As 2021 draws to a close, thoughts of a silver lining still may feel far off. But if we consider how our world has changed in the last two years, we have witnessed the dawn of a much broader understanding of security. In this month's edition, Simon Bracey Lane explores major events and trends of the year. We have also collected insightful reflections on the 11th Annual Cyber Security Summit from two of our think tank members and a recording of our latest webinar.

The world continues to become increasingly uncertain, and cyber security issues have become household concerns. As we arrive at the end of the year, it’s important to take stock and think about what changed in our world. Simon Bracey Lane highlights a selection of major events and trends that impacted the world of cyber security in 2021.

Founder of The Event Group and Cyber Security Summit’s Executive Producer, Eileen Manning, pays tribute to individuals whose immeasurable contributions helped make our 11th anniversary a reality. From start to finish, there wasn’t a detail left untouched, and Eileen is keen to express her sincere thanks to all those who worked to produce an event that supports collaboration and growth within the cybersecurity industry.

Read her full blog post here.

This was the pinnacle year of ransomware. Like never before, this became the forefront of payouts and getting attention of companies. From an industry perspective, I’ve never seen as much career movement within cyber, from security leaders shifting to the vendor side, job changes, and making big lifestyle changes. What I’m most excited about is the momentum and commitment to diversity within the cyber security community.

The industry demonstrates mentorship and opportunities for those with a passion for security. I’m looking forward to continued expansion around this within the Cyber Security Summit think tank, event speakers and student outreach. I can’t think of a more exciting time to serve within the cyber security industry and I’m so grateful to be a part of such a strong community.

Throughout the conference I kept thinking about the interconnections between the “triplets” of COVID-19, climate chaos, and cyber insecurities of the moment. All are global in nature, touching the lives of nearly everyone in some way. All have aspects of social inequity baked in – stubbornly so in some respects. All three require both immediate/short-term responses and long-term resilience strategies. And all three have the possibility of being largely mitigated by tackling root causes.

At the same time, these inter-connections also gave me some insights into the ever widening of “circles” in the cyber arena. What strategies can we learn from the way the whole world has turned its attention to tackling the specific challenges of the Coronavirus pandemic, and how can the hyper-mobilized young people who are leading the charge on the climate crisis be enlisted for a protracted war against cyber criminals here in our backyard and around the planet.

It has me thinking already about next year and the rest of this decade. As Minnesota continues to address the inequities and disparities in our society, we can spotlight issues and solutions that just might resonate far and wide. We have been a leading region in so many matters – like ethical and progressive-minded corporate culture – providing a sturdy foundation for tackling the complex and difficult matters of institutionally-reinforced discrimination and bias. Let’s hope we can continue to build on that foundation and serve as a global example moving forward.

Moderator: Sean Costigan, Professor, George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

Speaker: Gary Sorrentino, Global Deputy CIO, Zoom Video Communications, Zoom.

Join Sean Costigan as he discusses the impact of security on the hybrid work environment with Gary Sorrentino, Global Deputy CIO for Zoom in this month’s Cyber Security Summit Webinar Series. They talk Zoom, its early challenges and how it broke the mold; and discuss the broader trajectory of concepts like Hybrid work.