Where is the Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026 being held?

The conference is scheduled to take place in Kilkenny, IRL.

When does the Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026 begin?

The conference is set to commence in the fall.

Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026

Name: Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026
Start: 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z
End: 2026-09-22T00:00:00Z
Location: Kilkenny

Sep 22, 2026Kilkenny, IrelandIn-person

Registration open

The Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026 is a pivotal gathering for cybersecurity professionals, academics, and policymakers. Hosted in Kilkenny, IRL, this annual event serves as a critical platform for discussing advancements, challenges, and strategic directions within the cybersecurity landscape. It brings together diverse stakeholders to foster collaboration and knowledge exchange, aiming to strengthen national and international cyber resilience.

Committees & topics

Topics
The State of Cyber Security: From Niche IT Concern to National Security Priority · Industry: Securing the Private Sector and Critical Supply Chains · Academia: Research, Talent Pipelines, and the Cyber Skills Gap · Government: National Cyber Strategy and Public-Sector Resilience · The Evolving Threat Landscape: Ransomware, Supply Chains, and Hybrid Operations · Geopolitics of Cyberspace: Norms, Sovereignty, and Strategic Competition · Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Operations: Defence, Offence, and Governance · Compliance: Navigating NIS2, DORA, GDPR, and the EU Cyber Acquis

Why it matters

In an increasingly interconnected world, the security of digital infrastructure is paramount. Events like the Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026 are essential for addressing the evolving threats and opportunities in cyberspace. The conference provides a forum for experts to share insights on emerging technologies, best practices, and policy frameworks necessary to safeguard critical systems and data. This collective effort is vital for protecting national interests and ensuring the stability of global digital ecosystems.

The discussions and collaborations initiated at this conference contribute directly to enhancing the collective defense against cyber threats. By bringing together leaders from government, industry, and academia, the event facilitates a holistic approach to cybersecurity, moving beyond technical solutions to encompass strategic policy and human factors. This comprehensive perspective is crucial for developing robust and adaptable cybersecurity strategies that can withstand sophisticated attacks and promote a secure digital future for all.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026 should focus on understanding the multifaceted nature of cybersecurity, encompassing both technical and policy dimensions. Familiarity with concepts such as "What Is Stakeholder Mapping?" and "Hidden Stakeholders" can be particularly beneficial for engaging in discussions about collaborative defense strategies and identifying key actors in the cyber domain. Understanding "Engagement Strategies" will also be valuable for networking and contributing effectively to the conference's objectives.

Attendees should also consider the broader geopolitical context of cybersecurity. The conference, while focused on IRL, operates within an international framework where cyber threats often originate from state-sponsored actors or transnational criminal organizations. Therefore, a grasp of global cybersecurity trends and the roles of various international players will enrich participation. Preparing to discuss these broader implications, alongside specific technical challenges, will enable delegates to contribute meaningfully to the conference's outcomes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Ireland

As the host nation, IRL is committed to fostering a robust cybersecurity ecosystem and promoting international cooperation.

Role in topic

IRL plays a central role in organizing and hosting this national conference, aiming to strengthen its own cyber defenses and contribute to broader European and global cybersecurity initiatives. The country serves as a hub for discussions on policy, innovation, and industry collaboration in the cyber domain.

United States

The USA is a global leader in cybersecurity innovation and defense, often collaborating with allies on threat intelligence and policy development.

Role in topic

The USA's perspective often emphasizes advanced technological solutions, international partnerships, and the importance of public-private collaboration in combating cyber threats. Its participation, whether direct or indirect, influences global cybersecurity standards and practices.

United Kingdom

The GBR maintains a strong focus on national cyber resilience and intelligence sharing with key international partners.

Role in topic

The GBR's approach to cybersecurity involves significant investment in national capabilities and active engagement in international forums. Its insights often highlight strategies for protecting critical national infrastructure and countering state-sponsored cyber activities.

Germany

DEU prioritizes data protection, critical infrastructure security, and the development of European cybersecurity frameworks.

Role in topic

DEU contributes to the European cybersecurity dialogue by advocating for strong regulatory frameworks and collaborative defense mechanisms. Its perspective often emphasizes the need for robust legal protections and international cooperation to address cyber risks effectively.

Estonia

EST is recognized for its pioneering efforts in digital governance and cyber defense, offering valuable lessons in national resilience.

Role in topic

EST's experience in building a highly digitized society with strong cyber defenses provides a unique perspective on national cybersecurity strategies. Its insights often focus on proactive defense, secure digital services, and international cooperation in cyber warfare.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

The State of Cyber Security: From Niche IT Concern to National Security Priority

Cyber security has evolved from a specialist IT discipline in the 1990s into a core pillar of national and economic security. The early internet was built on protocols designed for openness and resilience rather than authentication or confidentiality, leaving structural vulnerabilities that adversaries have systematically exploited. Landmark incidents — the 2007 attacks on Estonia, Stuxnet in 2010, the 2017 NotPetya and WannaCry campaigns, the 2020 SolarWinds supply-chain compromise, and the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack — successively redefined the perceived scope of cyber risk, moving it from data theft to kinetic-equivalent disruption of critical services. Ireland's position is shaped by its concentration of multinational technology and pharmaceutical operations, its role as an EU data-protection hub, and the 2021 HSE ransomware attack, which crippled the national health service and accelerated investment in the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). At EU level, the NIS2 Directive, the Cyber Resilience Act, and DORA are reshaping baseline expectations for risk management, incident reporting, and supply-chain assurance. The contemporary debate centres on how to operationalise resilience: how organisations should balance prevention, detection, and recovery; how scarce skilled labour should be allocated; and how the public and private sectors should share threat intelligence in a trustworthy, timely manner.

Key players

Industry: Securing the Private Sector and Critical Supply Chains

Industry sits at the frontline of cyber risk because it owns and operates the vast majority of digital infrastructure — from cloud platforms and telecommunications to manufacturing, finance, energy, and pharmaceuticals. Over the past decade, the threat profile facing industry has shifted from opportunistic crime to systemic supply-chain compromise (SolarWinds, MOVEit, 3CX) and large-scale ransomware operations that monetise business disruption rather than data exfiltration alone. Ireland's industrial cyber footprint is unusually international: it hosts European headquarters for many hyperscalers and a dense cluster of medtech, pharma, and financial services firms whose risk decisions reverberate across global supply chains. Regulatory pressure has risen sharply with NIS2 expanding scope to mid-sized 'essential' and 'important' entities, the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) imposing financial-sector resilience obligations from January 2025, and the Cyber Resilience Act introducing security-by-design duties on connected products. The central industry debate is how to absorb compliance cost without crowding out genuine security investment, how to manage concentration risk in a small number of cloud and software providers, and how to attract and retain the security workforce needed to meet these obligations.

Key players

Academia: Research, Talent Pipelines, and the Cyber Skills Gap

Academia plays a dual role in cyber security: producing the research that underpins new defensive and offensive capabilities, and supplying the talent pipeline that industry and government rely on. Universities have been central to advances in cryptography, formal verification, network security, and more recently AI safety and adversarial machine learning. Yet structural shortages persist: ENISA, (ISC)², and the European Commission have repeatedly highlighted a multi-hundred-thousand-strong cybersecurity workforce gap in Europe alone. Ireland has invested heavily through Science Foundation Ireland centres, Cyber Ireland's academic working groups, and initiatives such as the Cyber Skills national project led by Munster Technological University with UCD and the University of Limerick. EU instruments — Horizon Europe, the Digital Europe Programme, and the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre in Bucharest — increasingly steer research funding toward applied resilience, post-quantum cryptography, and secure-by-design software. Key questions include how to translate academic research into deployable capability, how to broaden recruitment beyond traditional computer science pathways, and how universities should respond to dual-use research concerns as AI and offensive cyber capabilities converge.

Key players

Government: National Cyber Strategy and Public-Sector Resilience

Governments have moved from treating cyber as a technical issue managed by interior ministries to embedding it within national security doctrine. The creation of dedicated agencies — CISA in the US (2018), the UK's NCSC (2016), France's ANSSI (2009), Germany's BSI, and Ireland's NCSC (established 2011, significantly expanded after 2021) — reflects a recognition that public services, elections, and critical infrastructure are continuously contested in cyberspace. The 2021 ransomware attack on Ireland's Health Service Executive was a turning point domestically, exposing gaps in legacy IT, incident response capacity, and inter-agency coordination. It catalysed the 2019–2024 National Cyber Security Strategy review, a substantial uplift in NCSC headcount and statutory powers, and Ireland's role in shaping EU cyber crisis management mechanisms (EU-CyCLONe). Governments also face the parallel challenge of digitalising public services securely while transposing NIS2, regulating AI under the EU AI Act, and preparing for post-quantum cryptographic transition. Core debates concern the legal mandate and resourcing of national cyber agencies, the appropriate degree of regulatory coercion versus voluntary partnership with industry, and how to coordinate effectively across EU, NATO-adjacent, and bilateral channels.

Key players

The Evolving Threat Landscape: Ransomware, Supply Chains, and Hybrid Operations

The cyber threat landscape has expanded across both the criminal and state-aligned spectrum. Ransomware-as-a-service ecosystems — LockBit, BlackCat/ALPHV, Cl0p, and successor groups — industrialised extortion through affiliate models, with double- and triple-extortion tactics now standard. State and state-tolerated actors have intensified intrusions against critical national infrastructure: Russian GRU and SVR operations linked to Ukraine-related conflict, Chinese intrusions such as the Volt Typhoon and Salt Typhoon campaigns against US telecoms and OT environments, Iranian operations against water and financial sectors, and DPRK cryptocurrency theft funding sanctions evasion. For Ireland and the wider EU, the most consequential trends are supply-chain compromise (SolarWinds, Kaseya, MOVEit, XZ Utils), abuse of identity and edge devices (VPNs, firewalls), and the targeting of managed service providers as force multipliers. ENISA's annual Threat Landscape reports document a sustained rise in availability attacks, particularly DDoS tied to geopolitical events, and information manipulation campaigns blending cyber and influence operations. The debate focuses on how defenders should prioritise across an expanding attack surface, the role of disruptive law-enforcement actions (such as Operation Cronos against LockBit), and how to harden the software supply chain through SBOMs, secure-by-design mandates, and post-quantum readiness.

Key players

Geopolitics of Cyberspace: Norms, Sovereignty, and Strategic Competition

Cyberspace has become a core arena of geopolitical competition. The UN Group of Governmental Experts (GGE) processes from 2013 to 2021 established a baseline that international law, including the UN Charter, applies in cyberspace, and articulated eleven voluntary norms of responsible state behaviour. The successor Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG) on ICT security, running through 2025, has broadened participation but exposed deep divisions between a US/EU-led camp emphasising existing international law and a Russia/China-led camp pushing for a new binding treaty and stronger state control over information. Parallel fault lines have opened over technology supply chains: US export controls on advanced semiconductors and AI accelerators, restrictions on Huawei and ZTE in 5G networks, the EU's emphasis on 'digital sovereignty' and trusted suppliers, and disputes over transatlantic data flows resolved (provisionally) through the EU–US Data Privacy Framework. Russia's war in Ukraine has demonstrated both the limits and the persistent utility of offensive cyber operations alongside conventional force. For a small, open, highly digitalised economy like Ireland, the central tension is how to preserve the benefits of global digital integration while navigating an increasingly bifurcated technology order and contributing to EU-level cyber diplomacy.

Key players

Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Operations: Defence, Offence, and Governance

The rapid maturation of large language models and other AI systems since 2022 has begun to reshape both sides of the cyber contest. On the defensive side, AI is being embedded in security operations for triage, detection engineering, malware analysis, and log summarisation, with the promise of partially offsetting the workforce shortage. On the offensive side, observed and demonstrated uses include AI-assisted phishing and social engineering, deepfake-enabled fraud (notably the 2024 Arup case in Hong Kong), code generation supporting lower-skilled attackers, and the use of AI for reconnaissance and vulnerability research. Governance frameworks are emerging in parallel. The EU AI Act, entering into force in 2024 with phased application, classifies certain cyber and biometric uses as high-risk and imposes obligations on general-purpose models. The 2023 Bletchley and 2024 Seoul AI Safety Summits established a network of AI Safety Institutes, including in the UK and US, with explicit remits to evaluate frontier-model cyber capabilities. NIST's AI Risk Management Framework and ENISA's work on securing AI systems are becoming reference points for practitioners. Key debates concern whether AI currently favours attackers or defenders, how to evaluate frontier-model 'uplift' of offensive cyber capability responsibly, and how AI-specific risks (model theft, prompt injection, data poisoning) should be integrated into existing cyber risk frameworks.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Comprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy

Georgia Considers Position in New South Caucasus Transit Era - Jamestown

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Ireland September 2026

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026

Sep 22, 2026Kilkenny, IrelandIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
The State of Cyber Security: From Niche IT Concern to National Security Priority · Industry: Securing the Private Sector and Critical Supply Chains · Academia: Research, Talent Pipelines, and the Cyber Skills Gap · Government: National Cyber Strategy and Public-Sector Resilience · The Evolving Threat Landscape: Ransomware, Supply Chains, and Hybrid Operations · Geopolitics of Cyberspace: Norms, Sovereignty, and Strategic Competition · Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Operations: Defence, Offence, and Governance · Compliance: Navigating NIS2, DORA, GDPR, and the EU Cyber Acquis

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 5 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Ireland

As the host nation, IRL is committed to fostering a robust cybersecurity ecosystem and promoting international cooperation.

Role in topic

United States

The USA is a global leader in cybersecurity innovation and defense, often collaborating with allies on threat intelligence and policy development.

Role in topic

United Kingdom

The GBR maintains a strong focus on national cyber resilience and intelligence sharing with key international partners.

Role in topic

Germany

DEU prioritizes data protection, critical infrastructure security, and the development of European cybersecurity frameworks.

Role in topic

Estonia

EST is recognized for its pioneering efforts in digital governance and cyber defense, offering valuable lessons in national resilience.

Role in topic

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

The State of Cyber Security: From Niche IT Concern to National Security Priority

Key players

Industry: Securing the Private Sector and Critical Supply Chains

Key players

Academia: Research, Talent Pipelines, and the Cyber Skills Gap

Key players

Government: National Cyber Strategy and Public-Sector Resilience

Key players

The Evolving Threat Landscape: Ransomware, Supply Chains, and Hybrid Operations

Key players

Geopolitics of Cyberspace: Norms, Sovereignty, and Strategic Competition

Key players

Artificial Intelligence in Cyber Operations: Defence, Offence, and Governance

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Cyber Ireland National Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

China's New Strategy for Taiwan and Japan

Arming an archipelago: Is time running out for Europe's oldest DMZ? | Euronews

Comprehensive approach to security: Federal Council launches consultation on Switzerland's security policy strategy

Georgia Considers Position in New South Caucasus Transit Era - Jamestown

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Ireland September 2026

By committee

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research (AICUR) 2026

AICUR 2026 - All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research

Irish and EU Security in an Age of Global Conflict

International Affairs Conference 2026

Ireland’s Role in an era of Global Uncertainty: International Law, Human Rights and Global Security

New Voices in International Law – Early-Career Researchers Workshop

Frequently asked questions

Committees & topics

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Topics & background

Resources

Related conferences

All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research (AICUR) 2026

AICUR 2026 - All Ireland Conference for Undergraduate Research

Irish and EU Security in an Age of Global Conflict

International Affairs Conference 2026

Ireland’s Role in an era of Global Uncertainty: International Law, Human Rights and Global Security

New Voices in International Law – Early-Career Researchers Workshop

Frequently asked questions