Event Details
To understand how real the threat of cybercrime is to private companies, one need only look at Notpeya, an impish piece of malware hidden in a seemingly innocuous tax software package. The virus struck Ukraine in 2017, knocking out federal agencies, transport systems, cash machinesโeven the radiation monitors at Chernobyl. It then went rogue.
Notpeya wormed its way from the computers of multinational firms with local outposts in Ukraine to their global operations, causing collateral damage to victims ranging from Maersk and Saint-Gobain, to American drugmaker Merck, the last of which lost 40,000 computers in the blink of an eye and was forced to halt manufacturing of its human-papillomavirus vaccine. The total damage caused by the hit was put at $10bn, making it the costliest such attack ever.
This was a wake-up call for businesses (and governments) who had downplayed the impending need to shore-up cyber defences. Private investment into cybersecurity is at record high levels, and keeps growing every year. Two years ago, South Korea's ICT Ministry predicted that โฉ670bn would be spent on cybersecurity by 2023, but this amount will almost certainly be surpassed. Just a month ago, President Yoon Suk-yeol decided to form an interagency task force to deal with cybersecurity issues, after the day-long failure of KakaoTalk caused massive disruption in South Korea. Although this was due to a fire, it showed the dangers posed by any potential hack or cyber attack.
While the government is now paying more attention, are companies doing enough to protect themselves? What are the new threats to be faced in 2023? How much are companies allocating to cyber protection, and how much should they? At this roundtable discussion, we bring together experts who understand and can explain the technical complexities of cyber threats, as well as representatives from the corporate world and who can update our network members on the key challenges for one of this year's most critical topics.
