CyberChess 2019 kicks off the European Cybersecurity Month

CyberChess 2019, the annual international IT security conference organised by CERT.LV and ISACA Latvia chapter, which is also supported by the big friends of the event – dots. and LMT, was held at Radisson Blu Latvia held on October 2 and 3. For the first time in its history, the conference had so many foreign cybersecurity experts, including world-renowned lecturers such as Jenny Radcliffe known as social engineering guru, Carl Herberger, vice-president of the international company Radware, and Patrick C. Miller, an expert with 30 years of experience in cybersecurity. Latvian President Egils Levits and Latvian Minister of Defence Artis Pabriks also participated in the opening of the conference.

“Every year CERT.LV is looking for opportunities to improve the form of CyberChess both in terms of content and organisation. We have never had CyberChess like we have it this year! We will try a lot of things for the first time, both by changing the conference format from one to two days, and by integrating the so-called “hands-on” approach into the event by offering some visitors also practical activity. For the first time in the history of the conference, CERT.LV also hosts the Capture the Flag (Jeopardy-style) contest for individuals and teams of up to 3 people. Capture the Flag is a special cybersecurity contest designed to urge participants of the game to confront a variety of cybersecurity challenges in categories like cryptography, network analysis, forensics, binary code and others. Participants can participate in the contest both by visiting the conference and remotely – applying for it in advance,” explains Deputy Head of CERT.LV Varis Teivāns. 

On both days of the conference, its participants could also apply for and unravel the secrets of the Cyber Escape Room developed by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

dots. was also represented at the conference: with its workshop “Quick guide in hacking or most common security threats of web apps”, which combined theory and advice, and also a practical hackathon contest consisting of 10 tasks, with a lecture “Story about cyberthreats: what is actually happening in Latvia?” and with a spectacular booth providing useful information and consultations.

Those who are not going to the conference will be able to watch it live on the CERT.LV website, Facebook page, as well as on LMT Straume.

This year, the conference focused on topics such as social engineering and cyber operations – from a political, technical and security point of view and, of course, on the latest cybersecurity trends and technologies – including the development of 5G.

Ingmārs Pūķis, Vice-President of LMT, about participation in CyberChess 2019: “In a few years 5G from a futuristic concept will become our reality – by combining thousands of Internet of Things sensors into a single system, creating completely new technological solutions for manufacturing, medicine, connected transport and other industries.  The new opportunities also mean a new level of security requirements. Security of network infrastructure and solutions has always been among the priorities of LMT. Therefore, LMT’s support to CyberChess focusing on the latest trends and solutions for technology security in the 5G era is quite natural.”

“We are also honoured to take part in the Latvia’s most ambitious cybersecurity event in order to urge everyone to think about IT security in their personal and working environment. CyberChess is a place to draw inspiration, to meet the best professionals in the industry, and to learn the news that are concealed in everyday life. Only a united and collaborative professional environment gives us the possibility to confront today’s complex cyber challenges,” emphasises Didzis Balodis, Head of IT Infrastructure and Security Solutions at dots.

The need to get an update on cybersecurity issues is also highlighted by the President of ISACA Latvia chapter Sintija Deruma: “Most of consumers view cybersecurity as a necessity rather than as an additional benefit included in digital products and services. Even the most optimal cybersecurity policies and defence tools installed on devices cannot provide 100% protection against cyberattacks, but their absence makes consumers and their data an easy target. Therefore, consumers and regulators of digital services are forcing developers to increase the importance of cybersecurity when developing digital services, thereby making it the strong side of the organisation.”

CyberChess 2019 is supported by LMT, dots., Latvian Ministry of Defence, SIA Cyber Circle.

The conference is partially co-financed from the European Union CEF project “Improving Cyber Security Capacities in Latvia” (INEA/CEF/ICT/A2017/1528784).