In a world that is increasingly digitized and connected, malicious ICT activities against critical infrastructure and critical information infrastructure supporting essential services to the public are rapidly growing in scale and complexity. This worrying trend impacts individuals and societies as a whole and has the potential of threating international peace and security through national or regional destabilization as well as through a direct threat to institutions and individuals.
Protecting critical infrastructure from ICT threats is a complex and multi-layered task where different actors play interdependent and mutually supporting roles. Leveraging the rich international and digital community in Geneva, UNIDIR’s 2022 Cyber Stability Conference provided a platform for discussion among experts and practitioners of different sectors with a view to extracting key insights that can enable further progress in multilateral discussions and support more efficient policy interventions by national governments for critical infrastructure protection.
PROGRAMME
Accessible text version also available below.
08:45-09:15: Welcome Coffee
09:15-09:20: Conference opening – Welcome remarks by Dr. Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR
09:20-10:20: Scene-setting Panel: Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure (Moderated by Dr. Robin Geiss, Director, UNIDIR)
The protection of critical infrastructure is a foundational stone for security as well as for economic and social development. In times of conflict, it is also a prerequisite of international humanitarian law. How has the proliferation of cyber threats affected the critical infrastructure ecosystem? What is the potential impact of malicious cyber activities against critical infrastructure from a security, development and humanitarian perspective?
H.E. Mr. Guilherme Patriota – Consul-General of Brazil and Former Chair of the GGE 2019-2021
Mr. Doug Greene – Director of the Division of Information Systems and Telecommunications, UNHCR
Ms. Latha Reddy – Former Co-Chair, Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace
10:25-11:30: Panel 1 – Curing the world: Health and Healthcare (Moderated by Ms. Moliehi Makumane, Researcher, UNIDIR)
Scene-setter: while digitalisation is not a new trend per se and cyber-attacks are not new, the COVID pandemic has brought to the forefront how vulnerable the healthcare sector is to cyber threats which have drastically increased in scale and complexity. This threat goes beyond healthcare facilities and covers all parts of the broader health ecosystem (e.g. research facilities, labs, pharmaceutical companies).
Mr. Brian Cincera – Chief Information Security Officer, Pfizer
Ms. Francesca Bosco – Chief of Strategy, Cyber Peace Institute
Mr. Flavio Aggio – Chief Information Security Officer, WHO
11:30-11:45: Comfort break
11:45-13:00: Panel 2 – Growing the world: International Trade and Finance (Moderated by Dr. Andraz Kastelic, Researcher, UNIDIR)
Scene-setter: in an increasingly globalized economy, supply chains are becoming more and more complex, cross-border and interconnected: this creates an urgent need for securing supply chains from malicious cyber incidents. As primary enabler of trade, the financial sector and its increased reliance on the digital domain also has to adapt to face new challenges.
Mr. Arthur Nelson – Deputy Director of the Technology and International Affairs Program, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Mr. Justin McCall – Head of Demand Generation and Partnerships, Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Ms. Maria Ceccarelli – Chief, Trade Facilitation Section, Economic Cooperation and Trade Division, UNECE
Ms. Susan Potgieter – Head of Strategic Services, South African Banking Risk Information Centre
13:00-14:00: Lunch
14:00-15:10: Panel 3 – Connecting the world: Information and Communication Technologies and Transport (Moderated by Dr. Samuele Dominioni, Researcher, UNIDIR)
Scene-setter: In an increasingly interconnected world, the ability to move people and goods in a safe, reliable and efficient manner within and across borders is a key enabler of economic and social development. On the other hand, the COVID pandemic has accelerated the digital transformation in many parts of the world, making the physical and digital infrastructure and services that underpin communication and connectivity key enablers for peace and security, economic and social development and prosperity. However, this accelerated path towards digitization and increased reliance on ICTs has inserted new weakness and vulnerabilities in an already complex ecosystem.
Ms. Jaya Baloo – Chief Information Security Officer, Avast
Mr. Kevin Reifsteck – Director for Critical Infrastructure Protection, Microsoft
Mr. Pascal Buchner – Director ITS and Chief Information Officer, IATA
15:15-16:25: Panel 4 – Sustaining the world: Energy & Water (Moderated by Dr. Giacomo Persi Paoli, Head of Programme, UNIDIR)
Scene-setter: continuous access to essential services like electricity and water supply is a pre-requisite for peace and development. However, much of the infrastructure that underpins such services is subject to multiple challenges including, but not limited to, cross-border nature, presence of legacy infrastructure, convergence of digital and physical systems.
Ms. Ayhan Gucuyener – Project Specialist at Kadir Has University Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection, Khas University
Ms. Chris Kubecka – Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Hypasec
Dr. David Mussington – Executive Assistant Director For Infrastructure Security, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
16:25-16:40: Coffee break
16:40-17:45: Concluding session – Critical Infrastructure Protection in the context of International Cyber Security (moderated by Dr. Cecile Aptel, Deputy-Director, UNIDIR)
Scene-setter: the session will open with a short recap by the rapporteur of the main insights emerging from the thematic panels, reflecting on both unique and shared challenges and suggested ways forward. Then the discussion will pivot on the role that the UN, primarily through the OEWG, can play in this context.
Opening Remarks by H.E. Ambassador Burhan Gafoor, Permanent Representative of the Republic of Singapore to the United Nations, Chair of the Open-Ended Working Group on security of and in the use of information and communications technologies 2021-2025
Rapporteur Recap of the Day with Dr. Camino Kavanagh, Visiting Senior Fellow, King’s College London; Non-resident Scholar, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
H.E. Mr. Jürg Lauber – Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations and other International Organizations, and former Chair of the OEWG 2019-2021
Ms. Marina Kaljurand – Member of the European Parliament
Mr. Vladimir Radunovic – Director, E-diplomacy and Cybersecurity, DiploFoundation
Ms. Beyza Unal – Head of the Science and Technology Unit, UNODA
17:45-18:00: Conference closing
WHEN & WHERE
Tuesday, 5 July 2022, 9:15-18:00 CEST
Hybrid format: in-person (Campus Biotech, Chemin des Mines 9, Geneva) and online
For any questions, please contact UNIDIR’s Security and Technology Programme (sectec-unidir@un.org).