Organized cybercrime gangs are bigger than ever. The wealth being controlled by the biggest groups is staggering, enabling them to invest more in their attacks. The situation would look even worse if we wouldn’t have seen the largest amount of law enforcement action in this space ever. What are the factors behind the biggest current attacks, and what are the defenders doing? What will the future look like, now that machine learning techniques are slowly but surely ending in the hands of our enemies? Where’s the hope? 

Defending our digital world requires the analysis of large and complex data sets. AI can come the rescue as it can automate tedious tasks by identifying patterns in these data sets and block attacks in real-time. I will also change our approach to privacy. As an example, ubiquitous automated face recognition in public spaces is feasible today. But should we also deploy it? Digital technologies have become so powerful that we need to shift our thinking from what is possible to what is desirable. Answering these difficult questions is essential to shape our secure future.

Emmanuel Kessler is Head of Team Prevention and Outreach at EC3, Europol. The European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) was set up by Europol to strengthen the law enforcement response to cybercrime in the EU and thus to help protect European citizens, businesses and governments from online crime. Since its establishment in 2013, EC3 has made a significant contribution to the fight against cybercrime and it has been involved in many high-profile operations and hundreds of operational-support deployments.

In his keynote, Tobias Schroedel will investigate on IT security topics from a different point of view. After a close look on stolen passwords from the darknet, he will focus on smart devices from the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). Are we facing risks we don’t see? And since when do we need to be afraid of lightbulbs? Finally, Tobias will introduce you to the future of phishing e-mails. What does the next generation of password stealing, CEO fraud and ransomware attacks look like?