As the CyberTech NYC Conference 2024 draws near, co-hosts Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli sit down with Event Director Steve Corrick to explore the conference’s impactful agenda and what attendees can expect from this year’s gathering.
Guest: Steve Corrick, Director, Cybertech New York
On LinkedIn | https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevecorrick/
On Twitter | https://x.com/scorrick
On Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/stephen.corrick
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Hosts:
Sean Martin, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining CyberSecurity Podcast [@RedefiningCyber]
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/sean-martin
Marco Ciappelli, Co-Founder at ITSPmagazine [@ITSPmagazine] and Host of Redefining Society Podcast
On ITSPmagazine | https://www.itspmagazine.com/itspmagazine-podcast-radio-hosts/marco-ciappelli
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Episode Notes
A Virtual Road Trip to CyberTech NYC
In a lively pre-event discussion, we embark on a metaphorical journey across the States, representing our excitement for the CyberTech NYC Conference, happening on September 5th, 2024, at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. The idea of this "drive" is a fun nod to the interconnectedness of our virtual world and our anticipation of the event.
Event Spotlight: Why CyberTech NYC Matters
We kick things off by highlighting the significance of this event, mentioning that it starts early on September 4th with pre-event activities, leading up to the main event on the 5th. Steve Corrick, one of the key organizers, provides a behind-the-scenes look at the planning process and explains how this third edition of CyberTech NYC has become a distinctive fixture in the cyber ecosystem.
The Global and Local Impact of CyberTech
Steve takes us through the journey of CyberTech as a global series, tracing its roots from Tel Aviv to its expansion across multiple continents. What sets CyberTech NYC apart, he says, is its dual focus on both global trends and local innovation. New York City, now a burgeoning hub for tech and cybersecurity, plays host to an event that showcases local talent, startups, and established players alike.
Comprehensive Coverage of Cyber Topics
The event’s agenda is packed with content designed to tackle critical issues, such as:
Inclusivity and Innovation: A Diverse Speaker Lineup
We appreciate the diversity of speakers and the range of topics covered. With big names like Walmart, AWS, and various innovative startups, the event promises to offer something for everyone. Steve also explains the event’s blend of formats, including main stage panels, roundtables, and think tanks, all aimed at fostering in-depth discussions and knowledge sharing.
The Evolving Cyber Landscape
Reflecting on how cybersecurity events have evolved over the years, Steve notes the shift from niche gatherings to mainstream importance. With cyber threats becoming part of our daily lives, collaboration among countries and industries has become essential for enhancing global security.
Local Focus with Global Reach
We commend the event’s ability to balance global participation with a strong local focus. Steve agrees, emphasizing their collaboration with local and state-level initiatives in New York, further solidifying the city’s place on the global cybersecurity map.
Looking Forward to CyberTech NYC 2024
Our conversation wraps up with a sneak peek at the event’s schedule, including a Happy Cyber Hour on the evening of September 5th and additional pre-event activities on the 4th. Steve and his team are excited to connect with participants from around the globe, and we’ll be sharing more updates as CyberTech NYC 2024 approaches.
Be sure to follow our Coverage Journey and subscribe to our podcasts!
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Resources
Learn more about Cybertech NYC 2024: https://nyc.cybertechconference.com/
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An Introduction to CyberTech NYC Conference 2024 with Event Director Steve Corrick | On Location Coverage with Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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[00:00:00] Sean Martin: Marco.
[00:00:03] Marco Ciappelli: Sean.
[00:00:04] Sean Martin: We are, uh, spending a lot of time in the car together, virtually.
[00:00:10] Marco Ciappelli: In the virtual car together this time.
[00:00:14] Sean Martin: And it's a long drive across the, uh, across the states.
[00:00:17] Marco Ciappelli: Well, the people that follow me on my podcast, I may have mentioned a few times that I spent some time in Atlanta and I did drive there and then I drove back to LA.
So, hey. It's another drive cross country. What's, what's the big deal? There we go. We can go to New York City.
[00:00:35] Sean Martin: Of course, I love New York City.
[00:00:37] Marco Ciappelli: You could be already there. I, I never know where you are.
[00:00:39] Sean Martin: You never know where I'm going to be. I might be there now. I might be there now. People can do a little OSINT to figure out where I am.
But, uh, where I will be, and where you should be, everybody listening, is, uh, CyberTech New York City, September 5th. And I guess there's some stuff on the 4th as well, which we'll get into. Thank you. And, uh, Great event happening at the Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea. Cool spot, part of the city there. And I'm thrilled to have Steve Cork on.
Steve, how are you?
[00:01:10] Steve Corrick: I'm very good. How are you?
[00:01:12] Sean Martin: Doing great. Doing great. And you have the pleasure of organizing this event in New York city. It's part of, part of a global, um, series of events that your team does. And, uh, I think you're as a director, you're responsible for this in North America. So we're going to talk about the event, who's going to be there, what's going on, a little bit about, uh, what people can expect.
But before we do that, maybe a little bit more about your role in the broader, uh, cyber tech group and everything that the team does globally.
[00:01:43] Steve Corrick: Yeah, absolutely. And great to be here. And thank you. Um, yeah, so Cybertech New York is part of a global suite of events that started about 10 years ago in Tel Aviv, which has a strong base of all things cyber.
Um, the event there now, just to give some background. The event there is now up to about 20, 000 people and is a primary event for the cyber tech community globally. The team then, a few years later, launched a marquee event in Italy, in Rome, for the European market. And that now is one of the preeminent, um, cybertech events for the European market.
And at different times in different places around the world, we've had cybertech as far afield as Rwanda, in Africa, in Central America, and other locations, even in Indiana, uh, here in the U. S., and different locations. Um, part of the reason for that is that, um, I'll come on to the U. S. part of it in a second, but part of the reason for that is, and, uh, Perhaps pursuant to this conversation for New York is that there's a lot of localities, be they cities or states, who very much want an event like this.
Um, in their neighborhood, as it really highlights and helps augment, um, the cyber ecosystem, which, uh, part of the, big part of the tech ecosystem, of course, but that brings with it, uh, spotlight, it brings with it investment, um, shines a light on the ecosystem, the ecosystem, uh, being defined as everything from talent to universities, uh, to the, the whole infrastructure.
That supports, um, something like cyber tech. And, um, over the last few years, quite a while, of course, um, New York has become such a hub for all things tech, and particularly cyber. Uh, there's a lot of things going on here from established, uh, companies, from, um, the Googles and the Amazons and all the other companies who are touching to cyber and AI, of course, as that's growing.
To the many startups, um, domestic startups, uh, overseas startups, some of which still land, um, in my old neighborhood of, um, Palo Alto and other places, but increasingly many of them land here in New York, uh, and then start that journey of growing, um, perhaps being acquired at some point or going public, whatever that looks like.
Um, so CyberTech New York specifically, this is the Third time we've done the, um, the event in New York. We started it a few years ago in the middle of COVID when people were telling us we were kind of crazy to do a live event in 2021. Uh, but we did it, um, over at the Glass House, uh, over there by the Intrepid, for those of you that know New York.
Um, and then we did a, another edition at the Jacob Javits Center. I decided this year to go with the Metropolitan. We like the cool vibe there. It's a good location in Chelsea. It's close to a lot of that sort of startup action down towards Hudson Yards and other places. Um, so yeah, we're really excited to be back in New York.
Um, Happy to be here to shine a light on. I am a New Yorker, despite my dulcet tones. Very much happy to shine a light on everything that New York has, and very much happy to have the support of the city, the Economic Development Corporation, because we're very much about promoting New York as a city.
Center of Cyber Excellence.
[00:05:14] Marco Ciappelli: That sounds interesting. I definitely want to know more about the Rome one because being Italian, um, I may be interested in getting an excuse just to go back. But this is not what we're going to do today. Hopefully we will get to talk to you guys about other events in other parts of the world.
So tell me a little bit more about Rome. Uh, the focus of this event. I mean, there is many cyber security event conference in the world. Some are a little bit more technical, more training, uh, hands on and other are maybe again for VC and displaying more of a business side of things. So, um, does this, uh, event qualify for either one or the other or what makes it different?
That's the point.
[00:05:58] Steve Corrick: Yeah, that's a great question, Marco, because, um, we're calling this a special edition because we put this together quite quickly because we saw a need in the market to do something. But beyond that, um, cybertech is a little different to the many, and there's many great cyber security events and cyber events that happen.
Even in New York, there's probably one every week, if not every day. This is a little different to the extent that it doesn't speak just to the sort of traditional vendor, uh, cell community, if you will. It's not just about, um, it is partly about this, I just want to make the point, but it's not just about established cyber companies selling their solutions to cyber security professionals.
We very much welcome that, and that's part of what we do, but we tend to focus much more on the broader ecosystem, and that's, that I would define as everything from. If I think about, for example, if I can start with our cyber talent initiative. So the cyber talent initiative that we've got in place, that will speak to everything from people who are already in cyber, perhaps looking to upskill their needs, all the way through to students.
We've got a cyber challenge that's taking place with local boroughs and universities and schools involved. Um, so we start with a very. If you will, I wouldn't call it the bottom of the funnel, but we start with that level of the funnel of the people coming into the cyber market. We then have a focus on all things VC and investor related and private offices and so forth, and that we've got a program there that we ran around the world called Invest in the Best.
And that's more for established startups looking to augment their funding and form other partnerships. And then we do speak to, um, as I would say, that traditional established cyber security or cyber tech vendor who's looking to meet with the Chief Information Security Officers and other security professionals.
But then we also do bring in, um, government and agencies and other, uh, uh, Other stakeholders, if you will, in the ecosystem. We talk to cities about what makes a great ecosystem survivor, a parallel arm, for example. Why is New York so successful and what are other cities doing to be successful? So we, we speak to cyber very holistically because we think cyber is everything in this day and age.
We speak to it on a very holistic level. Broad, but then we drop down into these very specific forms. So if you're coming just for talent, we have a program for you just for talent. If you're coming more for the main stage content, which this year, I'm pleased to say, is talking to topical stuff, such as fake news.
The role of, um, cyber in elections, right? I'm reliably informed we're going to have an election here in a couple of months, so, um, all that kind of stuff that's topical and focused, sort of big picture stuff, if you will, that involves speakers from cyber, the head of cyber, from coming from different parts of the world, um, and so on.
So, um, You know, we, we, we take a broad stroke. We try and frame a lot in, as you'll see on the agenda, and across a couple of stages, but we want to try and get everybody's, you know, we, we think the currency that we're being paid in, in many ways, in events, is with people's time. Yes, we're obviously, we're for profit, don't get me wrong, but we value people's time, and we want to get people as much return on their investment of time as possible.
So hopefully that gives you a flavor for it.
[00:09:25] Sean Martin: Yeah, it certainly does, and I'm looking at the program, I think you touched on all of those. Invest in the best. Yeah, there's a identity think tank, cybertech talent and a special simulation. I don't know, you touched on all those, I think.
[00:09:40] Steve Corrick: I didn't touch on the special simulation, but we'll be doing that.
We also have something called EIS, which is a group that exists already. We're partnering with them around electric infrastructure. We're taking a very, um, we tend to take, um, a very part, uh, agnostic view of the way we sell. I've worked in many events businesses, and there's no ideal recipe, but some, but some events are very proprietary.
They only work internally. With what they produce content wise and so forth. We take a view here that we can partner with a lot of people and, uh, sometimes it's a straight partnership, sometimes there's a little element of, uh, what do we call it, co opetition or frenemies, which is all fine. Uh, so for example, on our talent initiative, we partnered with a group called Tech Day.
Who does their own event every year for startups in the jam center for the electric infrastructure initiatives. We partnered with the I. S. Um, there are a group that already exists. Um, so there's a range of things that we've brought to the table here that are good for the market to be a partnership that we're wrapping up.
But I think you've got most of them. We also have a threat intelligence workshop. We have a number of things going on, and these might great. You know, in the end be 20, 30, 40, 50 people in the room, but that's great as long as they're getting the information they want at that time along with all that sort of main stage content.
[00:11:03] Sean Martin: Yeah. And what I like, I mean, I'm going through the, uh, the brochure here and there's, it's a global, global set of speakers. I mean, I see Ireland, Netherlands, uh, Israel,
[00:11:17] Marco Ciappelli: Bosnia,
[00:11:18] Sean Martin: yeah, loads of different places. And then a lot of large name brands. Uh, I see Walmart and AWS and, and who else did I see? Uh, I don't know.
It doesn't, not necessarily Phillips. I think it was another one, but the, the, uh, but then also some smaller words. That are part of the conversation is that I think what I've heard in the last few months, as I was talking to folks, is there, there's a lot of, I've seen some posts on LinkedIn as well, that there's a lot of best practices from large organizations and those work for large organizations and to distill those down into smaller pieces that work for smaller orgs is just as critical.
And so I love, I love to see the, uh, the different, the different range of folks you have participating in these. And are they, are they round tables? Are they panels, are they birds of a feather? Talk about the format a bit. ,
[00:12:15] Steve Corrick: it's a mixture of all of those. It's a good question. The, the main stage, obviously necessarily is the main stage and it's panel based.
Well, we have a lot of forums and we have the, the identity forum, which is the night before the main. I mean, that's more of a roundtable format. We have an area called quantum, which is much more about roundtables. The whole invest in the best and so forth is much more than a roundtable format, but absolutely right to point to the fact that there's larger companies, smaller companies, and even some of the larger companies.
You know, they're coming in with perhaps sometimes a different angle. So for example, we've got a great woman coming in, um, from, from, uh, Snapchat. And, um, and she's going to talk about her journey. She's a, happens to be a woman from a minority, but she's going to talk to our talent attendees about that journey and what it was like to get that, um, and to be inspired by things to get involved in cyber.
We're trying to encourage those that want to, you know, it's particularly here in New York area. to get involved with cyber as a potential career. That's very much our focus. But I, but I take your point very, very well that we see, you know, there's big company thinking and big company stuff. And then there's obviously the startups, but in between that as well, it's interesting.
So I, I, I did a panel last week on intrapreneurship and It shouldn't be lost on us that a lot of very innovative things are happening internally within the companies and I'm sure you guys have all the examples from Gmail and Post it notes, stuff that was invented by individuals within large corporations.
So that's certainly a feature of the cyber world. You've got a lot of people off doing their thing within the auspices of the big organization, but really driving innovation. So we see that as a big, uh, a big inspiration as well.
[00:14:02] Sean Martin: Marco invented duct tape. So I, so I'm not able to ask that last question. I always have one more question.
I
[00:14:09] Marco Ciappelli: invented it out of necessity. A tape around a duck or a duck around a tape. And I'm the duck.
[00:14:17] Sean Martin: I'm the duck. And I'm the duck.
[00:14:20] Marco Ciappelli: Well, I do have a question because you mentioned you've been, you've been doing this for a while and, uh, and I, and I know by being doing coverage, uh, you know, the larger events, smaller event.
Um, that, you know, things have changed, especially in cybersecurity from what it used to be the conversation 10, 15 years ago to what we do today. We put together government. It's a, it's a, it's a meeting point, if it's done right, in my opinion, an event where, where you connect. Different, uh, different angles of society and you bring it together.
Um, I would love your opinion to how did, how have you seen this change throughout the year? And what have you learned, maybe, and applied to making this event?
[00:15:15] Steve Corrick: Yeah, no, that's, that's a great question. I think that to your point that perhaps the whole notion of cyber and cyber security, particularly, Even a few years ago, there was something sort of in the background for the technical crowd, for the, you know, the nerds, if you will, the people that work in IT that would, would warn you about phishing and other things and so forth, you know, which is horrible, but it was seen very much as sort of a, um, over there, sort of not part of mainstream life.
And I think that what the last few years have shown, um, mainly a lot of it from the, sadly, from the security angle, perhaps some of it, um, is that, you know, Cyber is part of our everyday lives, certainly cyber security is. I mean, the, the number of instances now of, um, security breaches, whether they be in hospitals or schools, or obviously banks.
Um, but people, I think what resonates much more with people is when, unfortunately, when it happens in a mainstream area like a hospital, or a school or so forth, and, and ransoms much more into the public domain. Domain. And I think also there's an acceptance on the, the military level, if you will, that, you know, cyber warfare, cyber activity, cybersecurity is very much part of, of what governments are working on every day right now.
I mean, the major attacks and problems that we see and the collaboration on a positive, a positive spin on this, the collaboration that we see now between countries. is immense. And that's part of what we're fostering here. As you say, there are, you know, from all over the world. And the last time we, you know, when we did cyber tech here in New York last time, it was the first time that the heads of cyber, not just from Israel, but from the UAE, from, um, you know, Morocco and other parts of the world had sat on the same stage together and talked about their common challenges and their common hopes and so on.
So I think To answer your question, Marco, I think that now, not just because of security, but because security is front and center is much more of our, it's part of the mainstream of our life. It's part of our technology. It's, um, you know, it's, it's there, right? Along with cell phones and laptops and connectivity and Wi Fi.
And it's just part of the conversation, I think. To be honest, sorry, because
[00:17:29] Marco Ciappelli: I want to add this. You always try to go global, bring everybody from all the part of the world, which is great. But sometimes I think that it's, it could be more effective when you focus on the community and the smaller community.
So the fact that you're focusing on the New York City and that infrastructure and those companies that are in the area. I really like that because it could be many community. That then amplify the message to a larger audience. So I, I think that's, that's, that's a good thing.
[00:18:08] Steve Corrick: That's great. Yeah, that's, that's a great observation.
I appreciate you saying that because we do want to augment New York and it has a lot of initiatives at the city and the state level around cyber and is at the forefront. So that's a great observation.
[00:18:19] Sean Martin: Yeah, and the speakers and topics, um, you know, I, I, I went through it with a fine tooth comb and put a few, few categories of things that we hope to talk about leading up to the event, kind of share with folks.
What they can expect in terms of speakers and topics. Uh, so we're hoping to chat with a few people around policy. So I'm studying it and how do we, how do we bring that into business? Uh, secure innovation. You spoke to a lot of, a lot of startups and a lot of smaller organizations, medium sized organizations doing cool things to build products and programs that take us to the next level.
Uh, clearly you see secure ops and AppSec, uh, core to every, every business. Every security program at this point. And then the final one that I'm hoping to bring together is around society and sustainability. Um, because if we do this just for tomorrow, um, we might miss the mark for next week or next decade, next generation, even perhaps.
So I'm excited to have those conversations and, and, uh, Yeah, and hopefully maybe a closing chat with the, the team, you and others from the organization that pulled this together to kind of get a recap of what the conversations were like, um, which by the way, September 5th, 2024, Metropolitan Pavilion in Chelsea.
Looks like it's going from, uh, 9 in the morning to 7. 30 if you choose to do the happy cyber hour. Or Cyberhacking. Happy Cyber. There we go. That's what it's called. Absolutely. And if you're fortunate enough to get an invite to the Thursday events on the 4th, there's the Identity Think Tank and the CyberTech opening reception.
So I don't know how folks get those, but they can reach out to you, Steve. And, uh, and if they're qualified, I guess, uh, they can, they can participate in those events as well. It sounds like a great, great opportunity to connect with, with folks, with, uh, shared interests in, in this space from all over the world and all walks of life, uh, defining and building and employing.
Uh, technology and people to help us secure our, our society. So
[00:20:36] Steve Corrick: thank you, Sean. I can't really add much to that. That's an excellent, thank you. I
[00:20:39] Marco Ciappelli: know I couldn't have said that better myself.
[00:20:43] Sean Martin: Me neither. Don't ask me to do it again.
[00:20:45] Marco Ciappelli: Do it again. Do it again now. Well, this was fun. I'm excited. There's a new venture for us as well to, to, to cover this event.
So, uh, best of luck for this. We're looking forward to many more conversation as we lead to this, which is not that, that far from now, but, uh, You know, it's enough to nail a few interesting conversations. So we're looking forward to that We invite everybody to stay tuned on location with Sean Martin and Marco Ciappelli, which is me and um, Yeah, we'll we'll put links on this podcast or if you're watching the video on youtube to Get to the website learn more about cybertech nyc and uh, That's it.
Thank you, Steve.
[00:21:33] Steve Corrick: Thank you. Really appreciate it. Hope to see you and some of your colleagues there.
[00:21:37] Sean Martin: Absolutely. Absolutely. Thanks everybody. Thanks, Steve.
[00:21:40] Steve Corrick: Thank you. Take care.