Nikoloz speaks about creating a cyber-aware society to protect our financial stability, health and privacy. He makes us understand the need of cyber-security in our daily lives. Nikoloz Kokhreidze is a full-spectrum information security professional, originally from Georgia with a home in the Netherlands. His cybersecurity journey started at age 13, and since then, he transitioned from a tech-savvy teen to a strategic risk advisor for businesses and individuals.
Notable Milestones:
→ Built 500+ detection mechanisms for various threat actors;
→ Co-authored a textbook on cyberspace legal issues and penned numerous cybersecurity articles;
→ Founded and successfully exited a cybersecurity analysis venture. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
[Applause] 5 billion internet users each spending over 6 hours a day making billions of transactions and clicks have you ever thought what could be the cost of a single click a friend of mine dreaming of sandy beaches and breaking from The Daily Grind clicked to book his
Flight little did he know that cyber criminals had injected a malicious code into airplane providers website turning his €250 investment into a 5,000 nightmare for some this loss might be a drop in the ocean but for many this can be years of savings but Stakes could be even
Higher in August 2023 us Healthcare systems were targeted by a ransomware attack some facilities had to switch from using it devices and internet to paperwork and 16 hospitals had to completely shut down their vital operations just imagine being a patient in a need of urgent care only to be
Turned away from hospital doors because the systems are down today we live in a digital world that affects real lives affects real people like you and me and in this world our personal Integrity is constantly at stake so who is safeguarding our financial transactions health records and private conversations what happens when the
Information falls into the wrong hands and how can we build a society that is not only aware of those risks but is equipped to handle them to answer these questions let’s first understand the context our digital information is all stored in bits and bites accessible from
Any anywhere in the world and these bits and bites are not just confined to Data Centers and Cloud they exist in our homes in the form of smart home devices these gadgets are information WS containing anything from our personal schedules to energy consumption and sometimes even have
Access to cameras and microphones in our homes in 20 22 over 870 million of those devices were shipped to families around the world but these families were probably not aware that smart home devices get attacked within 5 minutes of connecting to the internet smart devices are not the only
Players in this game of digital vulnerability as we invite more technology into our lives we also start using artificial intelligence driven Solutions like chatbots chat GPD has over 180 million active users and while Chad GPD and similar Solutions can be extremely powerful and useful most of their users are not aware of
Risks using AI tread pods for sensitive information is like handling your secrets to a digital magician sure they can make some of your problems disappear but you never know when those problems reappear if someone else asks for it as we become more connected we also become more vulnerable every device we had every
System we digitize every piece of information we put online can become Target of cyber criminals and cyber criminals are not some petty thees they are s phisticated operators often backed by vast resources and malicious intent an extremely dangerous combination so you might be wondering with all this advanced technology at our
Fingertips how come we are still so vulnerable the root cause is what I call the cyber security ignorance cycle picture it like this average member of our society is not aware of cyber risks unaware users cannot demand secure products and result the demand companies Rush insecure products to conquer the
Market and when these insecure products eventually fail it’s unaware users who suffer the consequences of data brides and cyber attacks but why should you care about cyber security because cyber attacks and date breaches can affect people around you in 2020 Elon musk’s Twitter account was hacked alongside with billgates and other public
Figures cyber criminals posted a Bitcoin scam to their followers robbing them of $100,000 but this incident is not about compromised accounts it’s about the people who trusted those posts and lost money if your email gets hacked it’s not just your shopping list getting exposed cyber criminals can use your
Account to scam your friends and family pretending to be you and with modern AI Technologies they can replicate your voice replicate your persona and replicate your image stealing your identity that’s the thing when you don’t care take care of security people who trust you suffer the most so what can we do about
This we must break the cyber security ignorance cycle and the first St of ret is to raise awareness about the risks people that at the top of tech companies play a huge role in how we interpret cyber security after all if they don’t prioritize Security in their companies
Neither will their employees who create this amazing product and services Executives need to make it clear to their employees that cyber security is not an IT issue but it’s a business and social one if you are in a leadership position ask your yourself what steps are we taking to protect our digital products
And how does this impact our customers and employees now let’s talk about establishing trust I want you to think about the last time you went to the grocery store to pick up a snack you likely looked at the nutrition labels showing you how much calories it had or how much sugar these Nutri
Values allowed you to make informed decisions before purchasing the product and just like nutrition plays a huge role in your health so does the security of digital applications have an impact on your digital safety but what did they mean by establishing trust let’s say you want to improve your
Budgeting skills and are looking for an application that can help keep track of your budget now for an application to provide you with this service you need to constantly share with it at least three types of information what are you purchasing when are you purchasing and for how
Much this is a quite sensitive information and you would not want to share it with just a random application or human right if I ask you right now to constantly share with me your spending habits you’ll probably say no because you don’t trust me and you don’t know how I will protect your
Information so the question is how do I make sure that you can trust me how can a budgeting app demonstrate that they can be trusted what if every digital product had a nutrition labels just like a snack at the grocery store showing you in very clear and understandable format how secure is the
Product and how does the developer take care of your data cyber card can be that nutrition label enabling you to make informed decisions before you click that buy button and for businesses it could St it could set a new standard of transparency enabling better security practices by taking these steps we can all
Together try to build a cyber aware Society now let’s talk about individuals like you and me breaking the cyber security ignorance cycle is not only about businesses and developers it’s on all of us imagine your digital accounts as a safe where you store your most valuable assets
Now you would not protect it with just one lock right multiactor authentication or MFA adds an extra look to your digital accounts it’s like a digital bouncer who checks your ID twice before letting you into the club now please raise your hands if you’re using a multiactor authentication for your digital
Accounts quite a few people in a cyber security WIP Club I see for the rest of you access is easier than you think okay now we have our digital bouncer in place what else can you do to protect your own cyber security continue with the basics use strong passwords use password managers
Update your software and think before clicking that link in your email moving on let’s talk about about Consumer Power your wallet has a voice before purchasing a digital product or device ask about the security features and how are they protecting your data let’s amplify your impact if you
Read an interesting article or have a tip on cyber security share it on social media by taking these steps we are not just passive consumers but we are active participants in shaping a more secure Society for all of us I hope for the future where we all care about cyber
Security I hope for the future where we all protect our financial transactions health records and private information but most importantly I hope for the future where we all protect people around us so let’s break the cyber security ignorance cycle because at cost of a single click should never be a 5,000
Nightmare or worse a matter of life or [Applause] death