With 315 million internet users, Cyber Security is the backbone of our digital society and economic growth. This comes with opportunities but also threats and is forcing companies to think about their cyber strategies and new security solutions as the number of digital security incidents across all industries worldwide has been incrementing in recent years. In Luxembourg, 57%* of players expect to be the victim of cybercrime in the next 24 months.

In light of this, PwC Luxembourg and PwC’s Accelerator organised on 18 October the first PwC Cyber Security Day with the aim of gathering the views of international solution providers, specialised investors, international institutions, banks and large corporates on the cyber space.

More proactive use of sophisticated security solutions
The event gathered a varied array of Cyber Security experts to discuss the latest trends.

“We need to reinforce the value of cooperation across borders, industries or stakeholders and our event is bringing together international actors and sector actives in a unique event for Luxembourg to review the state of the current threats but more importantly to raise the business opportunity profile of cybersecurity” said Laurent Probst, partner at PwC Luxembourg and Network Global Leader of PwC’s Accelerator.

The line-up of the event boasted different profiles such as Francine Closener, Secretary of State of the Economy, Internal Security and Defence, Luca Del Monte, ESA Space Economy Manager, Francois Lavaste, Head of Cyber Security at Airbus DS and Guy-Philippe Goldstein, Senior Analyst on the Cyberdesk at Wikistrat, among others. “Our PwC Cyber Security Day was a unique opportunity for private and public players to present new cybersecurity projects and investments which will significantly reinforce the European ecosystem”, added Laurent Probst.

Four key trends came to the fore: 1) digital businesses are adopting new technologies and approaches to Cyber Security, 2) threat intelligence and information sharing have become business-critical, 3) organisations are addressing risks associated with the Internet of Things (IoT), and 4) geopolitical threats are rising.

“If there is one unifying thread, it’s the Cloud!” added Vincent Villers. “The power and interoperability of cloud-based platforms enable organisations to combine a range of technologies. Moreover, businesses can leverage the inherent simplification of cloud architectures to confidently build secure new products and services on the Cloud. These architectural advantages represent a breakout opportunity for the integration and improvement of Cyber Security”.

In addition, designing and implementing a Cyber Security and privacy programme is challenging, but this is not enough: once it is in place, disparate components must be thoroughly integrated, professionally managed and continuously improved. A tall order for resource-constrained organisations and many are addressing this challenge by adopting managed security services. A primary driver is the global lack of skilled Cyber Security specialists.

“With the fast pace of technology disruption, keeping up to date with skill sets around new technologies such as the Internet of Things and Cloud computing is more and more difficult for organisations,” noted Vincent Villers. “Managed security services enables them to procure those skill sets from a service provider and get the niche-specific skills they need to augment their own capabilities.”

80% of European companies experienced cyberattacks
The frequency of Cyber Security threats, from data and intellectual property theft, to fraud and national security breaches is drastically mounting in recent years. Cyber Security is scaling up the agenda of CEOs of different industries and states around the world.  Moreover, the ecosystem of start-ups and companies operating in the Cyber Security area is evolving at a very fast interval.

In the 2017 Global State of Information Security Survey, PwC found more than 80% of European companies had experienced at least on Cyber Security incident in the past year. Likewise, the number of digital security incidents across all industries worldwide rose by 80%. The spending in the Cyber Security space is also increasing with 59% of the companies surveyed affirming that digitalisation of the business ecosystem has affected their security spending.

SecurityScorecard and Morphisec awarded by an international jury through a six months selection process
Cyber Security is the most innovative segment of the IT industry. Innovative solutions and disrupted process are being developed on a daily basis and the rise of smart systems require businesses to invest more in digital safeguard applications. After an international selection process with more than 100 Cyber Security applicants, PwC Luxembourg and PwC’s Accelerator have selected ten highly innovative companies around the world to showcase the most promising next-generation solutions in Cyber Security.

“We have invited ten of the most innovative companies in the global Cyber Security ecosystem which provide specific and innovative proven solutions to increasing and evolving cyber threats”, commented Laurent Probst.

Digital Shadows from the UK, Quarkslab from France, SecurityScorecard, enSilo, Skybox Security and RedOwl from the US, NetGuardians from Switzerland, Ironscales and Morphisec from Israel, and Picus Security from Turkey, have been animating the events explaining how their innovative solutions are shaping new approaches to Cyber Security. In this context, SecurityScorecard has been awarded by the Jury as the most promising company in Cyber Security, while Morphisec received the People’s Choice by the public attending the event.

A Cyber Security Centre created in 2017 in Luxembourg
During the event, Francine Closener, Secretary of State of the Economy, Internal Security and Defence stated Luxembourg will have a major role to play in bringing the right Cyber Security solutions being a hub. She also announced the launch of a Cyber Security Centre of Competences in 2017 in the Grand Duchy. This new venue will have the objective of integrating the expertise and the competences of the government initiatives CASES (aimed at the promotion of Cyber Security and information among companies) and CIRCL (post-incident coordination office) with the aim bringing together the private and the public sector to fight against Cyber threats, coordinated by the national platform SECURITYMADEIN.LU.

*according to the PwC Global Economic Crime Survey 2016