Despite the stormy weather, Cybertech TLV 2023 drew in cybersecurity experts and leaders from around the world, gathering in Tel Aviv to share ideas, present solutions, discuss current and future trends, and provide valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities facing the industry. What came as no surprise was the main issue of combating the ever-growing attack surface. The innovative solutions and ideas are why we all gathered, to find ways to enable individuals, organizations, and governments to operate in a safer digital world.

Several topics took the center stage at Cybertech 2023. Topics such as cloud security and the mass migrations from on-prem to the cloud happening all over the world. Supply chain vulnerabilities were among the leading areas of interest, considering our undeniable dependency on channels to increase productivity. Compliance and regulations were a major focus for many, as discussions and talks of data privacy and protection presented barriers and challenges that must be overcome with advancing globalization. Cybertech 2023 couldn’t have reached its end without discussing how artificial intelligence and machine learning are enhancing the automation of security processes and systems. Of course, many other exciting topics were points of interest at the event like IoT, cyber threat intelligence, and 5G security.

Supply chain and the cloud – attack vectors from every direction

Naturally, the more solutions and vendors you have and use, the higher the likelihood of being exposed due to any one of them getting hit with a cyberattack themselves. Attackers are known for penetrating complex supply chains, creating a domino effect from their one action. It saves them time and effort while making everyone’s life harder.

Mastercard’s Executive VP, Rido Van den Broeck explained: “Channels need to work together to be kept safe. That’s what criminals are looking for, the easiest point of penetration with the largest potential gain.”

This way of thinking can provide another perspective to patching, a more “doable” approach. As mentioned by Gavin Millard, Deputy CTO (VM), Tenable: “If you’ve got 99 flaws, you only need to differentiate the risky from the risk-free. A flaws exploitation likelihood is critical to understand. Don’t waste a weekend patching what doesn’t make much of a difference. Eliminate the top of the attack chain, then you can eliminate the rest of it.”

5G Security – DDoS like never before

5G wireless technology is here and it’s pushing our connected world to be faster and reach farther than we ever imagined possible. Another focus point in Cybertech 2023 was 5G’s ability to enable both the good and the bad to do amazing things. For the do-gooders, this is an amazing opportunity to increase efficiency and dependability and essentially continue to pave the path to the future. For bad actors, this enables their reach and speed of attack to grow significantly using the massive amounts of IoTs around the world. This issue was discussed in a Cybertech panel on Tuesday along with methods to prepare and ultimately mitigate such looming threats.

Cybersecurity Regulations – plan by the highest common denominator

Among the most discussed topics was how to prepare and approach new regulations. As the world continues to develop and advance, restrictions, guidelines, and general rules are absolutely imperative. Uncle Ben wasn’t messing around with that whole “great power comes great responsibility” phrase. At first, regulations seem like a pain, but you couldn’t find a panel that did not consider them in how they look at security as a whole. Many addressed the regulations from a geopolitical point of view and the effects of having something like your data center in a country or even continent you do not trust. Any way you look at it, regulations must be met by organizations looking to work globally and across continents. A good approach would be to simply adhere to the highest form of regulations to avoid any kind of misstep.

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning

The most discussed topic in any tech-related event now is likely around artificial intelligence and machine learning. Humanity has been imagining and playing around with this concept for close to a century. As close as it seems, it was made clear at Cybertech 2023 that we have yet to see how rising AI assistants will change the world and the cybersecurity space. In that same breath, it was assured that these virtual demigods will be leveraged by the cybersecurity community more than any other, both the good and the bad. As Dr. Eric Bisaillon, Director General of Cyber Defense Capabilities of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security said: “AI is here to say, for good and for bad. We can start expecting to get polymorphic malware out of this. Cybersecurity resiliency is critical here.”

Conclusion

Cybertech Tel Aviv 2023 was a great success and provided a platform for experts, innovators, and professionals from the cybersecurity industry to come together and discuss the latest trends and challenges in the field. Not to mention it provided a chance to see what the cyber market is talking about and gave many a chance to display their solution in front of an audience.  The event highlighted numerous important areas of discussion, many different trends that are all connected to each other and are trending because they are crucial to ensuring the security of our digital and physical lives.