Table of contents
A new format for strategic debate
New challenges call for new event formats. This was how Thimo Holst (Head of Brand Strategy at it-sa) summed up the concept of the new event at the opening of the first Cyber Thought Leaders Dialogue, held as part of it-sa EXPO & Congress 2026.
The increasingly severe threat landscape calls for cooperation at European level, which was reflected in the international line-up of speakers.
Yet even a large, cross-border community always starts at the local level. The first words of welcome therefore came from Marcus König, Lord Mayor of Nuremberg.
For König, it-sa is a “family reunion for the cybersecurity industry”. However, he stressed that businesses and academia need to work even more closely together to remain fit for the future.
Sandro Kirchner (State Secretary at the Bavarian State Ministry of the Interior, for Sport and Integration) also highlighted Bavaria's role as a high-tech hub. New technologies are adopted early and further developed in order to “stay ahead of the curve”.
Digitalisation offers many opportunities, but it also creates additional attack surfaces. For Kirchner, cybersecurity is therefore not merely a technical issue but a societal responsibility, as public safety is increasingly dependent on digitalisation.
€211 billion in damage – and Germany's response
Barbara Kluge (Deputy Head of the Directorate-General for Cyber and Information Security at Germany's Federal Ministry of the Interior) provided more specific figures: the annual damage suffered by German companies as a result of data theft, industrial espionage and sabotage amounts to approximately €211 billion.
In this context, becoming more resilient is particularly important in order to mitigate the impact of such attacks.
Among other initiatives, the German Federal Government established the AI Security Institute (AISI) at the end of August. Its responsibilities include the technical evaluation of powerful AI models with regard to cybersecurity.
In addition, plans are underway for the Cyberdome, a protective shield for Germany's digital space. This centrally coordinated system is designed to detect and analyse cyberattacks more quickly and minimise the damage they cause.
How companies embed this kind of resilience in their organisation is explored in the article When IT Comes to a Standstill: How Business Continuity Keeps Companies Operational.
Europe's view: between digital and kinetic attacks
Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar (Chair of the Steering Group of the Ukraine Defence Contact IT Coalition) turned the focus to the European perspective: “We are no longer experiencing just digital attacks, but kinetic attacks as well.” This dimension must also be taken into account when addressing security.
The guiding principle, she argued, should be: “If one of us is attacked, no one should be left to face it alone.” With regard to critical infrastructure, Tiirmaa-Klaar emphasised that it should consist exclusively of components from trusted sources.
The role European infrastructure plays in this is examined in the article Towards European digital sovereignty: cloud infrastructure as a foundation.
The wider context is brought together on the topic page Digital sovereignty: The ability to act in uncertain times.
Who is in your network? State actors and AI
The two panel discussions then addressed the questions “Who Is in Your Network? Fighting Cybercriminals, AI and Nation States” and “Critical Infrastructure Under Pressure – Protecting Societal Essentials Under Complex Cyber Attacks”.
According to Dr. Joanna Swiatkowska (Secretary General of ECSO), the greatest threat comes from state and state-sponsored actors.
(Editor's note: The role ECSO plays in it-sa's European positioning is set out in the news item it-sa secures ECSO as its European Sovereignty Partner.)
For Major General Dr. Volker Pötsch (German Federal Ministry of Defence), the sheer volume of attacks represents a particular challenge, especially when such attacks are aimed at destabilising society.
Thomas Caspar (Vice President of the German Federal Office for Information Security, BSI) is particularly concerned about the new attack capabilities enabled by AI, as well as the potential loss of large volumes of data in successful attacks.
(Editor's note: How AI affects attack and defence in equal measure is assessed in the interview AI Is Changing the Balance of Power in Cybersecurity.)
Heli Tiirmaa-Klaar warned that preparations for the current threat landscape remain inadequate. The situation, she said, is “not yet war, but no longer peace either”.
Critical infrastructure under pressure
During the second panel discussion, which focused on the security of critical infrastructure, Benjamin Bögel (Member of the Cabinet of the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Technological Sovereignty, Security and Democracy) pointed out that the question of what exactly constitutes critical infrastructure has not yet been fully resolved.
Gernot Friedrich (Head of Interoperability and Standardisation at NATO) highlighted a different challenge: infrastructure is not only targeted by cyberattacks but also by acts of sabotage. This makes comprehensive situational awareness all the more important in order to respond effectively to a wide range of threats.
(Editor's note: How vulnerable the sector remains despite regulation is analysed in the article Between regulation and resilience, the KRITIS sector remains vulnerable.)
For Barbara Kluge, the security of water and electricity supplies is a particular priority, as disruptions to these services would have the most severe consequences.
The problems and challenges are therefore well known, but awareness alone is not enough. “We need a great deal of funding to protect critical infrastructure,” emphasised Felix A. Barrio (Director General of the Spanish National Cybersecurity Institute).
An overview of sectors, obligations and protection concepts is available on the topic page Critical infrastructures (KRITIS) – importance and protection.
Outlook: it-sa CONFERENCE 2027
“With the Cyber Thought Leaders Dialogue, we have deliberately opened a new chapter in the development of the it-sa brand today,” said Thimo Holst in his closing remarks.
The positive atmosphere of the trade fair was equally evident at the event, which also confirmed the need for a platform where these issues can be discussed at a strategic level.
Next year, this will take the form of a two-day it-sa CONFERENCE – Cyber Thought Leaders Dialogue, taking place in Nuremberg on 5 and 6 October 2027.
Programme, target groups and dates are summarised on the it-sa CONFERENCE 2027 page.
How KRITIS operators put regulatory requirements into practice is shown in the session IT Security Talk: KRITIS on it-sa 365.
Would you like to continue the exchange with decision-makers from politics, public administration and the cybersecurity community? The it-sa 365 Community connects you with IT security experts all year round — including between trade fair dates. Become a member!
