the US Embassy at Bucharest. CERT delegations from Europe and Asia attended the discussions during the 2 days, as well as representatives of private and state companies, civil society and academia.
The sessions covered topics regarding global state of cyber security, funneling down on the case of Romania, workshops concerning incident handling and response, closing down with national CERT presentations, sharing best practices from Europe and beyond. Last but not least, private companies presented a technical perspective on security, showcasing state of the art solutions.
2014
The 4th edition of the conference was held with the support of Romanian Association for Information Security and US Embassy at Bucharest. The one-day event reunited information security experts, academia and government officials, as well as Kaori Umemura from JPCERT and Enuju Pak from KrCERT, who shared their experience regarding incident handling and vulnerability management. Moreover, technical subjects such as Xen emulator flaws or APT attacks were tackled by subject matter experts from private companies. Last but not least, the annual report regarding cyber security incidents was presented by CERT-RO representatives.