This year, the eurobits security summit took place for the fourth time in a row on 21, 22 and 28 March. We look back on three days full of exciting presentations, discussions, workshops and networking and review the highlights of the event series.
Day 1 – Strategy workshop with our members
On Tuesday, we gathered with our members for the strategy workshop at the Centre for IT Security. In addition to presenting the results of the eurobits member survey, the main item on the agenda was to vote on the future direction of the association. The ideas and the range of participation for future activities and projects were as diverse as the technology focal points and products or services of our 52 members.
In various workshops, we worked out together with the participants that eurobits e.V. will establish itself in the coming years, primarily locally but also in neighbouring European countries, and expand the network. In addition to the focus topics of increasing the visibility of the topic of IT security in SMEs, reducing the shortage of skilled workers and actively supporting companies in the implementation of new EU cybersecurity directives such as NIS2 (Network and Information Security 2) or the Cyber Resiliance Act (CRA), future topics such as 6G and IoT will also be addressed.
We would like to thank you for your active participation and especially for the high degree of willingness to cooperate for future IT security events and our projects such as the eurobits women academy (ewa) and also DIGITAL.SICHER.NRW) as well as the voluntary support of the association. We look forward to further lively exchange and cooperation on current cybersecurity topics.
Day 2 – Securely shaping medical technology of the future
On Wednesday, 22 March, everything in Bochum revolved around the topic of IT security in medical technology. How can the medical technology of the future be designed securely? And how can data protection and regulation be comprehensively safeguarded? These and many other questions were discussed by secunet expert Dr. Tobias Urban in his opening keynote at the eurobits security summit. In another presentation entitled “Hacking Health – Growing Threats in Medical Technology”, Dr. Matteo Große-Kampmann, IT security expert from AWARE7, gave an outlook on typical attack scenarios on medical devices and future threats. Under the moderation of Dr. Rainer Baumgart, member of the board of eurobits e.V., Dr. Marc Olbrich (Ingrano Solutions GmbH), Christian Rosenzweig (Johner Institut) and Dr. Tobias Urban (secunet) also devoted their panel discussion to the question of how IT security in medical technology can be guaranteed throughout the entire life cycle.
In two different workshops, we exchanged ideas with the participants on the topics of “ISMS, vulnerability management and knowledge of the attack surface in the context of legal and regulatory requirements” and “Security By Design – What is considered “state of the art” in IT security for medical devices in the EU”. Finally, the evening snack provided enough time for networking among the participants, through which digital security of the medical environment will hopefully remain a highly regarded topic in Bochum in the future.
Day 3 – eurobits women academy workshop and networking
One week later, the eurobits security summit was all about increasing the proportion of women in cyber security. Under the motto “The future of cybersecurity is becoming more female”, the “eurobits women academy workshop and networking” event offered interesting presentations, discussions and plenty of time to make new contacts. At the event, our project manager Jana Bodenstedt presented the planned measures of the “eurobits women academy” (ewa), which is intended to motivate more women to make a lateral entry into cybersecurity in order to counteract the shortage of skilled workers in the industry in the long term.
The highlights of the day included in particular the keynotes by Dr. Kirsten Bender (Head of Department 4 Innovation and Markets of the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Industry, Climate Protection and Energy NRW) and Barbara Kluge (Permanent Representative of the Head of Department Cyber and Information Security of the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Home Affairs) on the topic of opportunities and challenges in cyber security.
In the subsequent panel, Sandra Karger (Head of Division WG21 Federal Office for Information Security), Dr. Marija Stambolieva (Data Strategy & Infosec Consultant LM IT Services AG) and Raik-Michael Meinshausen (Partner Stanton Chase), chaired by eurobits Advisory Board member Nadine Nagel, discussed which offers can be used to attract more women to the industry. At the end of the event, three different workshops were held for our target groups (participants, companies and mentors) on relevant topics such as further education, internships and the mentoring programme to develop potential measures to be implemented as part of the “eurobits women academy” project to support women in their careers in cybersecurity.
We say “Thank you
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the participants without whom this series of events would not have been possible. A big thank you goes to the representatives of our member companies who took the time to discuss future topics and contents of the association with us. We would also like to thank the speakers and participants on days 2 and 3 who travelled from all over Germany and showed that topics such as IT security in medical technology and the low proportion of women in cyber security are highly relevant beyond the region and must be addressed in the context of further offers. Here, especially in the context of the eurobits women academy, we hope for further support from interested parties who will join us in implementing new ways and measures with which we can win more women for cybersecurity. We would also like to thank Markus Querfurt (Bochum Wirtschaftsentwicklung), who actively supported us in the organisation and implementation of the three events.
