At the IT institute the BCS, its Internet Specialist Group is hosting a one-day conference on 31 March at the BCS London office to answer questions about the cyber challenges we face in 2012.
Among speakers are Captain Ian McGhie Royal Navy, on the national cyber security programme. Several major events will take place next year, including potential cyber attacks on the Olympics and major changes to IP networking; plus the ever-present threat of natural disasters and terrorism.<br><br>According to Howard Gerlis, chair of the group, the conference will address issues that have been grossly overlooked by the business community and are now major threats to industry.<br><br>He says: "The critical nature of today’s internet has led to a reliance on what was originally an academic and military research tool. Today, the internet is the critical pan-national infrastructure of the planet.’<br><br>He adds: ‘Preparing for 2012 covers events that might be regarded as the ‘white elephant in the room’ or ‘black swan’ in nature. For example, this year we have issued the last of the ipv4 address space and despite knowing this would occur for the last 10 years – this black swan event has now occurred, which means any large operations cannot take place.’<br><br>Many critical environments are not secure and the threat of long-term internet outages as a result of severe cyber attacks are always around the corner, organisers add. For booking and other details visit the BCS website –
