#BabelTalks series: A year of COVID-19 – the impact on cybersecurity and media engagement

A lot can happen in a year. On 11^th March one year ago, the World Health Organization briefed the world’s media and declared COVID-19 a pandemic. In the 12 months since, we’ve seen various reports citing increases in cybersecurity incidents. From vaccination phishing attacks targeting consumers, to the lax security of employees WFH – COVID’s impacts have been felt in the digital world as well as our physical realities.

At Babel, we work with clients across the technology landscape, and have years of experience with brands in the cybersecurity sector. So, we thought we’d gather some of the finest minds in the industry for a panel discussion on the impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity, and the ways in which organisations can best engage with the media in light of these changes.

Featuring Professor Ciaran Martin, founding Chief Executive of the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and Nicole Perlroth, cybersecurity reporter at the New York Times, the event takes place on 9^th March and is free to attend. Panellists will explore, debate and answer a number of key questions and topics, including:

• How has the pandemic influenced the nature of the cybersecurity threats that organisations face?
• What insight do journalists need from cybersecurity firms in their attempts to explain evolving cyber threats?
• What makes a comment pass the test for inclusion in articles?
• How do different media platforms employ comment from security experts?
• As the vaccine roll-out continues and the cyber threats evolve further, how can organisations build their reputation among journalists, and in turn their audiences?

Confirmed panellist Perlroth has covered Russian hacks of nuclear plants, airports, and elections; North Korea’s cyberattacks against movie studios, banks and hospitals; Iranian attacks on oil companies, banks and the Trump campaign; and hundreds of Chinese cyberattacks. Perlroth is a guest lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and a graduate of Princeton University and Stanford University.

Martin is Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at the Blavatnik School of Government, at the University of Oxford. He led a fundamental shift in the UK’s approach to cybersecurity in the second half of the last decade. He advocated for a wholesale change of approach towards a more interventionist posture, which was adopted by the UK government in its 2015 National Security Strategy, leading to the creation of the NCSC in 2016, under his leadership.

Further panellists will be announced in the coming days and weeks. In the meantime, register your interest and secure your spot now.

Hope to see you there!