The summit's objective is to provide education and exclusive networking opportunities for the participants with peers and subject matter experts. The program has been carefully designed with the support and guidance of the 'editorial advisory board,' including senior thought leaders from the region, to capture the regional security challenges that resonate with their current concerns. The editorial advisory board includes:

Conference Chair:  Varsha Sewlal, Executive: Legal and Deputy Information Officer, RAILWAY SAFETY REGULATOR

Advisory Board:

• Albert Yirenchi Danquah, CISO, Stanbic Bank Ghana  
• Nastassja Finnegan, Cyber Security Officer, FNB South Africa  
• Sithembile (Nkosi) Songo, Group Head: Information Security, ESKOM HOLDINGS   

With the IAM framework growing to fame, most practitioners are toying with the idea of using IAM to address their organization’s challenges, including security, trust, risk appetite, and managing the critical business risk to drive more value. How can identity be a business enabler in the digital transformation journey? Some say implementing an IAM framework is complex, and integrating with security is a big task and expensive too.

The session will discuss:

• Why has the strong password criteria not worked well
• Why IAM is not about authentication
• Framework for managing identity that supports ‘zero trust’

The interconnected nature of Industry 4.0-driven operations means that cyberattacks can have far more severe impacts than ever before. As enterprises adopt Industry 4.0, they become an increasingly appealing target for attackers who can now move laterally across a network, jumping across IT and OT systems for their malicious activities. With automation accelerating the adoption of IoT devices, are enterprises ready to handle cyber risks from these devices? Do they have enough visibility? 

This session will cover:

• How to be cyber-ready for Industry 4.0
• Protecting your data and securing the endpoints
• How practical is it to have security standardization for Industry 4.0 

The European Union has the GDPR - a common privacy law across the region. Most regions have not been able to replicate GDPR – a common privacy law. The United States too has not been able to agree upon a common privacy law. Regulators of various countries in Africa want to see a common cybersecurity law. How practical is it and what are some of the roadblocks to forming a common policy? 

The session will also discuss:

• How practical is it to have a common cybersecurity law
• From where should one begin and factors to consider
• The roadblocks and how to address them 

It has been predicted that public cloud services will grow and reach a record $420 billion by 2022. The massive increase in cloud adoption has motivated cybercriminals to target the cloud environments where most data resides now. Around mid-2021, the International Data Corporation (IDC) surveyed 200 CISOs and reported that nearly 98% of the companies had experienced at least one cloud security breach. What is the best way to secure your cloud without disrupting the user experience?

The session will cover: 

• The state of cloud security in 2022
• Does zero trust in the cloud need a different approach?
• The roadmap for the zero trust journey

The latest statistics by the IDC show that smartphone vendors shipped a total of 19.7 million smartphones across Africa in the first quarter of 2022. More users than ever before rely on mobile applications compared to traditional desktop applications for a majority of their digital tasks. High-profile data thefts like the Snapchat user database indicate serious security concerns for apps that are used by millions.

 This session will cover:

• Threats from mobile application vulnerability
• Best practices to develop secure mobile apps
• Best identity verification and authentication practices

Today, extended detection and response (XDR)’s adoption among enterprises is at 5% and is predicted to increase to 40% by 2027. CISOs from leading organizations are commencing XDR implementations to keep up with the evolving threat landscape. Along with the rapid adoption of XDR, there is often a lack of clarity about best practices.

 This session will cover:

• Rethinking existing security tools
• The key questions CISOs must consider as they look to adopt XDR
• How to increase SOC efficiency and the value of your existing security stack

With breaches involving third-party vendors regularly making the headlines, most companies have become aware of the risks created by this extended attack surface — often because they have been victims themselves. By following the right path, security and risk leaders can feel confident in their approach to managing the cyber risk posed by third parties.

 This session will cover:

• How third-party risk environment has evolved
• What is needed for an effective risk management program
• The challenges of implementing a third-party risk management program

The session discusses how to get a CIO and the CISO work on a common goal to facilitate the continued success of their organization. Where is the disconnect and how can these gaps be addressed? 

• Understanding the CIO’s challenges and technology aspirations
• The importance of utilising the same taxonomy and risk metrics
• Benefits of converting security operations into a service delivery function