17 May 2017
Madrid Headquarters
Xabier Mitxelena, CEO and founder of S21sec, a Spanish multinational specialising 100% in cyber security and oriented to the development of technology, was the keynote speaker last May on the #Disruptive lecture series, a permanent forum for discussion and sharing of ground-breaking, successful experiences in traditional sectors.
During his talk, Mitxelena referred to the last international incident related to hacking, caused in this case by WannaCry virus. He said that although it has been one with greatest media coverage, it may not have been the most important one and explained that some of the lessons learnt include a greater awareness of the importance of cyber security for companies and citizens. “Cybersecurity is now a topic at issue at all management boards”
Xabier Mitxelena also explained that networks are undergoing a total transformation but lack a solid base. “We have built the Internet arena but have forgotten to set the rules of the game and this is a mess”, said Mitxelena who had another simile: “We have built an airport but there are no planes. We need to be aware of the fact that there has been a change in the infrastructures with which we are transforming our business models and the social model itself; and we should also change collaboratively to provide the tools that are necessary to deal with these infrastructures".
Another aspect stressed by the founder of S21 during his presentation was the lack of specialist manpower in the fight against cybercrime. In his opinion, this circumstance leads to an average sector rotation of over 30%. “We steal professionals from one another and that is a disaster", he said.
He added that while hackers are becoming increasingly efficient, as they do not only need to be experts but they also need to know where the tools are and buy them, there is a significant lack of training in companies and society at large. In his opinion, students should be given training in cyber security from the earliest educational stages onwards.
In his talk, Mitxelena highlighted the close connection existing between big data and cyber security: “Big data is the key to the present and past of cyber security. They are parallel processes. Future cyber security professionals should be big data experts.
The founder of S21 ended his presentation by urging for the need of concentration and collaboration in a sector that must currently offer companies a service with 24 hour coverage 7 days a week, with equipment capable of monitoring network activity and get ahead of any possible attack.
The #Disruptive workshop was attended by a large number of students on the Programme in Cyber Security Innovation (PIC), which is jointly supervised by the judge of the National High Court, Eloy Velasco, and lawyer Rafael Chelala. The programme analyses the risks and threats related to technological disruption by experts in various fields and provides the way to address them from a multidisciplinary perspective.
The PIC programme is aimed at executives concerned about the new technological threats, and who therefore intend to implement cyber security plans in their companies. It is also designed for those wishing to focus their careers on this field. Some of the participants are legal experts in companies and institutions related to regulatory compliance and prevention of computer threats.
At the end of the programme (September to July), participants will be required to develop a final project for real, direct application, based on the tools and knowledge acquired throughout the sessions, workshops and visits.
