May 2023 London – Dates to be announced shortly!
Read the 2022 QSC London Report!“It was fantastic to have so many people attend. The conference provided the opportunity to learn from one another, share problems, find solutions, and determine industry trends. For example, there was a lot more interest in automation from CISO than I expected. In cyber security, there is no destination – it’s a journey. We are moving in the right direction regarding how we can simplify security and reduce costs. Qualys is leading the way with innovation and solving problems. We’re hoping to continue and strengthen our association with our customers and be there alongside them on this journey.”
Sumedh Thakar, President and CEO, Qualys
“Events like this that allow those involved in cyber security work to discuss these new challenges are vital. How great to have these essential conversations face to face with an amazingly high-quality group of attendees. I have learnt a lot. I am very grateful to Qualys for the invitation to speak. Talking to attendees, I know that they appreciate the effort that has gone into organising this event. The timing has been perfect.”
John Noble CBE, Non-Executive Director, NHS Digital (and former Director at the National Cyber Security Centre)
“In-person events like this are important because we are fighting against groups working together, sharing all that information. We need to do the same. While events like this are not the silver bullet to sharing, they will help build trust. I’m happy to share my thoughts, learnings and challenges, and I’m also happy to receive knowledge from and engage other companies, so events like this are crucial to help start those conversations.”
Craig McEwan, CISO, Anglo American
“The event has been so lively – even during the short coffee breaks. There are so many interesting conversations, and it has been great to meet in person again. The consensus is that things get resolved much faster if done face to face. It helps to put names to faces, and there is more connection, and more relationship building. It’s great that Qualys can help the community and listen to our customers.”
Shailesh Athalye, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Qualys
“It’s been a very informative day. The highlights for me have been seeing a clear vision from Qualys, and a roadmap for its products. It’s great to see some features in the works that we’ve wanted to produce. And then also talking to the product managers and almost challenging them. So that face-to-face interaction is central to the day’s success.”
Ritesh Patel, Digital Security Principal, BP
“It was amazing to finally meet so many of our customers and partners face to face. While it is possible to create connections over web meetings, it does not come close to shaking hands and having open discussions in person. I loved all the sessions, with my favourites being the customer case studies. I attend many events, and the ones I do not enjoy are when you are spoken at for hours. However, being in the discussion and contributing to each session created a unique environment for collaboration.”
Matt Middleton-Leal, Managing Director EMEA North, Qualys
“It was good to be on stage, and the feedback from the case-study session was brilliant. Lots of people have asked me lots of questions. I attended the conference and also the superb training day. For somebody who considers themselves quite a competent Qualys user, I learnt an awful lot about some of the newer stuff that I had never really investigated. At the event, the contact building was terrific.”
Glenn Pegden, Security Vulnerability Manager at Sky Betting & Gaming
“The new features with VMDR 2.0 & CSAM were great to see. That was key for me. I enjoyed all of the sessions; each one had its value. With mine, we tried to make it a bit more light-hearted. Getting to talk about our journey so far with Qualys was special. After two years of no face-to-face interactions, it was great to get back to some normality, finally. “
Kevin Williams, Technical Lead, Cyber Security, Cargotec
“It has been a fantastic event – one of the first conferences we can meet people physically after the pandemic. It is very good to network with people, and I was delighted to have been invited by Qualys to talk about our experiences at the University of Westminster. In particular, it was fascinating to hear the keynote from John Noble, the ex-NCSC Director. His strategy aligned with what we are doing, so that felt reassuring.”
Thierry Delaitre, Head of IT Developments, University of Westminster
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CISO Exchange is a dedicated part of QSC, an exchange of expertise and ideas on how to better secure our digital assets and help our companies move into this new Digital Age.
Desire to increase security automation
Cyber security professionals have a clear appetite for -up automated solutions, and with advancements in artificial intelligence, this area will develop at speed.
Power up patching capabilities and reducing risk
Ensuring that software is up to date remains the most essential foundational cyber security activity. Qualys Patch Management reduces risk by up to 60% faster.
Need to consolidate cyber security solutions
With hybrid working here to stay and new attack vectors to consider, simplifying technology and tools – preferably on one dashboard – is critical. Some 80% of CISOs are focused on vendor consolidation.
Greater collaboration and knowledge sharing are vital
Cybercriminals are joining forces, and ransomware-as-a-service has lowered the barrier to entry, so more effort must be made to work together to combat increasingly sophisticated attacks.
Participating CISOs heard;
09:00-12:45 (Optional) Qualys Security Conference (QSC)
12:45-14:00 Lunch – Palm Court, The Waldorf
14:00-17:00 CISO Exchange
17:00-18:30 Networking Reception, Drinks, Canapes, Innovation Showcase, Palm Court, The Waldorf
185,446 – universe of all known vulnerabilities
55,186 (29%) – vulnerabilities with exploit available
0.4% – number of vulnerabilities that cause the most risk
37 – the average time to remediation for all compromised assets
1,424 – views of the agenda
517 – private messages exchanged
411 – attendees who interacted with one another via the app
334 – total messages on community board
59 – meet-ups organised
47 – private group chats
41 – discussion topics
By registering to join the CISO Exchange, you automatically have the option to join the Qualys Security Conference (QSC) morning sessions. View here.
There is no need to register separately for the Qualys Security Conference (QSC).
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Born at a very early age and growing up in a culture where cyber was a prefix for anything automated, menacing and malevolent (how history has a tendency of repeating itself), Marcus entered the world of Data Processing as it was known back then after graduating from university. Lured by the flashing console lights (it was also the disco era), the whirl of the magnetic tape and the click clack of the keypunch machine (TSO was still a dream), Marcus became a COBOL programmer, becoming prolific in structured programming methodology. Having moved into analysis and then data architecture Marcus became the first devolved Information Risk and Security Manager for Barclaycard. After seven years in that role he moved banks and became Head of Information Security for Abbey National plc, now Santander UK. After six years at Abbey and a move into consulting for a large UK utilities company Marcus joined KPMG as a Principal Advisor. Eighteen months later he joined Lloyd’s of London as its CISO and subsequently became its Head of Digital Risk Management and Compliance, also embracing responsibility for data protection and privacy, during his 10 years tenure there. Having worked in IT for over 40 years, specialising in information risk, protection, security and compliance for the latter 27 years or so, Marcus decided to leave full-time corporate life and move to the South Coast of England in mid-2017, ever the seafaring Fisherman’s Friend. As well as being a proud member of the Pulse Conferences family, Marcus now undertakes advisory engagements, provides pro bono consulting and volunteering services.
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As CEO, Sumedh leads the company’s vision and strategic direction. He joined Qualys in 2003 in engineering and grew within the company, taking various leadership roles focused on helping Qualys deliver on its platform vision. Since 2014, he has served as Chief Product Officer at Qualys, where he oversaw all things product, including engineering, development, product management, cloud operations, DevOps, and customer support. A product fanatic and engineer at heart, he is a driving force behind expanding the platform from Vulnerability Management into broader areas of security and compliance, helping customers consolidate their security stack. This includes the rollout of the game-changing VMDR (Vulnerability Management, Detection and Response) that continually detects and prevents risk to their systems, Multi-Vector EDR, which focuses on protecting endpoints as well as Container Security, Compliance and Web Application Security solutions. Sumedh was also instrumental in the build-up of multiple Qualys sites resulting in a global 24×7 follow-the-sun product team. Sumedh is a long-time proponent of SaaS and cloud computing. He previously worked at Intacct, a cloud-based financial and accounting software provider. He also worked at Northwest Airlines developing complex algorithms for its yield and revenue management reservation system. Sumedh has a bachelor’s degree in computer engineering with distinction from the University of Pune.
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Ritesh Patel, Digital Security Principal, BPResponsible for the delivery of vulnerability management and threat protection across a globally diverse FSTE 100 company. Focused on driving industry leading change through teamwork, tooling and automation, enabling the businesses to scale and innovate at pace in a safe and secure way.
Ritesh is a solutions‐orientated security engineering professional with more than 20 years of experience with background rooted in Operations and now Information Security. He especially enjoys challenging the traditional ways of doing things to deliver key results. Ritesh and his team provide threat modelling to end-point EDR. Integrating at multiple points to surface business vulnerabilities to the people that can remediate them before the attackers can exploit.
Ritesh is a supporter of early Cyber talent development, which is a foundational element to solving the current talent gap. Outside of work Ritesh enjoys Cricket of all forms but keen Indian fan (and this season IPL team Gujarat Titans). Also, a keen Formula1 fan looking forward to a great 2022 season
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Craig McEwen, CISO, Anglo AmericanCraig was named Group Chief Information Security Officer of Anglo American in March 2020, where he is responsible for setting the overall strategic direction of Anglo American’s cyber security programme globally. Prior to this, Craig managed the Global Security Operations Centre within the business.
Craig has been responsible for bridging the cyber security gap between the Corporate (IT) and Operational / ICS (OT) environment, establishing a unified view of threats to the business. This has included the introduction of centralised monitoring of ICS infrastructure, alongside the IT environment and the introduction of governance, risk and compliance programme based on standard industry frameworks.
Craig has more than 15 years’ experience in strategic decision making and leadership role. He is a strong advocate of diversity and talent development within cyber security and the mining industry and established Anglo American’s first ever apprenticeship programme in the UK, delivering Cyber Intrusion and Risk Analysts on an annual basis to either the business or into the wider industry.
He has also set up and chairs the mining cyber security forum with the NCSC, a sharing group designed to promote and encourage intelligence and information sharing.
Prior to this, Craig had a distinguished and varied career as an Officer in the British Army that included tours in the Afghanistan and Somalia. He continues to serve as a Major in the reserves, teaching leadership to you Officers and advising on cyber security approaches to Defence.
Craig holds a PGDip in International Relations, PGDip in Business Management, a PGCE in Education and a BSc in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics. He lives in Bedfordshire with his wife Sarah and two children, Alice and Rory. He is a keen runner and enjoys sailing, skiing and climbing. He is also developing an interest in astronomy.
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Giuseppe Brizio, CISO EMEA, QualysGiuseppe is based out of Greater Paris Metropolitan Region and works at Qualys as Chief Information Security Officer EMEA. He was Chief Information Officer at Nestlé Waters Zone Asia, Middle East, Oceania and Africa. Nestlé Waters. 2012 – 20142 ans. Dubai. CIO in charge of developing Nestlé Waters Zone AOA (20+ Markets) Business Excellence, Information Systems Organization, Digital (eCommerce) and Business Solutions (e.g. MS Dynamics/SAP) Roadmaps across all Business.
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