"Cybersecurity is About Knowledge Sharing"

12 Sep 2018

Author: HSD Foundation

"Cybersecurity is About Knowledge Sharing"

Inge Philips, Deloitte

In October 2018, the third edition of the Cyber Security Week will be hosted in The Hague. As was the case in the previous two editions, Deloitte will once again contribute to 'this celebration of public-private partnership in the area of cybersecurity', explains Inge Philips. She is Director of Cyber Risk Services and sees it as her personal mission to make the world a safer place for everyone. 'Knowledge is the keyword in doing so.'

The numbers say enough. The Cyber Security Week (CSW) held in 2017 attracted over 4.000 visitors, with 30% of them coming from outside the country. Businesses, government, and knowledge institutions have the opportunity for face-to-face meetings to discuss a variety of cybersecurity issues. 'It's the only week in which all the relevant parties can discuss the level of digital security in the Netherlands and set priorities', says Philips. It's therfore no surprise that she sees the HSD initiative as an excellent way to encourage public-private scientific collaboration. 'HSD is focused on bringing these triple helix parties together, and the Cyber Security Week gives these efforts an extra boost. Relevant players have the opportunity to meet each other, existing relationships are strengthened, and knowledge is shared.

Knowledge sharing

The municipality of The Hague, InnovationQuarter, The Conference The Hague, HSD Office, and Deloitte all worked together to organise the 2017 CSW. In collaboration with hundreds of businesses, governments, and knowledge institutions, a varied programme was organised replete with events, presentations, workshops, seminars, and trainings. Philips sees it as very important for so many parties to share their knowledge.

"That's what cybersecurity is about. In order to make our country a safer and more secure place, it's critical that we work together and strengthen each other."

HSD is one of the places where this can take place and is effective.’ She suits her actions to her words during the Cyber Security Week by sharing the aggregated knowledge of Deloitte on the status of cybersecurity in the Dutch business world. ‘As we provide support to a great many leading companies in the area of cybersecurity, we have a good idea of which cyber-attacks are taking place and which threats are really relevant. This knowledge can help governments and knowledge institutions in setting out priorities. It would, of course, be unfortunate if they were to focus on a specific issue or a threat, while our data points in an entirely different direction. In that respect, we function as a kind of reality check.’

Podium

Deloitte also shares knowledge by publishing studies and issuing reports. For example, during last year’s CSW, Philips presented a report titled “Dealing efficiently with cybercrime, Cyber Value at Risk in The Netherlands”, which mapped out the digital security of the SME sector and corporate businesses. The report was presented to Maarten Camps, Secretary General of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy. During a Kids Hacklab, Deloitte also encouraged kids to be more security conscious when going online, and ethical hackers from Deloitte showed off their skills during the Global Cyberlympics final. The Deloitte team took first prize for the sixth time. Philips: ‘We take knowl- edge sharing very seriously. In view of our standing and position, we are almost obliged to do so. So it’s only logical that, outside the CSW framework, we are also active in schools and on the podium. After all, security starts with knowledge.’

Drawing power

According to Philips, an important spinoff of the Cyber Security Week is that it strengthens the drawing power

of the Dutch cybersecurity sector. ‘The sharing of knowledge on a large scale makes it clear that large as well as small cybersecurity companies collaborate and leverage each other’s strengths under the umbrella of the HSD security cluster. It also shows that the government, knowledge institutions, and businesses know how to find each other and aim to work together for the benefit of society as a whole. In combination with the wealth of disciplines represented in the field of cybersecurity, our sector clearly has an interesting career perspective to offer. This is crucial when it comes to attracting national and international talents, for example via the “access to talent” events organised by HSD.’