Boards often underestimate the evolving threat landscape of cybersecurity. To safeguard organizations, they must shift focus from mere protection to resilience—ensuring swift recovery from attacks. Building stronger Board-CISO engagement, addressing human error vulnerabilities, and including cybersecurity experts in governance are crucial steps. Resilience, not complacency, will empower organizations to thrive amidst digital disruptions.

From Protection to Resilience | Bridging the Board-CISO Gap | Investing Wisely, Not Just Adequately | The Need for Cyber Expertise in Boardrooms

Effective budget alignment ensures each security investment contributes to corporate goals. By linking costs to measurable outcomes, prioritizing growth-enabling initiatives, and illustrating tangible returns, executives secure board support and build a resilient security posture that sustains long-term progress.

Sophisticated adversaries demand proactive measures. Integrating AI-driven anomaly detection and refining threat models ensures attacks are neutralized before damage occurs. Aligning these capabilities with real-time alerts and adaptive defence postures turns the powerplay into a decisive advantage.

In a world where threats lurk behind every click, Zero Trust redefines security by eliminating blind trust. This panel decodes how organizations can adopt Zero Trust strategies to mitigate risks, safeguard assets, and build a cyber-resilient enterprise.

As cyber threats evolve, technology fortifies defence, but humans remain both the strongest asset and weakest link. This panel explores how understanding human behaviour – strengths and vulnerabilities – can reduce cyber risks, and how security leaders can empower people to become the first line of defence.

With Phishing-as-a-Service (PhaaS) on the rise, cybercriminals now leverage on-demand, sophisticated phishing tools, making organizations of all sizes vulnerable. This session unpacks how PhaaS works, its booming ecosystem, and how attackers bypass MFA and detection systems, offering practical strategies to build phishing-resistant infrastructure for stronger cyber resilience.

In the rapidly evolving landscape of cyber threats, India, with its burgeoning digital economy and critical infrastructure, is a prime target for cyber adversaries. This interactive and thought-provoking session puts participants in the shoes of a hypothetical CISO of India, challenging them to strategize and implement a robust national cybersecurity framework.

• Cybersecurity is today considered an integral part of ESG. It began gaining traction as an ESG topic in the late 2010s, predominantly as a governance issue.
• Cyber as ‘E’: A corporation's environmental impact and cyber policies extend beyond borders. Robust cybersecurity enhances environmental efforts, highlighting the need for transparent reporting.
• Cyber as ‘S’: Data breaches greatly impact individuals, especially in healthcare where quality of care suffers. Attacks on utilities like the Colonial Pipeline cause temporary income loss, compounding community distress.
• Cyber as ‘G’: Cyber risk is the foremost financial sustainability threat to organizations. Failing to adopt proper cybersecurity governance, tools, and metrics undermines resilience and sustainability.

Complex infrastructures require consistent controls and transparent oversight. By adopting cloud-native security, enforcing uniform policies, and continuously monitoring, teams maintain seamless visibility. This clarity, even under pressure, drives confident scaling while preserving a robust and secure digital ecosystem.

Just as a successful casino operation requires skilled players in every role to win the game, building a Cyber Future demands a well-played strategy to strengthen Cyber Capacity Building (CCB) and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The UN Group of Governmental Experts recognizes CCB as vital to ensuring that digital infrastructure, such as e-commerce and e-governance, can drive sustainable development. However, just as a winning hand requires strategy, preparation, and coordination, a strong ICT sector depends on a skilled workforce and robust policies. As vulnerabilities persist, especially in regions with lower digital literacy, it’s crucial to stack the deck in favor of fortifying the digital landscape for the successful pursuit of SDGs. Without cyber resilience, progress toward sustainable development is like a high-stakes game with no strategy—full of potential but ultimately falling short.