ITER NEWSLINE
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ITER cybersecurity symposium
Stronger together
Romain Bourgue, IT Security & Policy Responsible Officer
ITER cybersecurity symposium | Stronger together
Cybersecurity is tough work. Every day new vulnerabilities are found, new malware is created, and new companies and organizations are hit with ransomware attacks and data breaches. Protecting an organization like ITER against these cyber threats means constantly adapting security measures to new threats, raising awareness, and preventing cyber incidents while still allowing our organization to have the best IT service to continue working.
This summer's ITER cybersecurity symposium ended with a tour of the ITER worksite and a promise to meet again. Trading notes on best practices with other organizations is one of the best ways to stay on top of ever-growing and ever-changing cyber threats.
All organizations in the world are facing the same challenges, and trading notes on best practices is one way to keep abreast of the latest developments. As part of its efforts to keep ITER safe from cyberattack, the Information Technology (IT) Division held its first ITER cybersecurity symposium this past summer. This event gathered 14 IT security experts from various industries and organizations, all sharing a common goal: how to better defend our organizations from ever-growing and ever-changing cyber threats.
"In cybersecurity, more than ever, peer-driven collaboration and knowledge sharing are critical," says Romain Bourgue, cybersecurity officer for ITER and organizer of the event. "We are facing the same challenges and fighting the same enemy. Collectively, we have accumulated enormous experience through the attacks and incidents we have faced, our security awareness campaigns, and our cybersecurity improvement projects. Sharing among peers, without commercial actors, what has really worked in our organizations—and even more importantly what has failed and why—helps everyone improve their cybersecurity posture."
During the one-day event, participants in the ITER cybersecurity symposium shared lessons learned and best practices on various hot topics in cybersecurity. Jerome Poggi, chief information security officer (CISO) for the city of Marseille, described the ransomware attack they faced in 2020. Kevin Heydon from the French governmental agency for cybersecurity, ANSSI, presented the best practices they have gathered for handling cybersecurity crises. Jerome Depierre, CISO for the French agricultural cooperative Limagrain, detailed the top-down strategy deployed to raise cybersecurity awareness throughout the group's 9,000 employees. Other topics ranged from secure development practices to the place occupied by women in cybersecurity.
The day concluded with a site visit and the strong determination of all participants to meet again to keep the exchange of experience going.
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