While we’re all Zoomed, Webexed and Teamed out after thirteen months of the pandemic, cybercriminals are taking advantage of the situation. They know we’re heavily relying on digital communications and they’re sending fake emails, pretending to be your boss. They’re sending fake invoices, pretending to be your vendor. They’re even sending fake requests for gift cards, on the off-chance that someone in your organization will fall victim to their schemes and supply them with a few thousands dollars to iTunes. We discussed all this and more at the industry’s largest email security conference this week—Trust 2021.
Trust 2021: Reviewing the Past, Preparing for the Future
Interest in the Trust 2021 conference, the largest conference focused around email security globally, soared this year in the wake of the newly-released IC3 report, which stated that BEC remains a $1.9 billion issue. During the conference, we heard from cybersecurity leaders including Munawar Hossain, Director of Product Management at Cisco, and Steve Potestio, VP & Senior Manager of Information Security at TD Bank Group, who both emphasized the importance of this growing problem.
Graham Cluley, host of the Smashing Security podcast, walked us through the history of email and explained that it’s never been secure, even in its humble beginnings. Only now... it’s somehow gotten worse. Our CISO panel spoke on the ways that data science can make a difference—but only when combined with human intelligence, and Agari’s own Crane Hassold explained the importance of active defense in learning the methods that BEC criminals use to create their attacks. And that was just Day One!
On Day Two, we heard from Kimberly Bryant, the Founder of Black Girls Code, who gave an inspiring keynote on the ways we can solve the cybersecurity and data skills shortage, with emphasis on recruiting and developing a diverse set of cybersecurity talent. We also heard from Jason Wescott, Principal Program Manager at Microsoft, who explained how he’s thinking about the network effect. After all, it takes an entire ecosystem to keep the attackers out, and we’re each a small part of that effort. It’s only by working together that we can truly make a difference for our customers, employees, and communities.
We also heard from Sandworm author Andy Greenberg, who shared behind the scenes stories of Russian hackers and inspired us all to learn more about the motivations and tactics of nation-state actors. And after a host of great sessions by speakers from LaSalle Solutions, KnowBe4, CultureAI, LinkedIn, Entrust and more, we wrapped up with a discussion on vendor email compromise and how cyberattackers are lurking in your supply chain.
The Cybersecurity Industry Must Do Better
Each year, we hope that business email compromise and other types of advanced email attacks will start to diminish, but unfortunately, the opposite has proven to be true. 2020 set a new record for BEC and related crimes, with financially-motivated fraud adding up to 70% of all cybercrime losses over the last year.
The fact remains that the cybersecurity industry can and must do better. It is imperative that the industry and its customers come together to create a virtual organization that works together to stop these attacks. Trust 2021 was a great leap forward toward that mission, and Agari remains committed to working in collaboration with our customers and partners in both the public and private sectors to ensure that humanity prevails over evil.
Part of that mission means ensuring that industry leaders have the opportunity to learn about emerging threats and new technologies, and Trust 2021 gave us the chance to discover these together. I remain hopeful that the Trust conference will continue to do so year after year, so that we can better solve the email security problems facing companies worldwide—and that we can do so together.
Special thanks to our impressive list of sponsors who all play a part in securing the email ecosystem. Premier sponsors of Trust 2021 include Cisco, Microsoft, and Entrust. Presenting sponsors include Menlo Security, KnowBe4, Attivo Networks, LaSalle Solutions and Culture.AI, and Kudelski Security, Global Cyber Alliance, and SilverSky rounded out our sponsors list as exhibiting sponsors. Here at Agari, we understand that email security is an everyone problem, and we look forward to continuing to partner with these and all organizations across the industry.
Don’t Miss Out on Trust 2021 Session Content
The virtual summit may be over, but the information discussed throughout the event remains vital to our success as we look to eradicate cybercrime across the globe. All session content will remain available to Trust 2021 registrants and attendees through the end of the month. And if you weren’t able to attend live, you can still register now at the Trust 2021 website to receive access to the content.
You’ll have the opportunity to view our keynotes, hear our panel discussions, and learn from our impressive lineup of speakers. If you missed a session during the conference, or just want to go back to watch it again, you can do so through April 30th.
Thank you again to our speakers, sponsors, and attendees. We can’t wait to see you back for Trust 2022.
View the sessions on-demand by registering for the event. Registered participants can watch on-demand content in the Trust 2021 platform.
