The Cyber Ireland (CI) CISO Forum aims to build a community of Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and security leads in Ireland to share information, discuss common challenges and solutions, meet peers and connect to international forums. Our CISO Forum is a National Chapter of the ECSO’s European CISO Community (ECC).
The CI CISO Forum hosted the ECSO Cyber Solution Days (CSD) Event at the Cyber Ireland National Conference on 25th September in Kilkenny. ECSO CSD is organised by the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), Women 4 Cyber with various host partners across Europe.
CSDs aims to bring Europe’s end-users and cybersecurity solution providers together in a curated manner, where European CISOs request cyber security companies to bring their solutions to key challenges and priorities.
The Cyber Ireland CISO Forum Survey 2024 revealed the main challenges faced by CISOs) in Ireland, as well as their investment priorities for the upcoming year. From the survey results, two prominent solution areas emerged as the central theme for the event: Identity & Access Management and Cloud Security.
Agenda:
- Welcoming remarks by Eoin Byrne, Cyber Ireland’s Manager, CISO Forum Leads, Gina Dollard and Paul Brady & ECSO representative Francisco Andrade
- Keynote Presentation: Cyber security implications of acquisitions by Mustapha Kebbeh, Chief Security Officer UKG (Dallas, USA)
- Panel Discussion: CISOs Perspectives on Identity & Access Management and Cloud Security
- Cybersecurity Solution Pitches
- Closing Remarks & Announcement of Pitch winners by CISO Forum Leads
In his keynote presentation, Mustapha Kebbeh, Chief Security Officer at UKG, emphasized the importance of identifying cyber risks and gaps before completing a merger or acquisition (M&A), urging organisations to assess available information to pinpoint risks prior to the deal and focus on remediation afterward. He recommended evaluating potential costs for security enhancements and the time needed for integration before sending a letter of intent. Kebbeh also stressed the necessity of developing a cyber threat profile as part of an intelligence-led security strategy, which provides a comprehensive overview of significant cyber threats, enabling companies to adopt a proactive approach to reduce cyber risk.
Moderated by Gina Dollard, CISO Forum Lead, the panel discussion featured Jason Scanlon, Chief Information Security Officer at Numata; Yousef Hazimee, Head of Security Risk and Compliance at LearnUpon; and Mustapha Kebbeh, Chief Security Officer at UKG. Together, they explored the topic of “CISOs Perspectives on Identity & Access Management and Cloud Security.”
Six selected cybersecurity companies from Ireland and Europe then pitched their solutions to a jury of CISOs, Gina Dollard, Head of Cyber Resilience and Strategic Regulatory Relations at AIB, and Paul Brady, Chief Information Security Officer at Optum, who selected the top two.
Gerard Joyce from CalQRisk and Dr. Tobias Lieberum from CyberDesk were seleceted as the winnersby the the Judging Panel with their innovative solutions and compelling pitches, despite facing stiff competition.
As CSD winners, they now have the opportunity to participate in the ECSO CISO Choice Award 2025, where they will compete for the title of “Europe’s Most Promising Cybersecurity Solution.” Their achievements highlight the significant potential of their contributions to the cybersecurity landscape in Europe.
CISO Forum Group
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