Cybersecurity Defenders United in Global Fight Against Cyber Threats

Over the past five days, 1,000 specialists representing six continents united in the cyber-crime fight at the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) conference in Dublin, Ireland

From how Ukraine is dealing with cyber attacks against its critical infrastructure, to the rapidly growing access to online child sexual abuse material and the sophisticated approaches to ransomware, phishing, and online fraud as well discussing cooperation with the United Nations and with INTERPOL and law enforcement– no stone was left unturned for delegates working together to protect societies world-wide

Dublin, Ireland, July 1st, 2022 – The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) finishes its intensive five-day conference today, held in Ireland for the first time ever this year.

With over 1,000 professionals from 88 countries, representing six continents, the message was clear from the outset of the jam-packed five-day programme – fighting the cyber criminals is now, more than ever, a critical priority for all.

The conference was kicked off by Detective Sergeant, Mick Moran, An Garda Síochána and UCD’s Centre for Cybersecurity & Cybercrime Investigation. Sharing the staggering statistic than now one in 500 people access child sexual abuse material online in the workplace, according to Swedish outfit, NetClean, Mick, along with Romain Wartel, CERN, warned the delegates of the escalating problem and the necessity to tackle the issue now, together.

Last year alone, there were 29.3 million reports of suspect online child sexual abuse material reported to CyberTipline (run by NCMEC in the USA) and the pair stressed to the audience that the material is now available everywhere.

Delegates were encouraged to execute strategies for businesses to find any instances in organisations and report immediately, as many actual cases are streamed live so speed is of the essence to save a child from the ordeal. Also taking to the stage was Viktor Zhora, The State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine, along with Yevheniia Volivnyk and Yevhen Bryksin, CERT-UA, SCPC SSSCIP.

The trio shared how they have fought, and are continuing to fight, the recent cyber attacks on Ukraine, with several vicious attacks on the country’s infrastructure – everything from government departments, businesses and even charities assisting with humanitarian aid.

Disclosing the sophistication of the cyber-attacks, and the complexities of dealing with these online assaults, the team shared how they are continuing to protect the country in the ongoing, simultaneous cyber war.

Other notable speakers were Google’s Maddie Stone on cyber attacks compromising 0-day unknown vulnerabilities used by state actors, Netresec’s Erik Hjelmvik’s overview of the SolarWinds supply chain compromise, a panel of Tal Goldstein, World Economic Forum, Pei Ling Lee, INTERPOL, Caroline Canna, Microsoft, Nick Tuppen, Bank of America and Derek Manky, Fortinet discussing the drive for public-private cooperation to strengthen cybersecurity readiness and combat cybercrime and Eoin Byrne from Cyber Ireland on how we need to address cybersecurity through industry-academic-government collaboration.

Other areas such as SMS fraud, Cloud security, Ransomware, Phishing, Memory Forensics, Malware and the crucial need to work more closely with law enforcement to catch the criminals, were also hot topics throughout the week. The not-for-profit, FIRST, fosters global coordination and cooperation among computer security and incident response teams, proving ever more vital as cybersecurity incidents rise rapidly everywhere. The delegates in attendance are all leading lights in their field from governments, academia, and businesses, and are at the cold face of defence, keeping the internet safe for everyone.

Brian Honan, CEO, BH Consulting and FIRST Annual Conference Programme Chair, commented: “It was a pleasure to welcome so many experts to Dublin this week for the 34th FIRST annual conference. Everything discussed here over the last five-days has critical importance not only for the experts, but for every individual and our society. “This event has provided more collaboration and connected more senior cyber security professionals to join forces to strengthen cybersecurity across the globe.”

Chris Gibson, CEO, FIRST added: “Dublin has been a perfect host to us all and after a two-year break from in-person meetings this was an ideal setting for the FIRST community to plan the next steps in facing cyber threats world-wide. “As a membership organisation, our goal is always to inspire and empower participants at our conference to take new thinking and tools back with them to their everyday role, and that is most certainly the outcome from the past few days in Ireland.”

Cyber attacks rarely exist in isolation, or in just one geographical area. FIRST provides a unique platform for everyone to unite and work towards a safer cyber community for all.

Issued on behalf of FIRST. For further information please contact:
Paula Mc Nulty at CECEZ Communications:
+44 (0)7710 785543
paula@cecezcommunications.com.

For more information on the 34th Annual FIRST Conference in Dublin visit: https://www.first.org/conference/2022/.

Also available in PDF

About FIRST

FIRST aspires to bring together incident response and security teams from every country across the world to ensure a safe internet for all. Founded in 1990, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST) consists of internet emergency response teams from over 600 corporations, government bodies, universities and other institutions across 100 countries in the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Oceania.

For more information, visit: https://www.first.org.

Conference Sponsors

Diamond sponsors: AWS, SentinelOne, and Uptycs. Platinum sponsors: ENISA, Torq, and Palo Alto Networks. Gold sponsors: Tines, LinkedIn, Amazon, and Ericsson. Silver sponsors: OTRS, Mandiant, Group-IB, Conceal, Joe Security, and Fortinet. Bronze sponsors: DomainTools, ThreatRay, Intezer, Recorded Future, Cybereason, and Google. Secureworks will host the Sponsor Showcase and Networking Reception on Monday, June 27. Exhibitor level sponsors of the conference are Arctic Security, Bank of America, CTM360, Thinkst Canary, NRD Cyber Security, EclecticIQ, Intel 471, Semperis, VMRay, Quarkslab, and Mitiga. Intezer is the t-shirt sponsor, while CIRCL is sponsoring the conference lanyard. Hitachi is sponsoring the con’s collectible challenge coins. Resecurity and University College Dublin are providing Champion level sponsorship support. Conference partner is OASIS, as well as Dublin, Ireland local host, NCSC Ireland who has provided invaluable assistance.