DACH CISO Community
Executive Summit

Join this exclusive evening hosted by the Governing Body, this dinner is a can’t-miss opportunity to connect with your peers prior to tomorrow’s Executive Summit.

CISOs today face a Gordian Knot of complexity when it comes to their organization's IT/OT security. This complexity is the source of many of their problems for reliability, usability, and security. Learn how two strategic paths for streamlining your security stack to a selection of highly versatile partners can help empower security teams and simplify architecture to better protect critical connected devices.

Join this session to learn:

• How to consolidate your security stack to a few central platforms by leveraging the unique abilities of each
• How to free application teams to take control over their entire value chain and delegate meaningful decisions on development speed and cybersecurity
• How modern platforms enable consolidation and a DevSecOps “shift-left” approach through revolutionary architecture

With the rise of AI and GenAI in particular, a wide range of opportunities and chances but also risks have been emerging from an information security perspective. For instance, AI can greatly enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of fraud and anomaly detection but also eases phishing campaigns and malware implementation.

Join Christoph Bernius, CISO for Allianz in Germany, where he will showcase the opportunities and risks introduced by AI and Allianz's expertise in utilizing AI inter alia for fraud detection, defense strategies, and regulatory compliance.

Join us to discuss:

• AI Opportunities and Risks — Understand AI use cases, associated opportunities and risks, and leverage the potential of AI for effective risk and information security management. Furthermore, explore AI's capabilities for regulatory assessments and compliance
• Enhancing Cybersecurity – Discover how AI can enhance information security and improve decision-making processes, and its usability for the CISO community
• Usage of AI within Allianz — Discover how Allianz uses AI to increase the practical security level but also to address regulatory topics. Get insights into new developments and projects involving AI

In an era of economic uncertainty, organisations are facing intensified scrutiny over budgets across all departments, including security. As CISOs reassess technology investments, cybersecurity teams are challenged to achieve more with less. This necessitates a strategic approach to cost optimisation and resource allocation. To navigate these challenges, CISOs must prioritise the automation of manual tasks and leverage existing tools and assets effectively.

Join this session to discuss:

• Identifying the types of cost inefficiencies in your security team
• Develop strategies to optimise costs and showcase ROI during financial challenges
• Embrace modern cybersecurity asset inventory for cost optimisation and enhanced protection

Identity is under attack - over 80% of all attacks are identity related. Phishing, credential theft, and account takeovers are common tactics that a traditional SIEM might miss because it’s primarily designed to aggregate and correlate logs rather than detect nuanced identity-related behaviors. This, in combination with the fast advancement of AI technologies mean CISOs need to tackle more sophisticated attacks such as phishing attempts to deepfake identities.

How do CISOs keep a pulse on tools and capabilities to assess their organisation’s cybersecurity posture? Join this boardroom to discuss:

• Managing and securing all identities in a fast moving technology environments
• Crafting strategies to navigate the intersection of AI and IAM
• Balancing high expectations across the organisation to keep identities secure

The rise of ransomware attacks targeting high-value assets is reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. Black Basta, a double extortion ransomware group, underscores the critical need for prevention over cure. By analyzing real-world examples of their methods, organisations can learn how to stop these attackers in their tracks without disrupting operational efficiency.

For CISOs and security leaders, this is the time to fortify defenses—working during “peace times” ensures that when the storm hits, your efforts will bear fruit, allowing your organisation to weather the crisis. Join Dr.-Ing Ashar Javed, CISO at Hyundai AutoEver Europe, as he shares insights from extensive research and real-world experiences defending against Black Basta. This session will explore:

• Methods and initial access vectors used by Black Basta to infiltrate networks
• Tools and techniques for lateral movement and critical asset identification within compromised environments
• Communication utilities leveraged by attackers and the steps needed to fortify your defenses

Despite efforts from phishing simulations and security awareness campaigns, the human factor remains a key vulnerability in organisations’ line of defence. CISOs must execute a cross-functional educational strategy to shift employee behaviour from reactive to preventive. The best way to do this is to frame the challenges through the eyes of the attackers themselves. Join this interactive workshop for an “out-of-the-box” approach that will inspire you on how to engage top management on the topic of cybersecurity, regulation and risk. Specifically, you’ll cover

• Strategies to boost cybersecurity awareness across the organisation and mitigate cyberattacks
• How the mind and ‘logic’ of a cybercriminal works to understand how to better build your defence
• Drive the narrative that cybersecurity is not just an IT issue, but an everyone issue

As the regulatory landscape evolves, particularly with the introduction of the NIS2 Directive and the Cyber Resilience Act (CRA), organizations face increasing pressure to prioritize the cybersecurity of both their services and products. Regulatory bodies are tightening compliance requirements to protect critical infrastructure and digitally enabled products from growing threats. CISOs must re-evaluate their programs to align with these heightened regulatory expectations, ensuring they are prepared for both compliance and a rapid response when new threats emerge.

Join this boardroom session to share your views and discuss strategies on how to:

• Prepare your compliance framework to incorporate changing reporting requirements
• Adopt a Secure by Design mindset to strengthen your risk assessment process
• Streamline resources to create flexibility when acting on a threat and remain compliant

Change management and psychological safety are crucial for CISOs as they navigate the ever-evolving landscape of technology. Effective change management ensures smooth transitions, minimising disruptions and maximising productivity, while psychological safety fosters an environment where employees feel empowered to take risks, share ideas and collaborate, leading to enhanced problem-solving and innovation.

Join Dr. Marcia Goddard, Founder & CEO of Brain Matters, as she discusses:

• Exploring how the brain deals with change and the impact it has on performance
• Understanding the neuroscience behind psychological safety
• Cultivating psychological safety within your organisation