Businesses in banking, manufacturing, retail and many other industries are moving to pervasive networks, and public sector organisations are no different. They face a challenging new reality when implementing today’s limitless infrastructures, and that is the growing threat to their data security. Driving this threat are trends such as mobility, cloud, the IOT, targeted attacks and more determined adversaries. All of these are giving IT admins in the public sector sleepless nights.

Organisations in this sector are in an unenviable position. They have access to a unique and extensive data set, covering every aspect of a citizen's life from birth to death, while not necessarily having implemented the latest information and cyber security software and systems needed to adequately protect that data.

Bear in mind that the loss of personal data, or its unavailability or corruption, could potentially be life-threatening, for example, in the case of access (or lack of) to patient records. This means that those charged with information and cyber security in the public sector need to be up to speed on the latest attack methods as well as how to protect their organisations.

ITWeb's Security Summit, which is taking place from 25 to 28 August as a virtual event, will arm those responsible for IT and cyber security in the public sector with all the information they need on the latest threats and what to do about them, by learning from their public sector peers.

Moreover, several top speakers will share their knowledge and expertise. Adv Pansy Tlakula, chairperson, Information Regulator of South Africa, will be giving an update on data privacy legislation in SA and the way forward now that POPIA has finally come into effect, and Cyril Baloyi, group CTO at the City of Johannesburg, will give an account of last year’s breach and the lessons that have been learned from it.

Dr Jabu Mtsweni, head of Research Centre for Cybersecurity, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), will discuss how to build an integrated cyber security capability in complex business environments, and Kiru Pillay, chief director: Cybersecurity Operations at the Department of Communications and Digital Technologies, and Adv Paul Louw, senior deputy director public prosecutions at the National Prosecuting Authority of South Africa, will be participating in a panel discussion on how to encourage more local collaboration in threat intelligence.

Best of all, all sessions will be available online and on-demand, meaning that delegates don't have to pick and choose between sessions they want to attend, but can watch them all at their convenience. They will also have access to all workshops, product demos, panel discussions and breakout sessions, as well as the virtual exhibition featuring around 30 booths.