On September 25th, 2018 the Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association (ESGA) has organized the debate ” Cyber Security – an Instrument of Influence and Meddling in the Decision Making Process of our “Partner” Countries”.
The first guest speaker of the event was Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist, co-founder and editor of Agentura.ru, a watchdog of the Russian secret services’ activities. He has been covering security services and terrorism issues since 1999. He has co-written with Irina Borogan the book “The New Nobility. The Restoration of Russia’s Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB” (PublicAffairs, 2010, Romanian: “Noua nobilime. Renasterea statului securest rus si trainica mostenire a KGB”, Meteor Publishing House) and “The Red Web: The Struggle Between Russia’s Digital Dictators and the New Online Revolutionaries”, published in the autumn of 2015. The new, updated edition of the Red Web, with the completely new chapter about the US election and the Russian interference in 2016, is due to be published in August 2017.
The second guest speaker was Patrycja CHOMICKA, Coordinator of the Cybersecurity programme in the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, as well as Coordinator of the Economy and Energy programme and Secretary General of the Women in International Security Poland. She is additionally overseeing Programme of an international conference Warsaw Security Forum. During her work in the Casimir Pulaski Foundation, she was an author and co-writer of several commentaries, opinion pieces and reports on cybersecurity. Her main interests include security of critical infrastructure, disinformation, European approach to cybersecurity, and energy security of Central and Eastern Europe. She is an alumnus of the Warsaw University, holding a double degree M.A. diploma in International Relations and B.A. in Hebrew Studies. She has additionally finished a postgraduate study in International Law and Foreign Service at the Faculty of Law of the University of Warsaw.
The third speaker of the event was Dr. Adrian FLOAREA, Chief Executive Officer, certSIGN. Graduated mathematics and holding a Ph.D. in cryptographic algorithms, he is a strong supporter of the research and development activity in the IT Identity and Cyber Security Field. Involved as a security consultant in more than 40 projects in 6 countries, with applied and innovative approaches, Adrian Floarea has over 18 years’ experience in security products and consultancy for information security. Involved in scientific research activities on the subject of the system for encryption of classified data, implementation, and implementation of cryptographic algorithms, cryptanalysis techniques. Technical skills and competencies: CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control) ISO27001/BS 7799 Auditor.
The debate was moderated by Leonela Lenes, head of Economy/Energy Department, Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association (ESGA), co-founder ESGA Moldova.
The discussions focused on the latest evolutions in the cybersecurity threats, the new threats as stated by the relevant international organizations, the normative and legislative aspects in fighting the cybersecurity threats from all academic, journalistic and business perspectives. All three speakers provided the latest policies evolutions in the 3 countries – the Russian Federation, Poland, and Romania. In the final part of the event, Meteor, the Romanian Publisher of the book written by Andrei Soldatov “The New Nobility. The Restoration of Russia’s Security State and the Enduring Legacy of the KGB” presented their approach in publishing books dedicated to the ex-USSR countries. After the event, the published donated 10 books to the young experts that attended the event and a session of signing autographs was organized.
Over 30 participants, experts, officials, and academia representatives had the opportunity to actively be involved in the debate using the OSM (Open Space Method).
This debate is the last one within the present project and it is part of the series of the follow-up events continuing the project implemented in 2017 by ESGA “Understanding the Eastern Neighborhood. A unique platform for comprehensive debates and analysis on Russian affairs”. Within this projects, ESGA aims to engage the young generation of experts proactively in the efforts oriented on setting a new agenda for the dialogue with Russia and to encourage the participation in public debates.
The debate was also attended by different media representatives and the conclusions of the event were presented in these media sources such as:
http://www.ziare.com/vladimir-putin/rusia/andrei-soldatov-in-relatia-cu-romania-putin-practica-o-diplomatie-de-secolul-xx-iar-nato-e-vazut-ca-o-amenintare-pentru-rusia-interviu-1531483
Detailed information about ESGA projects is available on the website http://esga.ro and Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/ESGAfiles/.
The Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association (ESGA) is a Romanian think tank designed as an online platform that will bring together researchers, experts, analysts, journalists, civil society representatives both from Romania and from abroad, specialized in the study of political, socio-economic and security the of the ex-soviet space, Euro-Atlantic area and the Middle East. ESGA is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization and think-tank.