International organizations preparing to repel cyber threats

More than 100 companies and institutions from Russia and abroad are expected to undergo Cyber Polygon 2020 training and improve their cybersecurity response

June 30, 2020

The annual event Cyber Polygon 2020, which is to be held on July 8 this year, will welcome representatives of major Russian and international organizations who will participate in the training and shape their skills in data theft prevention, incident investigation and the collection of evidence to share with law enforcement agencies. Around 100 teams have already registered with new applications still coming in.

According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), cyberattacks and data theft are the 9th most likely fallout to the world. At the same time, the damage caused by these factors continues to increase and, in 2030, is projected to reach $90 trillion, according to WEF. Likewise, in Russia the situation is becoming more serious—according to Sberbank estimates, in 2021 the damage to the Russian economy caused by cybercrime could reach 7 trillion rubles ($100 million). Even with such alarming predictions, many companies are still not ready to counter these threats. Threat Zone 2020 research reveals that 83% of companies have no emergency plans in place to restore business operations and maintain their efficiency.

In light of the above, the main topic for Cyber Polygon 2020 will be the preparation for a large-scale cyber crisis, which may happen given the conditions of accelerated digitalization and increased cybercriminal activity. About 100 different organizations will take part in the event, including the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute (INCIBE), Banco Santander, Ernst & Young, MTS, Pochta Bank to name but a few. The training scenario will include attack simulations targeting confidential data with the intent to inflict reputational damage. In response, the technical experts from the participating organizations will practice their skills in repelling active attacks, investigating incidents which have already occurred and checking their perimeter for other possible vulnerabilities. Another equally important skill to practice here is how to collect the information about an attack and forward it to law enforcement in order to prevent similar situations in the future. The actions of the attackers will be simulated by the BI.ZONE team.

Registration for the event is still open.

A simulation of real conditions is a good practice for any organization. Data leakage is one of the key challenges to cybersecurity today—each day is a new headline in the news about another database being leaked to the web. We are aware that this is a big problem for many corporations, especially with the expansion of their IT perimeters. This is precisely why, for the technical part of Cyber Polygon 2020, we have chosen a scenario involving a breach of confidential information

Stanislav Kuznetsov

Deputy Chairman of the Executive Board, Sberbank

From our perspective, as a national/governmental CSIRT, we are aware that in cybersecurity, continuous capacity building is a must in order to face new and evolving cyberthreats and cyberattacks. We are convinced that participating in Cyber Polygon will provide our team with a good field test to practice and learn the response to cybersecurity incidents

Marcos Gómez

Deputy Director of INCIBE-CERT Services

Cyber Polygon 2020 is an official project of the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity and Sberbank Group. In addition to the technical training, Cyber Polygon 2020 will feature an open online live stream, where top officials from such organizations as the World Economic Forum, INTERPOL, ICANN, IBM, Visa and many others will talk about new threats and current trends in the field of cybersecurity as well as share their experience in preventing and minimizing the consequences of major cyberattacks.