September 30th 2021

Our September roundtable focused on effectively tackling the growing prevalence of ransomware attacks. Caitriona Heinl moderated this discussion between Chris Painter, President, Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Foundation & Former Coordinator for Cyber Issues at the U.S Department of State; Brian Honan, CEO BH Consulting; Steve Honiss, Former Chief Information Security Officer, New Zealand’s Parliament & Former New Zealand representative to the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation; Joanna Kulesza, Professor of International Law, Faculty of Law & Administration, University of Lodz, Poland; Paddy McGuiness, Senior Adviser, Brunswick Group & Former UK Deputy National Security Advisor for Intelligence, Security and Resilience.

In particular the event discussed previous incidents such as the Colonial pipeline, HSE and Microsoft Exchange ransomware attacks.  The roundtable placed emphasis on the need for an internationally coordinated strategy to deter ransomware attacks, especially where continued cyber diplomacy is essential to protect national interests, mitigate risks, and enhance the security of Internet users.