Strong networks and effective cooperation are the key to successfully shaping the digital future in Germany. Cybersecurity is a team effort, and that was again visible last week at the 36th Cyber Security Day in Berlin.

🌐On 26 September 2024, the Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik (BSI), Alliance for Cyber Security, and the DIHK invited experts, companies, authorities and political decision-makers to jointly strengthen Germany's cyber resilience.

The event was a great mix of policy debate, practical exchange, workshop and networking under the motto ‘Stronger Together: Greater Resilience through Cooperation’.

✨ One of the highlights of the day was the closing panel with Claudia Plattner, President of the BSI, Dr. Stefan Saatmann, Deputy Head Berlin Office at Siemens, Konstantin von Notz, Member of the Bundestag for B90/Greens, and Alexander von Gernler, German Informatics Society, interchanging ideas to foster resilience through collaboration. Initiatives like the CoT baseline requirements and its huge potential for international harmonizing cybersecurity regulations were discussed as well.

Let’s all work together so that closer cooperation between the BSI and businesses bring more tangible effects to increase digital resilience. Special thanks to Nils Hasenau for providing the excellent photos and also to Simon Ulmer and Ralf König for attending the event.

The Charter of Trust at the Nordic Cyber Summit
What a great opportunity for Morten Kromann, Head of Industrial Security Denmark at Siemens, to present the Charter of Trust perspective on cybersecurity regulations like Hashtag#NIS2 at the Nordic Cyber Summit in Copenhagen.

This year the summit was again a formidable event to engage with top cybersecurity experts, share insights, and discuss strategies to navigate the ever-evolving threat landscape in the Nordic region with the theme “Fortifying the Future: Building Cyber Resilience in a Transformed World”.

A main aspect highlighted by Morten was the discrepancies between the NIS2 directive’s incidents reporting timeframe and related provisions adopted in other legislations. These regulatory overlaps create difficult compliance environments for industry and costly operational pressures which add to the fragmentation of the market instead of harmonizing it. That is why the Charter of Trust emphasizes streamlining reporting requirements stemming from these different legislative frameworks and developing single entry points for reporting on the national level.

These and more points have been discussed during our Security-by-default Webinar on the 29th of October. See the events section on this website to find the recording of the webinar.

A big thank you to our Partner Allianz and to SANS Institute for inviting the Charter of Trust to participate in the high-stakes discussions at this year’s Allianz Executive Forum. The topic “Cyber-Nation Germany needs Cyber-Education” was a formidable chance for the Charter of Trust to present its commitment to support educational initiatives in the field of cybersecurity.

Our chairwoman Natalia Oropeza shared some insights from the inspiring programme “African Girls Can Code”, amplifying the message that the future of cybersecurity is diverse, committed, and highly ambitious. Furthermore, Ralf Schneider, Allianz Senior Fellow Cybersecurity and Next Generation IT, highlighted that it is everyone’s task, from everyday citizens to high-end IT experts, to educate themselves and learn about new cyber threats.

A huge shoutout to Allianz and the SANS Institute for the fantastic organization and the invitation to be part of this remarkable event!

We are excited to announce that Shared Assessments has officially joined the Charter of Trust Associated Partners Forum (APF), further reinforcing our mission to enhance global cybersecurity standards.

The APF is a collaborative network that brings together regulators, research institutes, universities, and think tanks with the Charter of Trust's contributing partners to strengthen the digital security landscape. The APF has grown over the years and already counts more than 15 partners from the Americas, Europe, and Asia.

"Shared Assessments is excited and honored to join the Charter of Trust community of cybersecurity leaders and practitioners, and we are committed to working with the organisation to improve the resilience and risk posture of their membership and their associated suppliers. Since its founding in 2018, the Charter of Trust has promoted continuous improvement in the standard of care for cybersecurity risk management. At Shared Assessments, we are fully aligned with the Charter’s vision, including the organisation’s 10 Principles and the philosophy that cybersecurity ‘is everyone’s task.’" says CEO Andrew Moyad.

Founded in 2005, Shared Assessments is a global membership organization dedicated to developing the best practices, education, and products to drive third-party risk assurance. Shared Assessments is a practitioner led organization with over 1’500 active professionals available to network across their 13 global committees disseminating papers, studies, and further research.

At Shared Assessments, the belief in collaboration and the exchange of knowledge plays a critical role in tackling today’s cybersecurity challenges. Together with them, Charter of Trust is working towards creating a stronger digital landscape across industries and borders by sharing the extensive knowledge our partners have.

We are proud to share that Charter of Trust partners actively contributed during the G7-focused workshop entitled “International Cybersecurity Regulatory Dialogue,” organised by Wilton Park and LSE on September 3-4 in the UK.

The event gathered high level representatives from G7 governments, industry and academia to discuss and identify opportunities to improve international coordination and reciprocity of cybersecurity regulations, including with respect to AI’s impact on cybersecurity. As part of this workshop, our Charter of Trust Partners highlighted the importance of advancing greater international alignment of cybersecurity regulations by providing concrete examples of challenges and risks posed by regulatory fragmentation faced by industries operating at a global level.

We hope the insights from this event will inspire our policy leaders to drive international cybersecurity regulatory alignment in the coming months. As always, the Charter of Trust remains a key alliance and an active participant in furthering the international public-private dialogue.

We are excited about the potential impact of these discussions and look forward to driving meaningful progress in international cybersecurity regulation.

We are thrilled to announce that Danfoss has officially joined the Charter of Trust alliance, further strengthening our commitment to advancing harmonised cybersecurity approaches to make the digital world of tomorrow safer.

The Charter of Trust is an industry alliance that brings together leading global companies to help establish and promote the highest standards of cybersecurity: “We are delighted to welcome Danfoss as part of the Charter of Trust. Their commitment to cybersecurity and their unique experience and expertise will further strengthen our collective efforts,” says Natalia Oropeza, Chairwoman of the Charter of Trust.

"At Danfoss, we engineer solutions that increase machine productivity, reduce emissions, lower energy consumption, and enable electrification. In an increasingly connected landscape, cybersecurity is crucial, and we firmly believe that overcoming cybersecurity challenges can only be achieved through collaboration and collective effort. Joining the Charter of Trust enables us to collaborate with industry leaders, share best practices, and address evolving cyber threats together," says Morten Pors Simonsen, Chief Information Officer, Danfoss.

Yesterday we celebrated the next generation of cybersecurity talents at the "Empowering the Next Generation of Cybersecurity Talent" event, co-organized by SANS Institute, Allianz Technology and The Charter of Trust. This event was a pivotal gathering focused on addressing the critical shortage of skilled professionals in the cybersecurity field. It was a formidable opportunity to bring together industry leaders, educators and public authorities to celebrate the graduation of aspiring cybersecurity youngsters from the CyberTalent programme and discuss future opportunities in cybersecurity education and careers.

🚀 We had the pleasure of welcoming our new graduates from diverse backgrounds and hear about their journey and ambitions in becoming skilled cybersecurity professionals.

The graduation ceremony was followed by a high-level panel discussion moderated by María del Pino González-Junco with the experts from both industry and public sector Maria Manuela Catrina, Patrick Zeitz, Ian R., Dimitra Liveri and Dr Sumit Chanda who shared insights on bridging the cybersecurity skills gap and fostering a diverse and inclusive workforce. The main takeaways from this exchange:

Different ways of thinking - "Cybersecurity skills can be taught, but the strategic mindset and the hunger to learn more certainly not". This shows the value of such initiatives like the CyberTalent, different backgrounds, different forms of tackling problems and the desire to excel can get you everywhere in cybersecurity.

Soft skills - "What we need in Cybersecurity right now are not only hard technical skills, but soft skills like communications, public affairs, public relations, creativity". Back in the day, almost everyone in cybersecurity had a degree in computer science, but those times are long gone. Talents like we have them gathered here today are the future and build the backbone of our security systems tomorrow.

Human-centred - "2/3 of all data breaches involve some form of human element". This shows that cybersecurity must go a long way to make it more human-centred. A culture of failure must be embraced and openness to constructive knowledge sharing after attacks. This is what the Charter of Trust stands for and wholeheartedly welcomes this new generation of open-minded cyber-talents.

We thank SANS Institute and Allianz for organizing this wonderful event and congratulate everyone graduating from the CyberTalents academy. We cannot wait to see, where your journey will lead you, but we are sure that your contributions to cybersecurity will be most needed.

"Lessons learned in the field of cybersecurity should not be kept in an isolated environment" - said Thanassis Diogos from IBM during the panel about collaborative strategies in the Balkans at the SEE Beyond Ministerial Leadership Dialogue. Against the backdrop of evolving cyber threats and the heightened risk landscape during election cycles, the Charter of Trust welcomes the advocacy efforts of its members and calls for enhanced information sharing.

The overarching theme that came up during the esteemed panel (Michail Bletsas, Vangelis Ouzounis, Franziska Klopfer, Anne BLICKHAN) moderated by Konstantinos Foutzopoulos was trust. Trust not only in our critical infrastructure and supply chains in combination, but also trust in sharing your experiences and problems with your peers. Cyber has now become a hard power and in the digital space, we are all neighbours. Sharing knowledge and foster openness is essential.

The last three days we came together for our biannual Collaboration Week. It's been a valuable opportunity to recognize the importance of teamwork, innovation, and shared purpose in our endeavours.

This Collaboration week we had lively discussions around our transition towards our new governance structure, which will ramp up our capabilities as a global cybersecurity alliance to provide valuable recommendations and shared best practices on emerging technologies, supply chain, security practices, education and harmnonised regulatory frameworks.

Throughout this week, we've seen the tangible benefits of working together, from sharing insights to coordinating efforts in tackling common issues around cybersecurity.

A big thank you to Bosch for hosting the Charter of Trust partners. Let's carry forward the spirit of collaboration in our ongoing efforts. Together, we can make meaningful progress in safeguarding digital integrity and promoting responsible cyber practices.

The Charter of Trust presents this Manifesto as a call to action for Policymakers to join forces in the pursuit of a secure and resilient digital environment. As a collective of leading technology, cybersecurity, and industry stakeholders, we believe that a united and collaborative approach is essential for effectively combating cyber threats that endanger the security, privacy, and prosperity of our societies.
Our vision is to establish a strong, secure, and resilient digital Europe that fosters innovation, economic growth, and social progress while protecting individual rights and safeguarding the values of a democratic society.

Join us to discuss with our experts the Charter of Trust's Guidelines on Cybersecurity Risk Assessment. They provide a concise introduction to risk assessment, supported by practical guidance based on the experience of its members.

The Charter of Trust consists of 10 Principles and this webinar is brought to you by the Charter’s Taskforce on Principle 3 “Security by Default”. Experts in this taskforce work to establish and adopt the highest appropriate level of security and data protection and ensure that it is preconfiguered into the design of products, functionalities, process, technologies, operations, architectures, and business models. We call this our Baseline Requirements: With them in mind, you can ensure confidentiality, authenticity, and integrity within your systems.

In this webinar, you will learn about the objectives, scope and benefits of risk assessment. Our experts Sudhir Ethiraj (TÜV SÜD), Angelika Steinacker (IBM), Marko Wolf (Bosch), Ki Hyun Park (Mitsubishi), and Didier Ludwig (Siemens) will share best practices with insights and examples on the roles, timing, methods, and standards involved in risk assessment.

We look forward to welcoming you at this virtual event.

Excellent to see our Chairperson, Natalia Oropeza, discussing the important work of the Charter of Trust in this weekend’s Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung. Cyber threats present significant challenges to businesses, but “cyberattacks don't stop at the gates of companies" and can impact on the public sector and critical infrastructure.

Big problems require big solutions. Solutions which can only be realised through collaboration and the constant pooling of expertise from across the globe. Pragmatic cooperation and efforts to raise the importance of ever-more sophisticated cyber threats in every sector are fundamental to securing a safer digital future.