Welcome to the KuppingerCole Analyst Chat. I'm your host. My name is Matthias Reinwarth, I'm the director of the Practice Identity and Access Management here at KuppingerCole Analysts. My guests, and it's plural, today are, first of all Berthold Kerl. He's the CEO of KuppingerCole.
Hi Matthias. Thank you for having me.
we have Christopher Schütze, he's the Director of the Practice Cybersecurity also here at KuppingerCole Analysts. Hi Christopher.
Hi, Matthias. Hi, Berthold.
It's great to have you and we are here today and we are here together to talk about an upcoming event that we are planning in November. Last year, November, we had the Cybersecurity Leadership Summit, but this time we are moving locations and we are changing names. We're going to Frankfurt for the 14th to the 16th of November and we will start a new event which will be called cyberevolution, and that will be different. Berthold, what is special about
Yeah, I think you already pronounced it accordingly. The word cyberevolution obviously carries evolution and revolution in it. So we wanted to create a conference which, on the one hand continues with good established practices, but of course takes into account new disruptive, innovative technologies and also the anticipation of the future. So we will also look into the future and anticipate what is coming.
Okay, anticipating the future. And we have the Director of the Practice Cybersecurity here. Christopher, what are topics that we anticipate, that we are looking at when we look at cyberevolution? What is hot?
So hot is a lot. And especially around what Berthold mentioned. The future and the future meets today. So that is exactly what we are doing at cyberevolution. Topics from together, as he mentioned, fitting into the future. So what we finally have in artificial intelligence, so really applied artificial intelligence, not having some kind of simple scheme, simple policy, really something that improves our cybersecurity, whether it helps us to identify in a really enormous amount of data or... whatever, the one uncommon thing, so the attacker or it also might help us or will help us to improve the resilience of the whole organization. With artificial intelligence, you can streamline processes and enable a much higher level of reliable automation around security. And that is, I guess, the big topic of the conference.
Right, so we are at the connecting point between cybersecurity and artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies. Usually it would be a stupid question to ask some months in advance: who will be attending? But as you two are actually working on the agenda, are preparing that event, Berthold, who will be attending? What do you know already?
So obviously we strive to having a great group, a big audience of, let's say around 500. What we are seeing from people who are already applied for it, we will probably have 30 plus CISOs there, but we are also looking for technical people like architects, like developers, like people from the CERT. We will have students there from universities. So it's a broad range of people and I think that will be an additional benefit of the conference to bring all these people together and exchange with each other. To add one more aspect to your question, and that is, of course, not only from a level who attends, but also where people are coming from. And we will have people, of course, being in Frankfurt from the financial services industry, but we will also see people from other industries such as chemical, automotive, mid-cap, small cap, government, law enforcement, military. So it will really be a big conference where people have the chance to talk to each other and exchange.
Yes. And I think that is really also one of the beauties of such an event that you bring together people of different origin but for a common topic, and that is cybersecurity in an age of artificial intelligence. And I think that really will benefit all of the participants. And all of us as we are, will be there, of course. And so really learning from the best and from the most diverse group of people possible. When we talk about formats, when you say cyberevolution is something different, I assume that the formats, the presentation and I know it already will be a bit different, a bit more modern, a bit unusual. What will be the formats like, Christopher?
So we have added a lot of more interactive stuff, so different stuff than on any previous other conference we did. And as collaboration and learning is really the key of this conference, as Berthold already mentioned, we will have workshops where people can really work together on a topic to understand it on a certain level and develop new skills. For sure we will have a lot of presentations and keynotes as well where people also can interact, ask questions. This is still the most successful and engaging format at a conference to learn and share really for both, so not only for you as an attendee, also for the speakers and in the networking lounge afterwards. Then we have technical labs where you can touch things, really investigate things and really understand those new technologies that we have to deal with in the future, or more or less even today. So for instance, something around deepfake detection or how to build your artificial Intelligence cybersecurity toolkit. Then for sure we have panels, as a keynote panel or in one of the sessions really to discuss with industry experts, interact with them, ask questions around their topics of expertise. And during lunch break, there's also some really cool new format. It's called Cyber Bites, where you can discuss in a moderated way in a specific topic. You can, in parallel have your lunch, enjoy your lunch and discuss with peers something around that. And last but not least, but we will cover this on a more detailed level later. We will have the KuppingerCole capture the flag competition and the Pitch Night to fight for your idea or your topic.
Right. We will follow up on that. This sounds really interesting and I'm seeing that a bit from afar while you are creating the agenda. And really, creating such an agenda, it's really a large amount of work, but I think it's also a rewarding amount of work. So first agenda has already been published and there are already some highlights on that agenda. Berthold, what are the highlights that you can already share, what people can look forward to when joining us in November?
Yeah, I was already talking about this, What will the future bring us? So we will use the SAFIRE [Strategic Intelligence Foresight System for European Union Research and Innovation] scenarios to assess the future and the impact on cybersecurity. That will be prepared but we will also do it with the attendees at the conference and present it back to everyone. So that's, that's probably very exciting. I'm looking forward to that. We have someone from Bayern Munich there who will talk about artificial intelligence usage in modern sport. So how is that used? But also what consequences come up from a cybersecurity perspective. So that's an interesting one. And perhaps let me give you a third idea. Of course, everyone is talking about artificial intelligence, but it's will probably not make the humans unnecessary. So we will talk a lot about what the consequences will this have to humans, how to use this new technology, how to take advantage of it. And it will culminate into a keynote from Thomas Tschersich from Deutsche Telekom, who will talk about whether artificial intelligence is or is not capable to replace the CISO going forward.
Right. That really sounds interesting. And there's more to come, of course. But Christopher, you've mentioned that capture the flag thing. For those who haven't heard of that, including me, what is it?
So capture the flag will be really a brand new format at the cyberevolution. We will have up to 12 teams from university and from enterprise that will fight against each other to become the winner team of the KuppingerCole cyberevolution capture the flag. this will really be a cool part of the agenda and the main capture the flag event will be on Wednesday. So it's the 15th of November. The team teams will have some kind of open space where you as an attendee can see what they are doing, how they fight, how they solve specific puzzles, challenges within our platform for capture the flag. We will also have multiple breakout sessions where with the moderator you can interact a bit more with the people, you can see really what is going on. We will pick specific people, teams really to get or to share the feeling of those attackers or defenders, depends a little bit on the teams, that you can really understand, what is becoming a hacker, what is becoming a defender, how do they do their everyday job? How is that working? And that is, I think, a really cool and interesting new format at the cyberevolution.
Right, so collaboration is key. Interactivity is key. So no longer just the school-like presentation part of events. It's really more bringing people together, a bit of gamification, a bit of interactivity. And another part that I've heard and that I think is really interesting and, again, brings people to show the best of themselves and the best of their results is the Pitch Night. Berthold, what is this Pitch Night? What will it be pitched and who can do that? And is this a competition? Is there some reward?
Of course. So that's also really a brand new format we are having at the conference. It will be really short and crisp, two and a half minute pitches. Now, what can be pitched? We are looking for problems in cybersecurity and we are looking for creative and innovative solutions to these problems. Everyone who has a solution for a important cybersecurity problem is invited and can apply for it. And then we will have a jury consisting out of CISOs and other experts who will then basically touch on all on all the presenters and obviously award the price to the winners accordingly. So I am looking forward to both, to an entertaining but also very interesting session at cyberevolution.
And to continue with these interactive and innovative formats, we also bring people together to learn together. So we will have workshops. What are the highlights that you can already predict will be happening at cyberevolution when it comes to workshops?
So we will have multiple workshops. I can share details of three of the most interesting ones that we have right now. And the one is, Berthold already mentioned, about the future scenarios, so shaping the cybersecurity landscape of the future based on the SAFIRE scenarios. So really see how the future changes or develops and elaborate how this will impact the cybersecurity future, will be one of the workshops. And the other one that's also really cool topic, you can participate and really feel what it means if you are under attack in a workshop. It's called 72 Hours of a CISO’s Nightmare and Florian Jörgens will share very detailed what it means to be the CISO and what you have to do, what needs to be investigated if you are currently under attack, if someone is asking for a ransom and how to deal with that. So this will also be really a cool topic. And another very practical topic will be how to build your organization resilience to achieve a very open model to fight for new cybersecurity challenges. So around fabrics and the challenges of the future to be ready for that.
That sounds really good. So it’s still a few months to go, so November is still some time you can work on that. But to wrap this session up, why do we need such an event? Why do we need cyberevolution? Maybe to both of you, but starting with Berthold.
Yeah, obviously before we started with the conceptualization of the conference, we did some market research and the feedback we got was that people were really asking for a top notch conference in Europe. Obviously not everyone has the opportunity to go to the US or to other locations to listen to the best vendors globally, to the best experts can offer, all supported by an analyst company which is specialized in these topics and can obviously add some neutral value to everything. And of course we will do what I already mentioned, allow people to really exchange best practices with each other, learn from each others, connect to each other. So when the problem comes up, then they know who to call and to discuss certain things. And that across all industries, company sizes and even countries, that is a clear goal. Someone really said, what we need in Europe is we need an air buzz of cybersecurity. And this is the conference supposed to be.
Anything to add from your site, Christopher?
Basically, Berthold mentioned already everything. But maybe to wrap it up, the idea is to bring people together, to share knowledge, to learn from each other, to build your network and be ready for the cyberevolution where we all have to deal with.
Right. So as I said, it's a few months to go. So if people are interested in learning more about cyberevolution, they of course already now, today can just register for that event. Are there any other ways to be part of that event? You mentioned the capture the flag, so maybe academia can join us. Maybe there are still some speaker slots open? Is there something that people can do when they want to be more than just a passive part of that, although it's very interactive? Maybe Christopher, is there some space to fill still?
Sure. I think the best starting point here is always the website. You can find it at kuppingercole.com. There are still some speaker slots open and if you want to participate the capture the flag event, you can see the details on the website and the same applies for the Pitch Night where you can apply and be part of the cyberevolution.
Right. Okay. I see there's still a lot of work to do, so it won't steal too much of your time, Berthold and Christopher. It was great that you joined me for this special podcast episode with two guests and really laying out the details and the facts and figures and the beauty of the upcoming cyberevolution event in November in Frankfurt. So thank you for your time, Christopher and Berthold and looking forward to seeing your latest in November for that event. So thank you again.
Yeah. Thank you Matthias, and hopefully we will see most of your listeners as well.
Of course they will be there. So thank you. And bye bye.
