We have been organising CERT-EU’s Annual Conference, our flagship event, for many years. In 2019, we started inviting our colleagues from the EU entities as well as our trusted peers and partners to participate in a Call for Proposals (CFP) for the technical track of our invite-only conference.

Our Annual Conference remains an invite-only, no streaming, no recording event (no press is allowed). However, this year, for the first time ever, we are inviting the cybersecurity professionals, researchers, and industry leaders out there to submit proposals for the technical track for the consideration of our programme committee.

This is your chance to have your voice heard and potentially participate in shaping the discussions at our highly valued, highly regarded event. So do not miss this opportunity!

Who are we?

We are the Cybersecurity Service for all the Union entities.

Union entities are the 90 European Union institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, such as the European Commission, the European External Action Service, the European Parliament, Europol, ENISA (The EU Agency for Cybersecurity), Frontex, the Court of Justice, the Court of Auditors, the European Central Bank, the European Investment Bank, the European Medicines Agency, and many more.

We are considered one of the most mature cyberdefence teams in the EU and a key cog of the EU’s cybersecurity. As the ‘governmental CSIRT’ of the Union entities, we provide more than 40 services to them, spanning all the functions of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework.

We are a highly regarded, highly trusted entity. We collaborate extensively with NATO, the national and governmental CSIRTs of the EU Member States, CISA, and many other peers and partners, including the private sector.

Our mandate and tasks had been recently extended and reinforced thanks to the Cybersecurity Regulation.

This edition

Tales from The Real World, this year’s conference, will take place on October 10–11 in Brussels. We are expecting around 400 delegates.

To help you spark your inspiration, this year’s theme, Tales from The Real World invites us to step back and observe the intricate dance of real-world challenges and solutions in cybersecurity, where each challenge and solution unfolds like a story waiting to be told.

Inspired by the deep trance-like rhythms of Laurent Garnier and Alan Watts, Tales from The Real World invites us to explore the profound and often overlooked cyber narratives that shape our digital existence and human experience like a mirror reflecting both light and shadows.

We see Tales from The Real World as an opportunity to bring to light the practical challenges we face as a community and the key insights we collect along the way, serving as a vital compass to navigate technological breakthroughs, rising geopolitical tensions and rapid shifts in the threat landscape.

Topics of interest

We welcome submissions on a wide range of technical topics related to cybersecurity.

Moreover, we are happy to hear about your success, but the bitterness of a failure might also work surprisingly well in the mix. Just like in a good beer. Challenges? Why not! Rants? Yes, but in moderation.

As an example, we would like to suggest a few topics of interest:

• incident response: practical approaches to incident detection, investigation, containment, and recovery
• offensive security: ethical hacking methodologies, penetration testing strategies, and vulnerability discovery best practices
• threat intelligence: deep dives into emerging threats, threat actor analysis, and advanced intelligence gathering techniques
• artificial Intelligence in cybersecurity: leveraging AI for attack purposes or threat detection, automated incident response, and proactive security measures
• edge Computing security: securing the ever-expanding edge computing environment, including IoT devices and distributed networks.

We are also interested in presentations that address related areas, such as:

• cloud security and securing containerised environments
• privacy-enhancing technologies and data security best practices
• the human element in cybersecurity - training, awareness, and behaviour change
• security considerations in a hybrid work environment
• the future of cybersecurity: emerging trends and predictions.

Speaking benefits

Should your proposal be selected, you would have the opportunity to gain recognition as an active member of the cybersecurity community and share your knowledge and insights with a hand-picked audience composed of:

• cybersecurity officers, CISOs and policy-makers from the Union entities
• cybersecurity experts as well as middle and senior managers from the private and public sectors, including public administrations, and our counterparts in the EU Member States and several other countries
• well-renowned cybersecurity researchers.

You would also be invited to our speakers’ dinner and have a chance to mingle with cybersecurity thought leaders and well-renowned researchers from all over the world.

Finally, you would have a dedicated host that will be your point of contact before and during the conference should you need any assistance.

Please note that it is not customary for CERT-EU to compensate speakers through speaking fees or by covering their travel expenses.

Submission guidelines

Abstracts should be no more than 1000 words and clearly outline the presentation topic, target audience, and key takeaways.

Each presentation should fit preferably a 30-minute slot (including time for questions). However, we can accommodate a couple of 45-minute presentations. Please mention in your submission which would be the most suitable duration and if there are any special needs. However, depending on the number of submissions, we might ask you to fit your presentation in a shorter slot if you requested 45 minutes.

Each presentation can have a maximum of two speakers. Please include a brief bio highlighting their experience and expertise.

Selection process

Proposals will be reviewed by a programme committee consisting of cybersecurity experts.

Submissions will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• relevance to the conference theme and topics of interest
• originality and innovation of the presentation topic
• actionability, problem statements with proposals
• entertainment, are we going to have fun?
• speaker’s reputation, experience, and expertise in the field.

Important dates

• Submission deadline: 31 May 2024
• Final selection: early July 2024
• Final programme: mid-July 2024
• Conference: 10–11 October 2024.

We look forward to receiving your submissions and creating a dynamic and informative conference experience!