The International Conference on Cyber Conflicts, CyCon 2025: The Next Step, has kicked off today in Tallinn, bringing together more than 650 key experts and decision-makers from the global cyber security and defence community. The conference was opened by the President of Estonia Alar Karis, who underscored the importance of cooperation in the face of increasing cyberattacks.
“Now that we are under more attack than ever, we should more than ever come together to defend ourselves. Despite some autocratic countries, who strive towards digital authoritarianism, internet censorship, and sabotage capabilities, most of the world actually appreciates the same universal ideals of freedom and prosperity,” said Karis in his opening speech at the conference.
He highlighted that new technology will also bring new vulnerabilities. “AI will make future cyberattacks even more challenging to detect and attribute. But I am equally sure that AI can also provide new tools, powers, and opportunities for the defenders. It can also enhance defence and security. Despite various concerns, I am looking forward with interest to see how we can incorporate more AI into our cybersecurity and defence as well,” said Karis.
Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe, NATO Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber, stressed in his opening keynote that cyber is a feature of modern conflict, which can be not only seen in Ukraine, but also a persistent element before crisis and conflict. “We see it around us. We see cyber attacks below-the-threshold of armed attacks targeting NATO, Allies, and like-minded partners all the time. We cannot afford to wait for threats to materialise,” said Ellermann-Kingombe, adding that in the past 18 months, Allies have handled over 90 politically significant cyber-attacks originating from Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.
He called for increased spending and cooperation and emphasised the need to embrace emerging technologies and support innovation. “Within NATO, Allies will need to increase defence spending, including on areas more broadly related to security. This means additional investment, including across the cyber domain – especially as we think about critical infrastructure and resilience,” stated Ellermann-Kingombe.
“The aim of NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence is to help like-minded nations to face cyber threats as a coalition. At CyCon, leading cyber experts from around the world present the latest research and recent developments in cyber conflict, enabling a deeper understanding of both current and emerging threats,” said Dr. Mart Noorma, Director of the NATO CCDCOE.
The four-day multidisciplinary conference brings more than 100 distinguished cyber experts on stage. The welcoming address of the conference was made by Alar Karis, President of Estonia. Keynote speakers include Jean-Charles Ellermann-Kingombe (NATO Assistant Secretary General for Innovation, Hybrid, and Cyber), Dr Emily Goldman (Senior US Cyber Strategist, National Security Agency); the Gentlemen Hackers—Mikko Hypponen, Tomi Tuominen with Thomas Dullien (also known as Halvar Flake); Professor Ryan Maness (Associate Professor Associate Professor of Cyber and Information Strategy and Tarah Wheeler (Senior Fellow for Global Cyber Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations). The conference was preceded by a Workshop Day on Tuesday.
The conference is organised by NATO CCDCOE for the 17th time in Tallinn and is attended by over 650 participants from 55 countries. The Conference Proceedings contains 14 peer-reviewed papers chosen from more than 200 submitted abstracts.
The conference is supported by industry partners Google Cloud, Palo Alto Networks, Microsoft, Fortinet, AWS, Trend Micro, Silobreaker, Black Hills Information Security, Sealing Tech, Crowdstrike and IEEE.
More detailed information about the conference can be found at https://cycon.org/
Photos by Kristi Sits and Egert Kamenik: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjCfRBk