Panel discussion: Collateral damage in the age of cyber-warfare

Ryan Naraine ZDNet

Nation-state sponsored cyberwar and cyber-espionage operations are now in the public eye and the proliferation of advanced malware attacks against global infrastructure networks are becoming more and more common. As global governments openly discuss offensive and defensive needs and capabilities, the issue of collateral damage is becoming more and more important.

Panel members will discuss one of the major emerging security challenges of the new century:

• How is cyberwar likely to alter the next major military conflict? What's the number one danger today?
• How is collateral damage different in a cyberwar vs a kinetic war? Is it more or less severe? Is it more likely to be about 'disruption' rather than 'destruction'?
• Unlike traditional weapons, malware used in cyberwar and cyber-espionage operations can go rogue easily. Will targeting become better? What are the risks of a hostile 'takeover' of cyberweapons?
• What are the risks to everyday businesses? How might a cyberweapon affect business operations, financial processes, CRM systems, Internet connectivity, etc.? How might businesses that suffer collateral damage be impacted?
• Should governments or international bodies establish controls and rules around the use of cyberweapons and limiting collateral damage - or ban cyberweapons outright? What kind of rules?

Moderator: Ryan Naraine, ZDNet

Panelists:

• Gunter Ollmann, IOActive
• Mikko Hyppönen, F-Secure
• Pedram Amini, AVAST
• Tom Cross, Lancope

VB2013 takes place 2-4 October 2013 in Berlin, Germany.

The full programme for VB2013, including abstracts for each paper, can be viewed here.

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