As the sun beamed bright in London this week, the Eskenzi team was hard at work in the halls of Infosecurity Europe. We were busy arranging and staffing media interviews for clients, running surveys among attending security professionals for post-show PR content, prospecting for new clients to join the Eskenzi fold, listening out for emerging cybersecurity trends and of course, hosting our illustrious European Cybersecurity Blogger Awards!
The ExCel was abuzz as people wandered from one stand to the next, stopping along the way to network with new contacts and catch-up with old friends. There are veterans among us who were delighted to see renewed energy at the show, following a quiet, few years under the pandemic and an untimely train strike. And there are some relative newcomers who got to experience all the excitement for the first time!
Tara shares her first impressions:
“I can confidently say that my first experience at Infosecurity was truly a memorable one. It was fascinating to see such a wide variety of cybersecurity vendors showcasing their products alongside each other with such vibrant and interesting stands.
After many interesting conversations with a variety of vendors, it appears that the use of generative AI within cybersecurity is becoming more prevalent within the industry. My favourite part of the show was having my first encounter with a small GPT 4 robot that had capabilities that were too advanced to comprehend. As technology continues to advance, I am excited to witness where the future of cyber is headed and I cannot wait to come back next year to find out.”
Speaking about AI, we even came across a vendor stand that was entirely designed by ChatGPT! Everything from its layout to the company’s giveaways had been outsourced to ChatGPT 4, if you can believe it.
In their second year attending, both Charley and Saskia also expressed what fun they had this week! Aside from getting their faces printed on oat lattes, the conversations they had at the show stood out as a key highlight.
Charley asserts:
“It’s always exciting to get out there and chat to people face-to-face. Seeing clients outside of little rectangles is always a highlight!
I also loved chatting to vendors about burnout and cyber mindfulness. It’s truly astonishing how much the subject resonates with people, and it is extraordinarily promising that there are so many changemakers leading the way. With my Guru hat on (not literally, but there’s always next year), I got to speak to some inspirational leaders, spread the word about cyber mindfulness, and find out what’s entered the zeitgeist within the cybersecurity community.”
Saskia adds:
“My second Infosecurity was an absolute blast. Along with getting my face printed on an oat latte, I was able to speak to so many incredible and interesting people, and learn more about current trends in the industry, such as the rise of artificial intelligence and the risk it poses to organisations.
I also really enjoyed hearing about what different cybersecurity companies are doing for their employees’ wellbeing. I think it’s great that vendors are realising the importance of good working conditions and how this directly relates to employee success, particularly with regards to staying on top of threats and alerts. Events like Infosecurity are vital, not only for networking, but for organisations to have an opportunity to work together and share ideas on how to protect critical systems and networks and I’m really interested to see the results of a successful 3 days.”
Aside from AI and cyber mindfulness/well-being, Mel also noticed another recurring trend at this year’s exhibition. Here’s what she had to say:
“Among all the chatter of the devastating effects AI will have on security (but also its benefits), I noticed a significant emphasis on application program interface (API) security at various stands, talks, and themes. The growing importance of API security was underscored by Salt Security’s “State of the CISO 2023” report just before Infosec, which revealed an overwhelming 95% of respondents had designated API security as a planned priority for the next two years. So, it is no surprise that many vendors chose to make API a prominent ‘buzzword’ on their stands this year, reflecting the industry’s heightened focus on protecting this critical aspect of modern technology infrastructure.”
Come evening time, the crowd would dissipate and fill nearby restaurants, bars and boats for continued networking parties. Among them, was our European Cybersecurity Blogger Awards, celebrating the best bloggers, vloggers and podcasters in the industry!
A quick recap from Beth:
“We had a brilliant time catching up with everyone at the European Cybersecurity Blogger Awards event after a busy first day at Infosecurity Europe. This year, joining Yvonne to host was the man who started it all, Brian Honan, and of course Anne Cutler, who brought a sense of news-anchor flare to the proceedings. Keeper Security and KnowBe4 sponsored the popular event, so we could provide the venue, drinks, food and general merriment for all.
Winners included newbie Andra Zaharia for her excellent Cyber Empathy podcast, Tripwire’s State of Security blog, Cybereason’s Malicious Life podcast, Daniel Card for his Tech wisdom and of course, no one else does it quite like Smashing Security who took home two awards for Entertainer and All-Rounder.
It was a great evening and well done to all who took part – the collection of blogs, vlogs and podcasts we had this year were truly phenomenal – please go and check them out if you haven’t already!”
All in all, Rohit summarises the show best:
“Where else would you find former Olympic athlete Michael Johnson, some of the world’s smartest technological and business minds and, a lot of free swag? Infosecurity Europe 2023!
It was great to be at the conference meeting clients, journalists, analysts, former colleagues, and networking with members of the cybersecurity industry. Walking the floor, you got a sense of what was on the minds and focus of many vendors and customers – 1) the need for greater collaboration to tackle the threat from cybercriminals and 2) the understanding that organisations will be attacked, so building resilience is now a top priority.
It will be interesting to see how many will act upon on the words shared at the conference going forward.”
