The European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO) has organised on the 27th and 28th October a one-of-a-kind event for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs). This represented the kick-start for high-level discussions among peers on the most prominent cybersecurity threats in Europe, paving the way for a European network of CISOs in the name of trusted cooperation and starting what will be Europe’s annual flagship event for such community of professionals.
In today’s digital society, the importance of CISOs is growing exponentially. However, these professionals often lack links and support at European level, especially when it comes to exchanging sensitive cybersecurity information among peers in a trusted environment and when considering the increasing impact of European legislations on their work. For this reason, ECSO organised the first of what will be a recurrent event for CISOs at European level: the CISO Meetup.
Our goal as ECSO is to bring together a community of European CISOs, build trust among peers, share information on cybersecurity and learn from one another, in a safe and above all trusted environment. The rapid growth of CISOs adhering to ECSO’s CISO community shows us the importance of such an event, which allows them to exchange lessons learned and best practices, share information on operational issues, and develop positions as well as links with the European institutions.
Luigi Rebuffi, Secretary General, ECSO
ECSO’s CISO Meetup also gathered high representatives from the European Commission and ENISA, as well as CISOs from different European countries and sectors.
It is important for us as companies to work not only on the technology and the public-private partnership aspects, but also to cover the aspects related to companies working for IT security. Customers need to implement the technology, and that is why it is important to have the full picture when it comes to the cybersecurity sector in Europe.
Axel Deininger, ECSO Chairperson
Bringing together CISOs from so many European countries has proven to be difficult, but in the end very helpful. This event is clearly important for ECSO, because we have finally witnessed the high commitment of CISOs to shape the European cybersecurity ecosystem. I think that ECSO has a key role in bringing together CISOs, allowing them to meet each other, build trusted relationships and share best practices.
Simone Pezzoli, CTO at Haier Europe and Chair of ECSO’s CISO Community
This is the first ever ECSO event where CISOs meet at European level. What it is impressive is to witness that, despite different maturity levels, several European countries share the same issues and objectives, and I think we can learn much more at European level that at national one.
Eric Singer, CISO at EMEA Schneider Electric and Chair of ECSO’s Working Group on Cyber resilience of the economy, infrastructures and services
ECSO offers a great opportunity for CISOs to be stronger outside of their national perimeter.
Paul Bayle, Head of Security and Group CSO – Group Security and Chair of ECSO’s Working Group on Cyber resilience of the economy, infrastructures and services
As an energy operator it is important for me to create relationships and connect with my counterparts from other cultures, countries and mind sets.
Olivier Ligneul, EDF and Chair of ECSO’s Working Group on Cyber resilience of the economy, infrastructures and services
It is very important that we have CISOs from different sectors to build a European network, to meet in person and cooperate with peers.
Antonio Fernandes, CISO at Finsa and Chair of ECSO’s CISO Community
ECSO’s CISOs European Community is unique, as it is the only one hosted by an independent non-profit organisation which is a privileged partner of the European Commission in developing the European Cybersecurity Ecosystem. Developing a dialogue among CISOs coming from different sectors and countries will allow an easier cooperation with the European and national public bodies in charge of the cyber threat response.
Luigi Rebuffi, Secretary General, ECSO
ECSO also acts as a bridge in Europe for cybersecurity businesses. The CISO Meetup has in fact provided a successful format for vendors who exhibited and presented their products and services. ECSO was joined by the vendors before.ai, binalyze, Citalid, Egerie, QuoIntelligence, Secunet, Sweepatic and Wallix.
