Belgrade, October 17 – This year’s national cybersecurity conference, which was attended by more than 200 representatives of the public sector, businesses, various institutions and media, was themed around the slogan „Information Security – Joint Responsibility“ and organized by the Regulatory Authority for Electronic Communications and Postal Services (RATEL) – National CERT and the Serbian National Internet Domain Registry Foundation (RNIDS).

Marko Jovanović, Deputy Minister of Information Society and Cybersecurity, in his introductory address, expressed hope about future regular gatherings of the cyber community representatives every October, cybersecurity month, as they would be able to exchange experience, knowledge and information about both performed activities and planned initiatives in the area of information security. The attendees were also greeted by Duško Kodžić, Head of RATEL’s Cyber Security and IT Department, who pointed out that, in order to achieve an adequate cybersecurity level, beside the necessary technical solutions, appropriate strategic approach and legal framework, individual action of each user and responsible use of the Internet are of critical importance. Dejan Đukić, Director of RNIDS, noticed that for cybersecurity purposes, a continuous exchange of information and experience is indispensable, as new challenges require preventive actions in terms of the monitoring and identificaion of threats, aiming to achieve protection.

After the introductory speeches, Milan Vojvodić, representing the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications, delivered a presentation entitled „Key changes to be introduced by the Law on Information Security”, whereas dr Marko Krstić, Head of Cybersecurity Division and National CERT Affairs, presented future plans of the National CERT. Next followed panel discussions during which numerous experts talked about current cybersecurity topics.

The Draft Law on Information Security was the topic of the first panel discussion, where it was concluded that in order to reach a higher level of protection of citizens and special importance ICT system operators, it was necessary to align the legislation of the Republic of Serbia with the EU legal framework. During the second panel discussion, the topic of artificial intelligence (AI) was debated, both as an opportunity for development and a possible cybersecurity threat. The panellists agreed that AI could be used as a tool for risk assessmnet and prevention, however, due to the abuse of new technologies for the purpose of conducting cyber attacks, both end-users and organizations should be mindful of the underlying risk. A panel entitled „Cybersecurity Risks and Challenges in Financial Sector – Ways of Protection“ gathered the financial sector representatives, who debated about the regulation of the financial service providers’ obligations and responsibilities, but also warned about cases of malicious activities targeting the users. At the closing panel, platform Smart and Safe, Cyber Security Quiz app, activities of organization Women4Cyber and ReWIRE project were presented.

The National Cyber Conference was supported by the Ministry of Information and Telecommunications and the Cybersecurity Network Foundation, and the video of the conference is available at the following link: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PISRqDDgNI