Held on October 24 by certSIGN, in partnership with the Romanian Banking Institute, the CyberThreats & CyberSecurity Day Conference 2018 brought together cyber security specialists from Romania, who approached multiple topics of interest in this field.

A particularly important point over which the present speakers have consistently returned has been the subject of cyber education, mentioned at the beginning of the event, in the opening speech of Adrian Floarea, CEO of certSIGN:

"We see every day a series of information, attacks, new things related to this domain (* cyber security), but I think they should be treated as early as possible and we are trying to launch an initiative to introduce in schools – from primary classes – courses in cyber security, so that our children know from the beginning how to protect themselves. "

Also regarding this issue, Mrs. Maria-Manuela Catrina (State Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Information Society) pointed out – beyond the importance of introducing cyber education courses in schools as early as possible – the importance of revising the IT&C curricula:

"I think we have to work with you on the curricula so that the things that are learned in school to build the future specialists – if we now have something to say in the field of cyber security, to have something to say also in the field of artificial intelligence, which is the next challenge in IT. "

What has been done so far, from this point of view? A number of edifying explanations came from Mr. Anton Rog (Director Cyberint National Center, Romanian Intelligence Service), according to which 12 faculties from Romania have launched masters and postgraduate courses in cyber securitythis year, at the Cyberint proposal. The institution came to support them with a list of ten courses, curricula and guidelines for EU grant application:

"We were not alone in this endeavor, there were many companies in the industry with us, who in turn provided laboratories, technology, appliances, and so on. [..] I hope that in about two or three years we will have several hundred, if not thousands of specialists in this field, to take in industry. "

Also, an initiative for the implementation of cyber education and pre-university education was noted in the best four high schools in Romania:

"[…] They were extremely excited and promised us all that, out of the seven weekly computer classes, two would be on cyber. The universities, in turn, have now come to the sponsor area and said that it is good for people to come to us – and they also helped with the curricula for grades IX-XII. That's why I appreciate what certSIGN said – it is good to start from the primary cycle – you don’t even know what advantages Romania will have from this. "

The full speeches of the speakers present at the event can be watched on the certSIGN Facebook page at the "Videos" section.

The Cyberthreats & Cybersecurity Day 2018 conference is included in the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA)  program and is part of the international events held during the European Cyber Security Month (ECSM).