Public Debate - Cyber Warfare in the 21st Century

20 / 09 / 2018, 08:30

This evening the Prague Security Studies Institute together with the National Cyber and Information Security Agency holds a public debate entitled Cyber Warfare in the 21st Century. The event is supported by the U.S. and British Embassies in Prague. The speaker, David Vanable, will discuss how the development and dissemination of cyber weapons have changed the nature of modern geopolitical conflict.

Prague Security Studies Institute (PSSI) is a non-profit, non-governmental think-tank established in 2002 with a task to advance the building of a just, secure, democratic, free-market society in the Czech Republic and other post-communist states. To meet the critical requirements associated with equipping new generations of young leaders to manage the complex, security-related challenges of the 21st century, the PSSI develops its activities within four programs: Security Scholars Program, Space Security Program, Economic & Financial Threat Program and Energy Security Program. It aims to identify and analyze geopolitical flashpoints and emerging threats regionally and globally and to propose sound and achievable policy options to deter and defeat hybrid warfare strategies and other forms of external aggression as well as security-relevant internal governance abuses.

The organizers of Cyber Warfare in the 21st Century public debate say: Former secretary of defense Leon Panetta (2011-2013) once described cyber warfare as “the most serious threat in the twenty-first century, capable of destroying our entire infrastructure and crippling the nation.”

Tonight, David Venable, Vice President of Cyber Security at Masergy Communications, will be the lecturer. He has over 15 years experience in information security, with expertise in cryptography, network and application security, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and compliance. He is a former intelligence collector with the National Security Agency (NSA), with extensive experience in Computer Network Exploitation, Information Operations, and Digital Network Intelligence. He also served as adjunct faculty at the National Cryptologic School.

The National Cyber and Information Security Agency (NCISA; NÚKIB) is the central body of state administration for cyber security, including the protection of classified information in the area of information and communication systems and cryptographic protection.

On 18th June 2018 the Chief of General Staff Lieutenant General Aleš Opata announced that one of the Czech Army's priorites concerns the development of forces, and mentioned formation of a new Cybernetic Forces and Information OperationsHheadquarters. The Force Development Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic contains a Cyber Capability Section. The Cybernetic Forces and Information Operations HQ would be formed at the beggining of 2019 in Brno. The aim is to integrate the already existing units and to create missing parts. The active element of the unit would be created in July 2019, the HQ should become operational in 2020, and fully operational in 2025.