Experts gather to discuss risks and rewards of 5G and cyber security

Experts will gather alongside business leaders and entrepreneurs for Harrison Clark Rickerbys’ Big Techie Brekkie at the Three Counties Showground on September 17, with keynote speaker Vin Wijeratne, formerly of Royal Mint, Orange and EE.

Panel members for the event which runs from 8am-10am will include Damon Rands of WolfberryCS, a leading cyber security consultancy. Other panel members include Fiona Piercy, Worcestershire LEP’s Director of Local Industrial Strategy and head of their 5G team, and Linda Smith, CEO and founder of tech entrepreneurs’ launchpad Betaden.

With a 5G testbed locally and coverage of its impact now in mainstream business media, the event will consider how 5G will change our lives, and what are the opportunities and cyber risks we face as more and more data travels between machines every day?

At the most basic level, predictions are that 5G mobile networks, being rolled out this year, will result in a seismic increase in the number of connected devices and therefore the volume of data being shared. This, along with machine to machine data exchange, operating at faster speeds with increased connectivity, exacerbates the threat of data attacks faced by all organisations.

Vin Wijeratne is no stranger to risk. He reflects that, in appointing him as Chief Financial Officer, the 1,100-year -old Royal Mint told him they were, “in the business of making money, not making huge profits”. Nevertheless, recognising their need for change and the importance of his deeply commercial background built during 12 years spent at Orange, he helped double their turnover and quadruple operating profit, which left them stronger than when he arrived.

Drawing on his experience of the challenges faced in running businesses with local and global customers, and the experience of what must be done to prevent and respond to a data attack, Vin will share his ’top tips’ for how to protect your business, respond quickly and ensure you have all the right things on your boardroom’s cyber roadmap.