Resilience is key in a world gone mad – Swiss Cyber Storm 2025 motto and keynote speaker
Since the US election, the whole world seems to be descending into chaos.
Under Biden a US threat against the territory of an allied nation would have been very hard to imagine. Meanwhile, the new president is openly contemplating the use of force to invade Greenland. On Monday, the US voted with North Korea against a UN General Assembly resolution condemning Russia for invading Ukraine, and the White House called President Trump the King. The Old Continent and Switzerland have been caught off guard by this change in policy. Everybody expected a fresh wind, but not on this scale. It’s like everybody secured their roofs for a Beaufort 9 gale but the storm turned out to be a hurricane at Beaufort 12. Russian TV pundits are applauding divisive US initiatives, while Elon Musk provided a unique business opportunity for phishers worldwide by announcing an email sent to all federal employees. CISA and other government cyber initiatives such as NIST are being defunded, and the Starlink network used by Ukraine to defend its territory is now being actively used to pressure the country into submission.
There is a lot of headless chickening going on, the information space is in turmoil, and we are no longer sure what is real and what is fake. What facts are important and what are we missing in all the noise? It has become almost impossible to find the truth behind every headline. It feels like everyone has gone crazy.
When the world stops following familiar patterns, anticipating the future becomes increasingly difficult. Planning ahead feels like a futile exercise, yet preparation becomes more important than ever. In this time of uncertainty, resilience emerges as the essential skill and the central cyber security topic.
That’s why the Swiss Cyber Storm focus theme for 2025 is
“Resilience in a mad, mad world”
- How do we prepare our businesses and our customers for the challenges that lie ahead?
- How can we build architectures for resilience?
- How do we de-risk our relationship with an increasingly unreliable US technology sector?
- How do we secure our careers and even our personal lives against the blows that will come our way?
- How do we judge whom we can trust on a mid- and long-term horizon?
- How can we saveguard our assets in their cloud-native environments?
- What fallout do we have to expect from this perfect storm and how can we mitigate it?
Swiss Cyber Storm 2025 will explore these and other topics using our traditional approach: We will invite international speakers to look at issues from multiple angles. They will separate the hype and panic from the hard facts, they will present novel approaches and they will help you change the way you look at the world. And we will provide you with the time and the space to discuss it all with your peers.
Mark Barwinski to deliver opening keynote
“Resilience in a mad, mad world” is also the title of Mark Barwinski’s opening keynote at Swiss Cyber Storm 2025, on October 28. Mark’s presentation will set the stage and provide the foundation for the rest of the day.
Mark Barwinski has over 20 years of leadership experience in cybersecurity spanning financial services, professional consulting, manufacturing, and government intelligence. Mark began his career at the NSA, where he played a pivotal role in offensive and defensive cyber operations. He was deployed across multiple continents and he also served in the Afghan war. Moving on to PwC and Siemens, Mark revitalized cybersecurity teams, developed next-generation defenses, and orchestrated responses to nation-state threats. As Global Head of Cyber Operations at UBS, he led security strategies, enhanced detection capabilities through machine learning, and optimized global SOC performance. Today, Mark advises startups and other organizations, shaping global strategies, optimizing security operations, and reinforcing technical processes.
Beyond his corporate leadership, Mark is a dedicated cybersecurity advocate and writer who keeps a close eye on the evolving geopolitical security landscape. On top, Mark is an avid sailor. He is currently preparing for a possible Pacific Northwest Passage expedition in the coming years.
