Cybercrime Evolution and Cyber Risk Management event at the British Residence in Greece
The Future of Cyber Security – Identifying risks and overcoming challenges.
At the dawn of the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, the UK is one of the world’s leading digital nations. While enabling the development of the digital economy, greater connectivity is also a source of vulnerability. Increases in the frequency, severity and sophistication of cyber attacks illustrate the need for security analytics and risk management services that identify, analyse, predict and prevent highly sophisticated security threats.
The event
On Tuesday 7 March, the British Ambassador Kate Smith and the CEO of OBRELA Security Industries Ltd, Mr George Patsis hosted an event on Cyber Security in Athens. The event included a panel discussion with the participation of the President to the UK Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST) and representatives from two leading Greek companies. It was followed by a networking reception with guests from major Greek companies.
Welcoming guests, Kate Smith CMG spoke about the success story of OBRELA SA, a Greek company that recently established a subsidiary, OBRELA Security Industries Ltd, in the UK, planning to invest further in order to move all their assets under the UK jurisdiction.
The Ambassador noted that
it is no surprise that Obrela have chosen to expand internationally and set up in the UK – the skills base and experience across the digital sector is deep and high quality.” She added that “the UK government has a five-year strategy, during which it will invest £1.9 billion in defending our systems and infrastructure, deterring our adversaries, and developing a capability through the whole of society – from the biggest companies to the individual citizen.
OBRELA Security Industries provide threat intelligence and management services. Its Threat Management Services combine collective intelligence practices and methods with leading edge security analytics and sophisticated risk management technology to identify, analyse, predict and prevent cyber-security threats in real time. They recently signed a contract with one of the biggest British online stores.
In the panel discussion which followed George Patsis, CEO - OBRELA, Ian Glover, President of the UK Council of Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST), Haris Karonis, CEO - Viva Wallet and George Kanellopoulos, Information Security Operations Manager - Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company discussed:
- the shift to cyber risk management in real time,
- the future of cyber security,
- digital payment disruption and
- simple ways to align an information security program with business priorities
Cyber Sector Overview
The UK is a market leader, ranked 6th in the world in 2015, in the security industry, and cyber is capturing a growing share of this £ 4bn market - accounting for £1.8bn of the year’s total figure, around 45%. It is reflective of this trend that three of the top six UK sub-sector exports are Cyber-related. Increases in Cyber crime, re-labelling of IT activities as ‘Cyber’, better economic conditions and more proactive responses to cyber defence have all played a part in the strong Cyber growth.
Last month, the UK government launched the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), tasked with using best data, skills and capabilities to make the UK the safest place to work online. The UK government is taking the lead internationally on cyber security , but the contribution of the private sector is also vital.
The UK as the top destination for FDI in Europe
OBRELA is among numerous companies who were attracted by the UK as a top destination for Foreign Direct Investment, recognised as the sixth best country in the world for ease of doing business. The UK continues to attract record levels of FDI and was recently ranked as Europe’s clear FDI leader (EY Attractiveness Survey). Establishing a company in the UK gives access to technologically skilled human resources and, most importantly, access to financing and stock markets.
Contact us
ITI Greece provides tailored services to assist existing as well as new UK exporters and offers professional and personalised support to companies in Greece wishing to locate and expand in the UK. For more information on ITI services in Greece contact: trade.athens@fco.gov.uk