Baroness Eliza Manningham-Buller who headed Britain’s Security Service (MI5) from 2002 to 2007, is among the invited speakers at the Infosecurity Europe 2021 event in London in July.
She now serves on the Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. At MI5, as Director General she led the Service as it dealt with the growth of Al-Qaida terrorism after 9/11, and in response to the 7/7 attacks in London. Earlier she worked in Washington during the first Gulf war, and did work on Irish terrorism, surveillance, technical collection, finance and IT, before she became Deputy Director General in charge of intelligence operations.
Another keynote speaker will be Misha Glenny – author and journalist who’s specialised in organised crime and cybersecurity. He has acted as consultant to several European governments and the EU on the Balkans, and has advised the US departments of State and of Justice on US-European relationships and on organised crime. He wrote the acclaimed book McMafia, which was adapted into a BBC TV drama, and DarkMarket: How Hackers Became the New Mafia, on the new global criminality and cyberattacks.
Also speaking will be Robert Hannigan, former Director General of GCHQ. He is now the Chairman of BlueVoyant international. As director of GCHQ he led the creation of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and oversaw the UK’s Active Cyber Defence. Hannigan also served as the Prime Minister’s Security Adviser and was principal Adviser to Prime Minister Tony Blair on the Northern Ireland Peace Process.
Registration (free before the event) for Infosecurity Europe 2021 is now open. It will run from Tuesday to Thursday, July 13 to 15 at Olympia.
Nicole Mills, Exhibition Director at Infosecurity Group said: “Our Keynote Stage is back – and we’re thrilled to be able to unveil three fantastic speakers who will share insights drawn from long, distinguished careers spent leading organisations and helping to protect nations. This year, as our visitors have come to expect from our Keynote Stage, we’ll be offering three days of inspiring and thought-leading presentations that delve into the industry’s biggest issues and newest threats. It’s a unique opportunity to hear from experts working at the sharp-end of information security who are tackling major challenges every day.”
This year’s Infosecurity Europe 2021 event will combine both physical and virtual elements, say Reed Exhibitions Ltd, the organisers; selected talks and discussions will be recorded and made available online. Reed stress that Infosecurity Europe 2021 will be run in compliance with COVID-19 guidelines.
Besides the return to the live expo in July – the 2020 show had to be cancelled due to the pandemic – Infosecurity Europe will be running a virtual conference from June 8 to 10 (the dates this year’s show was originally due to run; pictured, the 2018 show).
