Organised by the Monaco Friends of Israel association in partnership with the Monaco Economic Board, this event put into perspective the risks associated with the widespread use of digital technology and how to protect yourself. Some 120 economic stakeholders and guests attended to hear some top-level speakers on the subject.

After an introduction by Association Monaco Friends of Israel President Franck Biancheri, the first talk focused on Monaco’s point of view. Dominique Riban, Director of Monaco’s Digital Security Agency, outlined the Principality’s strategy to protect IT systems in institutions, protect personal data, raise awareness and make cybersecurity a competitiveness factor, the legislation in force and his organisation’s objectives.

Martin Péronnet, Managing Director of Monaco Telecom, then underlined the crucial importance of cybersecurity for an operator, both to protect its own installations and that of its customers be they companies or private individuals.

He was followed by Haïm Tomer, former intelligence chief in the fight against terrorism and international relations in Mossad. Now working in the private sector in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence, he highlighted the battle’s complexity and Israeli expertise.

For a start-up nation like Israel, one under intense regional geopolitical pressure, cybersecurity is an obvious necessity. This was the focus of the talk by Yuval Elovici, Cybersecurity Research Centre Director who heads Ben Gurion University’s Telecoms Department. The university is in Be’er Sheva, a Cyber City established by the Israeli government to develop an ecosystem that has proved very effective in bringing on start-ups in this field.

Concluding this high-level conference, co-founder and president of XM Cyber, Tamir Pardo, Mossad Director from 2011 to 2016, graphically illustrated how we all take risks every day, particularly with smartphones. “It’s as if you are putting your wallet and house keys in the middle of the road showing your schedule and when you will be absent,” he says. On a global scale, the threat is described as a “soft” nuclear bomb. Tamir Pardo and his compatriots have made themselves the spokesmen for the country’s expertise, an expertise that could be replicated here in the Principality.