Prague, Czech Republic, October 27, 2021 – The third annual CyberSec&AI Connected 2021 conference, this year taking place virtually on November 4 and 5th, will focus on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of consumer cybersecurity and online privacy protection. The aim of the event is to bring together academia and industry to address the cybersecurity and privacy challenges posed by the digital world. This year, the conference is organized by Avast, the Czech Technical University in Prague (CTU), and the Technical University of Darmstadt’s Private AI Collaborative Research Institute.

The extensive program will feature top scientists from prestigious research institutions, including Alessandro Acquisti, Privacy Economist & Professor of Information Technology and Public Policy at the Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University; keynote speaker Dawn Song, Professor in Computer Science at UC Berkeley; and Emiliano De Cristofaro, Professor of Security and Privacy Enhancing Technologies at University College London. They will be joined by experts from the world’s largest technology companies, including Nicholas Carlini, Research Scientist at Google Brain, and David Freeman, Anti-Abuse Research Scientist and Engineer at Facebook.

Among the most anticipated points of the program is an expert panel devoted to the impact of AI on the handling of personal data. The availability of huge data sets through cloud solutions, along with enormous computing capacity, have recently led to significant developments in machine learning and optimization. However, this progress has also brought greater demands for data protection and increasingly frequent leaks of sensitive personal data. Panelists include anti-abuse research scientist David Freeman from Facebook, National University in Singapore professor Reza Shokri and EU Agency for Cybersecurity's Apostolos Malatras who will discuss the ethical dimensions of data handling, and what companies that systematically collect data can do to secure sensitive information, and. The panel will be moderated by Miroslav Umlauf, Chief Data Officer at Avast.

Part of the program will also be a fireside chat on the future challenges and opportunities of consumer cybersecurity featuring  Michal Pěchouček, Avast’s CTO and the Director of AI Center FEE CTU, Taher Elgamal, CTO, Security, at Salesforce, also known as “father of SSL”, and Darren Shou, CTO of Technology at NortonLifeLock.

“We are currently witnessing rapid developments in the way we live in the digital world and how our dependence on online services is increasing. At the same time, the danger that internet users face is also fundamentally changing,” said Avast CTO Michal Pěchouček,  “Cyberattacks can be significantly amplified by AI, and therefore target people, their private data and digital identities more widely. I look forward to debating  the future of cyber security for every day internet users and the role that tech companies play in this context."

Conference tickets are available for 150 EUR. Academics are eligible for a 50% discount. Students are invited to attend the conference for free. More information about tickets, special offers and the conference program is available at: https://cybersecai.com/