Keynote: Power, Politics and AI: The Global Forces Driving Cyber Risk in 2026

Keynote

Power, Politics and AI:

The Global Forces Driving Cyber Risk in 2026

10.00am – 10.30am

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Overview:

Cybersecurity is no longer just a technology problem; it’s also now a geopolitical one. State-sponsored actors are targeting critical infrastructure with increasing boldness, AI-powered political attacks are testing democratic institutions, and regulatory frameworks around data sovereignty are reshaping how organisations operate across borders. This opening keynote sets the tone for the day by examining the global forces that are driving cyber risk in 2026: from geopolitical disruption and the weaponisation of AI to the shifting regulatory landscape that every Irish organisation needs to navigate.

Keynote

Main Conference Room – Session 1

Paul C Dwyer

President ICTTF International Cyber Threat Task Force / CEO, Cyber Risk International

Paul C Dwyer is recognised as one of the world’s foremost experts on cyber security, risk and privacy. As CEO of Cyber Risk International he specialises in corporate and enterprise security, development of cyber defence programs, and business operations protection for CRI clients. As founder and President of the ICTTF International Cyber Threat Task Force he is an advocate for diversity in the industry and leads a community of over 30,000 with a common goal to defeat cyber evil.

View Presentation Abstract
The Cyber Arms Race: Winning in a World of AI-Powered Threats

AI is transforming the cybersecurity landscape at an unprecedented rate, creating new opportunities for both attackers and defenders. If your organisation isn’t adapting, it risks falling behind. This keynote will unpack how AI is shaping the future of cyber threats - and what you must do now to stay one step ahead.

Cyber Conference Agenda

KeyNote:

Power, Politics and AI: The Global Forces Driving Cyber Risk in 2026
Power, Politics and AI: The Global Forces Driving Cyber Risk in 2026

Cybersecurity is no longer just a technology problem; it’s also now a geopolitical one. State-sponsored actors are targeting critical infrastructure with increasing boldness, AI-powered political attacks are testing democratic institutions, and regulatory frameworks around data sovereignty are reshaping how organisations operate across borders. This opening keynote sets the tone for the day by examining the global forces that are driving cyber risk in 2026: from geopolitical disruption and the weaponisation of AI to the shifting regulatory landscape that every Irish organisation needs to navigate.

  • Main Conference Room

10:00am- 10:30am

AI IN CYBERSECURITY

Attack, Defend, Govern: The AI Security Playbook
Attack, Defend, Govern: The AI Security Playbook

AI is now embedded in every layer of the cybersecurity landscape. Attackers are using it to launch autonomous operations, generate convincing deepfakes and discover zero-day vulnerabilities at speed. Defenders are building AI-driven SOCs that detect and respond to threats in real time. And organisations everywhere are grappling with shadow AI, model risk and a wave of new regulation including the EU AI Act. This stream brings together security vendors at the cutting edge to address the full AI picture: offensive threats, defensive tools, governance frameworks, workforce readiness and the strategic shifts that will define secure organisations in 2026 and beyond.

  • Main Conference Room

10:45am- 11:4v5am

MSP & CHANNEL

Scaling Security: Building Profitable MSP Practices for 2026
Scaling Security: Building Profitable MSP Practices for 2026

MSPs serve as the frontline defence for hundreds of SMBs while managing their own operational and commercial pressures. This dedicated stream addresses security service delivery models, evolving customer expectations around compliance and cyber insurance, and practical approaches to vendor selection and stack consolidation. Speakers from successful MSPs share what’s working.

  • Bar (upstairs)

10:45am- 11:45am

DATA & INFRASTRUCTURE DEFENCE

Layered Defence: Protecting Data and Infrastructure Across Your Environment
Layered Defence: Protecting Data and Infrastructure Across Your Environment

No single control point is sufficient, and data remains the ultimate target. This session brings together endpoint, network, cloud and data security perspectives to explore how organisations can build layered defences that work together. We address EDR, next-generation firewalls, cloud workload protection, data discovery, classification and loss prevention, with particular focus on the risks introduced by generative AI adoption, the insider threat challenge, and the operational reality of tool proliferation and alert fatigue.

  • Downstairs Room 3

10:45am- 11:45am

REGULATORY COMPLIANCE & GOVERNANCE

The Compliance Reality Check: What Irish Organisations Actually Need to Do
The Compliance Reality Check: What Irish Organisations Actually Need to Do

The deadlines have passed and regulators are watching. This session moves beyond theory to examine what NIS2 and DORA compliance looks like in practice. We address incident reporting, supply chain risk requirements, board-level accountability and the documentation regulators expect, with lessons from organisations that have been through the process.

12:00pm -13:00pm

  • Main Conference Room

OPERATIONAL TECHNOLOGY & CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE

Keeping the Lights On: Protecting the Systems That Run Ireland
Keeping the Lights On: Protecting the Systems That Run Ireland

Attacks on operational technology environments have moved from theoretical to routine. This session addresses the unique challenges of securing environments where availability trumps confidentiality, legacy systems cannot be patched, and a breach can have physical consequences. Speakers share practical approaches to network segmentation, asset visibility and secure remote access.

  • Bar (upstairs)

12:00pm -13:00pm

RANSOMWARE & RESILIENCE

When Prevention Fails: Ransomware, Recovery and Operational Resilience
When Prevention Fails: Ransomware, Recovery and Operational Resilience

The question is no longer whether you’ll face a serious incident but how quickly you can recover. With ransomware attacks increasing in volume and sophistication, this session addresses the full lifecycle from prevention through to containment and recovery. We examine the critical importance of immutable backups, tested recovery procedures, and the often-overlooked challenge of Active Directory restoration.

  • Downstairs Room 3

12:00pm -13:00pm​

IDENTITY, DECEPTION & HUMAN RISK

Identity Compromise, Deception and the Human Attack Surface
Identity Compromise, Deception and the Human Attack Surface

Attackers don’t need to find a vulnerability when they can steal a credential or trick a human. From AI-generated phishing that’s virtually indistinguishable from legitimate communication to credential theft, privilege escalation and Active Directory compromise, the most common path into organisations now runs through people and their identities. This session examines how social engineering and identity attacks are converging, why Zero Trust must address both technical controls and human factors, and what practical defences look like when the threat is designed to bypass every instinct your users rely on.

  • Main Conference Room

14:00pm  - 15:00pm

EMERGING THREATS

From Deepfakes to Quantum: The Next Wave of Threats You Need to Prepare for Now
From Deepfakes to Quantum: The Next Wave of Threats You Need to Prepare for Now

Deepfake technology is already being used to impersonate executives and bypass verification. Quantum computing threatens to undermine the encryption we rely on today. And geopolitical shifts are reshaping who is targeting whom and why. This session cuts through the noise to examine the emerging threats that Irish organisations need to take seriously now, not in five years’ time, and provides practical frameworks for building preparedness into your security strategy today.

  • Bar (upstairs)

14:00pm  - 15:00pm

TBD
TBD

TBD

  • Downstairs Room 3

2:00pm -3:00pm​

Closing Panel:

Security Leadership 2026: What Keeps CISOs Awake at Night
Security Leadership 2026: What Keeps CISOs Awake at Night

The day has covered a lot of ground, from geopolitical disruption and AI-powered attacks to regulatory pressure, ransomware resilience and the challenge of protecting critical infrastructure. In this closing panel, security leaders from across Irish industry reflect on what they’ve heard, share what resonates most with their own organisations, and offer a candid perspective on the decisions that will define cybersecurity leadership in the year ahead. Expect honest conversation about skills shortages, board-level expectations, AI governance and what it actually takes to keep an organisation secure in 2026.

  • Main Conference Room

15.30pm - 16:30pm

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