The International Conference on Cyber Conflicts, CyCon 2024, takes place from 28th to 31 May in Tallinn. The top international leaders from NATO, governments, academia and industry discuss how the latest research and technological innovation can be used to defend our nations against emerging cyber threats.
„CyCon is a unique event, where leading experts from more than 40 nations present their recent achievements to the cyber defenders of our nations,“ said Dr Mart Noorma, the Director of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), the organizer of the event. „The stars of CyCon 2024 are AI and Cloud Technologies. While they are great assets in responsible hands, they can be severely misused for cyber attacks against peaceful population. At NATO CCDCOE, 39 nations are working together to be able to face the emerging cyberthreats as a coalition.“
In the opening Cyber Commanders Panel, LtGen Kevin B. Kennedy, Commander of US Air Force Cyber, highlighted the importance of integrating cyber with other domains. „The cyber domain is important for almost every aspect of life in the 21st century. With that it also creates space for adversaries to seek advantages, including disrupting the information we rely on in our daily activities,“ said Kennedy. He emphasized the criticality of cooperation, both international and domestic, to the success in counteracting cyber threats.
The conference is organized already for the 16th time and is attended by 700 participants from over 40 countries. It reflects on how rapidly evolving emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous weapons and space technology are reshaping conflicts and how conflicts, such as the war against Ukraine are reshaping our digital environment, including bringing challenges for its legal framework. The Conference Proceedings include 20 peer-reviewed papers developed on the basis of more than 200 abstracts submitted.
The theme for CyCon 2024 is “Over the Horizon”, denoting the need not only to look at the forthcoming technological trends on the horizon but also to start forecasting beyond that horizon due to accelerating rates of change.
The four-day multidisciplinary conference brings around 100 distinguished cyber experts on stage. The welcoming address of the conference is made by Alar Karis, President of Estonia. The keynote speakers include David van Weel, NATO Assistant Secretary-General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, Nathaniel Fick, U.S. Ambassador at Large for Cyberspace and Digital Policy, Dr Paul Vixie, one of the pioneers of the Internet; Amy Hogan-Burney, General Manager and Associate General Counsel for Cybersecurity Policy & Protection, Microsoft and Lieutenant General Michael Vetter, Director General for Cyber/IT and Chief Information Officer in the German Ministry of Defence and Prof. Herb Lin at the Center for International Security and Cooperation and at the Hoover Institution, both at Stanford University.
The conference is supported by Fortinet, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Siemens, Telsy, Trend Micro, ELT Group, Silobreaker and IEEE.
More detailed information about the conference can be found at https://cycon.org/
Photos of the event can be found at Flickr.