Building societal resilience to cyber threats focus of annual OSCE conference

ŁÓDŹ, 20 October 2022 – Increasing societal resilience to cyber threats through enhanced public awareness and education is the focus of the OSCE’S annual cyber/ICT security conference held on 20 and 21 October in Łódź, Poland.

“The organization of the OSCE conference on cyber security is now more important than ever. All the more that malicious cyber activity is an integral part of the Russian aggression against Ukraine,” said OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau. “The sophistication of malicious cyber activities, together with the deteriorating security situation make it more important than ever to build and sustain cyber resilience,” he added.

“The emphasis of this conference is on building societal resilience – and this is vital. Raising public awareness of cyber threats is an urgent task for every one of our participating States,” said OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid. “As our dependence on digital products grows, we must strengthen public knowledge of the risks and how to mitigate them.”

Over the two days, a range of national representatives, experts from both the public and private sectors, NGOs and academia will convene for sessions on the multifaceted approaches to combatting threats in cyberspace. The sessions will consist of panel debates followed by questions and comments from the audience.

Cyberspace is a crucial part of the OSCE’s comprehensive approach to security. With a constantly looming threat from both state and non-state actors, the need for cyber/ICT security for all participating States and their respective citizens has never been more evident. Accordingly, the OSCE will continue to prioritise co-operation in cyber/ICT security at all levels.