The fifth edition of the Swiss Cyber Security Days was held under the motto "Shaping Cyber Resilience" and took place for the first time in Bern with over 2,200 visitors. The conclusion from the 100 or so presentations: Cyber is a joint task. In order to master the challenge of cyber security and strengthen cross-sector resilience, everyone must make a contribution: politics, education, research, business, the public sector and civil society. It is particularly important that cooperation and knowledge transfer takes place and is further promoted not only at national but also at international level. The date for the Swiss Cyber Security Days at the BERNEXPO site has already been set for 18 and 19 February 2025.

The fifth edition of the Swiss Cyber Security Days (SCSD), the leading platform for dialogue and expertise on cyber security, was successfully held on Tuesday, 20 and Wednesday, 21 February. The most important decision-makers and experts in the field of cyber security at national and international level met at the BERNEXPO exhibition centre. The event was attended by over 2,200 people. In his opening speech, Programme Director Nicolas Mayencourt drew attention to the fact that cybercrime has literally exploded in recent years. The damage in 2022 was many times higher than the damage caused by natural disasters. For this reason, this platform on the topic of cyber is needed more urgently than ever: "There is a global lack of understanding of the impact cyberspace has on our society. We therefore see it as our task to act as a bridge builder and help the topic gain more attention."

More than 2.5 million vulnerabilities in Switzerland

Among other things, the annual edition of the State of Swiss Cyberspace was presented at the SCSD. This is a scientific scan of Swiss cyberspace, covering all ICT infrastructures connected to the public Internet. Over 2.5 million potential vulnerabilities were identified.

Highlights were provided by Robert Bohls, Cyber Operations Chief of the FBI, and Admiral Dr Thomas Daum, Inspector of Cyber and Information Space of the German Armed Forces, among others. Both emphasised that cyber security is not just a national issue, but that international cooperation is needed to master the challenges ahead.

Natalie Silvanovich, Team Leader of Google Project Zero North America - an elite group of hackers - showed how they search for and fix existing vulnerabilities. Christian-Marc Lifländer, Head of Cyber Defence and Policy at NATO, provided fascinating insights into warfare in cyberspace.

A strong signal against disinformation

Disinformation is the most immediate risk to global stability. This was emphasised by Alois Zwinggi,Managing Director of the World Economic Forum (WEF), during his speech. He also presented theWEF's Global Risk Report 2024. Prof Dr Touradj Ebrahimi, Professor at the Swiss Federal Institute ofTechnology Lausanne EPFL, gave reason for hope. He presented the international "JPEG Trust"standard, which will be published in summer 2024 and rolled out worldwide. This will help to ensure thetrustworthiness and authenticity of visual media content.

The visitors were also very enthusiastic. Emiel Brok, SUSE Ambassador Switzerland, commented onthe SCSD: "It was absolutely worth the trip to Switzerland. We were able to meet various exponentsfrom interested companies and of course welcome the fact that open source topics are becomingincreasingly relevant in the area of cyber security." Ingo Spranz, Regional Director CrowdStrike, echoedthe same sentiment: "This was our first time as a sponsor and we were able to make valuableconnections, meet customers and listen to exciting presentations. We are already looking forward to thenext edition."

Datum 100 conferences, panels, expert discussions, happy organisers and a new date

The fifth edition took place for the first time in Bern on the BERNEXPO site. In addition to around 100presentations in the form of panels, expert discussions, best practices and round tables, the exhibitionarea with over 90 exhibitors also offered plenty of opportunities for personal dialogue and networking.

The programme director of the Swiss Cyber Security Days, Nicolas Mayencourt, was enthusiastic aboutthis year's event. "It is our declared goal to make Bern the cyber capital. I am very satisfied, it was agreat two days and we learnt a lot," said Mayencourt. The host and CEO of the BERNEXPO GROUPE,Tom Winter, was also delighted: "Overall, our expectations of the Swiss Cyber Security Days were met.We are now looking forward to the next Swiss Cyber Security Days on 18 and 19 February 2025, onceagain here on the BERNEXPO site."

For more information: Media Office Swiss Cyber Security Days 2024

Jürg Walpen, Monbijoustrasse 36, 3011 Bern, +41 79 271 84 17, media@scsd.ch