iSYSTEMS finalised 2021 focusing on the state of cyber security in the corporate world in 2022 and beyond.
On 2nd December 2021 we held a round table event on Post-Pandemic Cyber Security Strategies. It’s the last in a series of events we’ve held – both virtually and in-person – during the year. And this one didn’t disappoint.
Our CTO, Rob Robinson was first to kick things off with an overview of the cyber security landscape in 2021. He picked out several developing trends, notably the rise of ransomware-as-a-service, and API-based attacks. He drew particular attention to the utilities and education sectors, which have witnessed a dramatic increase in ransomware attacks over the course of the year.

Michael Simpson, Security Engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, highlighted the danger of human error which remains the single biggest oversight enterprises are making. He summarised how increasingly sophisticated preventative platforms and tools are helping security professionals operate more efficiently while significantly increasing their chances of thwarting an attack.
Charlie Whitfield, VP of Presales Systems Engineering (EMEA) at Arctic Wolf underscored the importance of log data following an attack so that a forensic analysis can be conducted. Meanwhile, Mustafa Emin Gulen, Technical Account Manager at SocRadar discussed the critical role negotiators can play and how they can gain the upper hand over attackers when armed with the right data.
After a short break, Rick Hannah, Sales Engineer for the UK region at Cloudian walked participants through the advantages of immutable storage and separate backup storage as a way to prevent attackers halting an organisation’s operations.

Ben Harris at iFORCE presented on the latest developments in ransomware. He focused on emerging methodologies and the threat vectors they tend to prefer. He emphasised how new work from home policies and accelerated digital transformation projects can leave organisations more exposed to attacks because their data is closer to the edge, for example.
Finally, he provided his best practices when it comes to data management and storage. We then had the pleasure of Brian Wood MC who shared his insights from his time in the military and talked with passion about his recent Ultimate Sacrifice Challenge - Walking With The Wounded. As we look to 2022, the key message was to focus on alignment – which applies to systems, teams but also to various business units.
The day concluded with a networking sessions and drinks.
If you missed out on this event, don’t worry. We’re already planning our events for 2022.