VALENCIA – 14 October 2024
The 6th Annual Common Secure Conference has successfully concluded, bringing together cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and experts from across the UN system, academia, and the private sector to address the evolving challenges posed by cyberthreats. The conference was held from 9 to 11 October 2024 in Valencia, Spain, organized by the United Nations International Computing Centre (UNICC). This milestone event marked six years of fostering collaboration and sharing expertise in cybersecurity within the UN system and other international organizations.
The Common Secure Conference has become a critical platform for fostering collaboration and sharing expertise in the face of an increasing cyberthreat landscape. Over the years, cyberattacks targeting United Nations organizations have grown in frequency and severity, with incidents ranging from advanced persistent threats to cybercriminal activities and hacktivism. During 2023 alone, the UNICC cybersecurity teams responded to a significant rise in cyberattacks, noting a 170% increase in malicious activities compared to 2022.
This year’s event featured insightful discussions on cybersecurity topics, including a briefing on the cyberthreat landscape of UN entities, threat-hunting techniques effective to detect sophisticated threats, data protection, AI safety, cloud security, cybersecurity automation, and emerging technologies like quantum computing. Attendees had the opportunity to engage in practical exercises designed to enhance collective defence capabilities and strengthen the preparedness of UN organizations to mitigate risks. As in previous years, the 2024 Common Secure Conference was preceded by a Technical Colloquium organized by UNDP, UNICC and FIRST, which focused on techniques, case studies and lessons learned in incident response and security.
Over the past six years, the Common Secure Conference has enabled us to build a circle of trust, fostering a collaborative and comprehensive approach to discussing cybersecurity. This platform has allowed us to address the unique challenges and opportunities facing the UN system and other international organizations. We extend our gratitude to all participants and partners who have made this exchange possible, and we look forward to welcoming you again next year.
Tima Soni, Cybersecurity Chief, UNICC
The conference emphasized the importance of direct, face-to-face engagement in fostering trust and collaboration among cybersecurity professionals. Through this personal interaction, UNICC has built a network of partners that can collectively enhance detection, response, and protection measures. Notably, the sessions featured high-level speakers with diverse perspectives and from various sectors, including CISOs, CEOs, cybersecurity experts from national governments, incident response specialists, and UN heads of information security.
UNICC remains committed to advancing cybersecurity across the UN family and other international organizations. The insights gained from this year’s conference will guide continued efforts to enhance cybersecurity resilience for all partners.
For more information, please contact:
At UNICC: [email protected]
