KICRF logo
CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Day 1 ● February 19th, 2026
08:30–09:30
Participant Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:30–10:10
Official Opening Ceremony
  • Rustem Umerov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
  • Andrii Sybiha, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
  • Daniel Bischof, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv
  • Natalka Cmoc, Ambassador of Canada to Ukraine
  • Charlotte Surun, Chargé d’Affaires, British Embassy Kyiv
  • Michael Dignam, CEO, CRDF Global
10:10–10:50
Keynote Session
  • Oleksandr Potii, Chairman of the State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection of Ukraine
  • Volodymyr Karastelov, Acting Head of the SBU Cyber Department
  • Benedikta von Seherr-Thoss, Managing Director for Peace, Security and Defense at the European External Action Service
  • Fireside Chat. Oksana Ferchuk, CDTO Ministry of Defense of Ukraine with Secret Guest
11:00–12:00
Panel. Strategic Horizon 2027: Strengthening Global Cyber Resilience in a Fragmented World
  • Moderator: Heorhii Tykhyi, Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
  • Florian Pennings, АСОО ENISA
  • Tõnis Saar, Director at NATO CCDCOE
  • Nataliya Tkachuk, Secretary of the NCSCC, Head of Dept. on Information Security and Cyber Defense at the Office of the NSDC of Ukraine
  • Mikael Björknert, CEO PrivatBank
12:00–12:20
Coffee Break
12:20–13:10
Panel. From Cyber Security to Cognitive Security: Protecting Information Integrity in the Age of Hybrid Threats
  • Moderator: Igor Rozkladai, deputy director, chief expert in media law and content moderation in social media, CEDEM
  • Luca Tagliaretti, Executive Director at European Cybersecurity Competence Centre (ECCC)
  • Dan Cimpean, General Director of the Romanian National Cybersecurity Directorate
  • Pekka Jokinen, Deputy Director-General, National Cyber Security Center Finland
  • Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, MP, Chairman of Committee on Freedom of Speech, Verkhovna Rada
  • Oleksandr Melnichenko, SBU Cyber Department
13:10–13:40
Coffee Break
13:40–15:20
Session. Navigating Cyber Threats: Real-World Cases and Lessons Learn
  • 13:40–14:00 How to build resilience against russian cyberattacks?Oleksandr Illiusha, CTO of ESET in Ukraine
  • 14:00–14:20 Strategy for modernizing information security and its outcomesOliynyk Taras, CDTO Central Election Commission; Yevhenii Taran, Fortinet
  • 14:20–14:40 Cybersecurity in digital era: new threats, new safeguardsNadiia Kolibaba, Director of Business Development, Security Solutions, Mastercard in Ukraine and Moldova
  • 14:40–15:00 Building a Resilient Security EcosystemEdgars Grandāns, Chief Commercial Officer, Member of the Board, Tet
  • 15:00–15:20 Quantitative Stress Testing for Critical InfrastructureBenjamin Trump, President, Tor Intelligence
15:20–15:40
Coffee Break
15:40–16:30
Panel. Investing in Cybersecurity: A Business Advantage in the Era of Digital Threats
  • Moderator: Andrii Fedoriv, Founder Fedoriv Group
  • Yegor Aushev, CEO Cyber Unit Technologies
  • Dmytro Stryzhov, Founder and Advisory Board Member, SHERIFF Holding
  • Serhii Kovalenko, СЕО Yasno
  • Oleksandr Kosovan, Founder and CEO MacPaw
  • Vadym Polishchuk, Vice President of Business Development, Mastercard Services in Ukraine and Moldova
16:40–17:50
Session. AI-Native Warfare: Securing Autonomous Systems and Precision Weapons
16:40–17:00
DOT-Chain Defence weapons marketplace: how to find a balance between security and functionalityAlona Zhuzha, IT Advisor at the Defense Procurement Agency DOT
17:00–17:50
Panel. AI-Native Warfare: Securing Autonomous Systems and Precision Weapons
  • Moderator: Yuriy Kryvosheya, Vice President and Member of the Board of Directors of the Canada-Ukraine Chamber of Commerce, Member and Co-Owner of CEO Club Ukraine, Chairman of SOVA Innovations
  • Valerii Churkin, Authorized Advisor to the Secretary of the NSDC of Ukraine for Cybersecurity, AI and Digitalization
  • Serhii "Flash" Beskrestnov, Advisor to Minister of Defense of Ukraine
  • Taras Rokoshevskyi, Co-founder ROBONEERS, Head of UGV Department
  • Yurii "Phoenix", Lasar's Group
  • Fedir Serdiuk, Co-founder of MOWA Defense
11:00–12:10
Session. Cyber Diplomacy Reimagined: From Condemnation to Effective Deterrence
11:00–11:50
Panel. Cyber Diplomacy: From the Norms of Responsible State Behaviour to Cyber incident Attribution and (Cyber)Deterrence
  • Moderator: Anton Demokhin, Deputy Foreign Minister, Chief Digital Transformation Officer
  • Ernst Noorman, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Affairs, MFA Netherlands
  • Helen Popp, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Diplomacy, Estonian MFA
  • Piotr Łukasiewicz, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine
  • Mark Montgomery, Rear Admiral (Retired) Senior Director, Center on Cyber and Technology Innovation, Foundation for Defense of Democracies
11:50–12:10
Countering Russian Cyber Aggression: Sanctions and Technology Access RestrictionsIlona Khmelova, Economic Security Council of Ukraine
12:10–12:30
Coffee Break
12:30–13:30
Session. Secure Communications and Resilient Connectivity: Protecting Telecom Infrastructure in Times of Conflict
12:30–12:40
Keynote Speaker: Vitalii Balashov, Deputy Minister of Digital Transformation of Ukraine
12:40–13:30
Panel. Protecting Telecom Infrastructure in Times of Conflict
  • Moderator: Tetiana Chych, CISO Kyivstar
  • Volodymyr Ilibman, Security Account Manager, Cisco
  • Bjørn Rønning, Special Advisor at Norwegian Datacenter Industry
  • Maksym Dumanskyi, CISO GigaTrans
  • Tetyana Khabibrakhmanova, Head of Ukrainian Alliance for Digital Sovereignty
13:30–14:00
Coffee Break
14:00–15:30
Session. Cyber-Physical Frontline: Defending Critical Infrastructure in Hybrid Warfare
14:00–14:20
Quantum-Safe Ukraine: From Research to Critical Infrastructure ResilienceSergiy Gnatyuk, Doctor of Technical Sciences, professor, President of the Scientific Cybersecurity Association of Ukraine, Vice-Rector of the State University "Kyiv Aviation Institute"
14:20–14:40
Cybersecurity Without Cloud Dependency: XDR On-prem for Isolated (Air-gapped) InfrastructureAndrii Mykhaliuk, CEO CoreWin
14:40–15:30
Panel. Defending Critical Infrastructure in Hybrid Warfare
  • Moderator: Vitalii Zubok, G.E.Pukhov Institute for Modeling in Energy Engineering, NAS of Ukraine
  • Ankur Rawat, CTO, CRDF Global
  • Oleksandr Tarasov, Deputy Director for Development, State Enterprise «Infotech»
  • Oleksandr Fedienko, MP, Head of Subcomittee, Verkhovna Rada
  • Kyrylo Honcharuk, Ukraine Country Leader, Cyber Future Foundation
  • Oleh Mamka, Deputy Director of the Department – Head of the 2nd division of the Department of Critical Infrastructure Protection, SSSCIP
15:30–15:50
Coffee Break
15:50–18:00
Session. Ukraine’s Lessons for Global Security
  • 15:50–16:10 Passwordless as a standard: transitioning enterprise infrastructure from passwords to QR codes and biometricsRoman Komendant, CDTO, State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine
  • 16:10–16:30 Cyber threat intelligence trends and lessons from cooperation with the militarySerhii Khariuk, Founder & CEO of AmonSul
  • 16:30–16:45 Click! Fight! Win! Victory Through CyberpowerGentry Lane, CEO & International Fellow, Nemesis Global, Inc. & Democratic Resilience Center
  • 16:45–17:05 Analysis of the potential cyberattack surface and cyber risk managementDmytro Ostapenko, Information Security Specialist
  • 17:05–17:20 Stronger, Smarter, Safer: The Role of Law in Defending Our Digital WorldYaroslav Ognevyuk, Managing Partner at AMBASSADORS Law Firm, Head of IP & Tech
  • 17:20–17:30 Overall cyberwarfare trend (2022–2025) based on risk analysisOleksandr Korystin, DSc (Law), Professor, Honored Academic of Science and Technology of Ukraine, Institute of Cyber Warfare Research
  • 17:30–17:45 Information resources of international police cooperation, their development and protection against attacksYevhenii Panchenko, First Deputy Head of International police cooperation Department National Police of Ukraine
  • 17:45–18:00 What the War in Ukraine Reveals About Western Vulnerabilities on the cyber fieldGrégory Priolon, Journalist, Intelligence Online
11:00–18:00
Session.Threat Intelligence: Landscape Analysis and Evolution. Without translation
11:00–11:10
Keynote Speaker: Serhii Prokopenko, Head of Operations, NCSCC
11:10–12:10
Speakers:
  • 11:10–11:30 Cyber Resilience on Regional LevelOleksii Shatyrko, SOC Team Lead, SBU Cyber Security Situation Centre
  • 11:30–11:50 Overview of cyber threat landscape in Ukraine and mechanisms of counteractionYevhen Bryksin, Chief of 1st Department (CERT-UA) of State Cyber Protection Center of SSSCIP
  • 11:50–12:10 Threat Landscape Evolution Under Cyberwar: Evidence from Ukraine’s Financial SectorOleksandr Klok, Head of CSIRT-NBU, National bank of Ukraine
12:10–12:30
Coffee Break
12:30–13:30
  • 12:30–12:45 Ensuring the stability and observability of municipal servicesOleksandr Voloshchuk, Deputy Director for Cybersecurity, Specialized Municipal Enterprise "Kyivteleservice"
  • 12:45–13:00 Практичні результати роботи з цифровими доказами, здобутими під час кібератакSerhii Denysenko, Executive Director, Computer Forensics Laboratory CyberLab
  • 13:00–13:15 Vulnerable and blind by default. Active Directory security at scaleDmytro Kushnir, Chief Engineer, ST&T (tbc)
  • 13:15–13:30 Threat Hunting in Latvia: Proactive Defense of Critical InfrastructureMārtiņš Savickis, Threat Hunt Deputy Lead at CERT.LV
13:30–14:00
Coffee Break
14:00–15:15
  • 14:00–14:15 Automation of compliance monitoring with international and national information security standardsVladyslav Dubov, Head of Solution Architecture, IT Specialist llc
  • 14:15–14:30 Соціальні мережі як частина інфраструктури кібератакРоман Осадчук, Директор з розвідки загроз, LetsData
  • 14:30–14:45 Еволюція обізнаності на базі ШІ: від виявлення та аналізу FIMI до прогнозування гібридних загрозStanislav Lurie, Head of Ukraine Office, Osavul
  • 15:00–15:15 Підвищення кіберстійкості шляхом автоматизації процесів управління вразливостями в об’єктах критичної інфраструктуриПавловський Михайло, Head of Sales, ТОВ "Кавітек" (tbc)
  • 15:15–15:30 Від спостереження до дії: як аналітика інформаційного середовища переходить в операційний інструментОлексій Третяк, CTO, Trypillian (tbc)
15:30–15:50
Coffee Break
15:50–16:40
Panel. The Asymmetries of Cognitive Warfare: Defence, Deterrence, Offence
  • Moderator:Peter Pomerantsev, Johns Hopkins University, author “How to Win an Information War”, “This is Not Propaganda”
  • Kyrylo Viktorov, Head of the Department for Countering Information Threats to National Security at the Center for Countering Disinformation
  • Joshua Segal, Non-Resident Fellow at GLOBSEC, former Director, Intelligence Operations Center, United States European Command
  • Sviatoslav Hnizdovskyi, Founder & CEO, OpenMinds
  • Nataliia Pinchuk, Strategic Communications Expert, Co-founder of ICE Task Force
16:40–18:00
  • 16:40–17:00 Private LLM Clusters for Secure Code Completion in Highly Regulated Industries: Building a Hardware and Software SolutionAndrii Yasynyshyn, CEO, Co-Founder, Ralabs
  • 17:15–17:30 Як планувати орієнтовані на користувача і захищені ІТ-продукти в сфері оборониРоман Ланський, CEO, Strimco (tbc)
  • 17:30–17:45 Automation of cybersecurity controls according to NIST/ISO requirements using AIВолодимир Ткаченко, CEO, Active audit agency(tbc)
09:00–17:00
Threat Hunt Workshop
  • Trainer:Mārtiņš Savickis, Threat Hunt Deputy Lead at CERT.LV
  • Full-day threat hunting workshop. Request event@ncscc.gov.ua for attendance. Do not forget to take your notebook!
09:30–18:00
BugBash
  • A dynamic bug hunting event inviting ethical hackers and security researchers to stress-test designated platforms in real-time. Participants will compete to uncover vulnerabilities, helping system owners patch security gaps before they can be exploited by adversaries. Clear guardrails will be established, including sandbox‑only environments, explicit authorization, coordinated vulnerability disclosure, and exclusion of government production systems. Please contact organisation team for details.
09:30–18:00
Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC): Blue-Team Defense with AI-Assisted Tools
  • A unique CTF tournament featuring challenges based on real-world modern cyber warfare scenarios and actual cases encountered by Ukrainian defenders. Participants will test their skills in a combat-simulated environment, competing for exclusive and valuable prizes awarded to the champions. For the first time in the Forum’s history, we launch a unique experiment to separate marketing hype from harsh reality. Top-tier human experts will face off directly against cutting-edge autonomous AI agents to determine empirically: can algorithms truly outperform human intuition and creativity in solving complex cybersecurity challenges?
    Please contact organisation team for details.
Day 2 ● February 20th, 2026
08:30–09:30
Participant Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:30–11:40
Session. From Commitment to Impact: Donor Coordination and Implementation for Cyber and Digital Resilience
09:30–09:40
Keynote Speaker: Toomas Tirs, Tallinn Mechanism Front Office, Estonian Embassy in Ukraine
09:40–10:30
Panel.Donor Coordination and Implementation for Cyber and Digital Resilience
  • Moderator: Thomas Callahan, Customer Relationship Executive, CRDF Global
  • Ieva Ilves, Cybersecurity and Digital Policy Advisor, Ukraine/Latvia
  • Kseniia Bulhakova, Manager for Donors and Private Sector Engagement, TMPO
  • Douglas White, Technical Director, U.S. Cybersecurity Activity in Ukraine
  • Mykhailo Verych, Regional Director, CRDF Global in Ukraine
  • James Littleton, Senior Director, DAI. Lead for FCDO CYFER Ukraine Project
10:30–11:40
Speakers:
  • 10:30-10:45 The America First Policy and adapting to a new cyber assistance landscapeClaudia Iannazzo, Catalisto LLC
  • 10:45-11:00 Launch of the Ukraine-Netherlands Cybersecurity Fund / European autonomyJurriën Norder, NCC-NL
  • 11:00-11:05 SHERIFF CYBER ACADEMY: Reintegration of Veterans into CybersecurityKateryna Dovhopola, Dmytro Stryzhov, SHERIFF Holding
  • 11:05-11:10 Signing of a Memorandum of cooperation between the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine and the SHERIFF Cyber Academy
  • 11:10-11:25 Municipal Cybersecurity Control CenterOleg Haiduk, Expert at the ICWR, Advisor on AI and Innovation at the PARKOVYI Data Center;Oleksiy Makhynia, Technical Director, AMMU
  • 11:25-11:40 Is this the myth that service providers take no account in cooperation concerning e-evidence of criminal proceedings?Iryna Laba, CyberUA project of the Council of Europe
11:40–12:00
Coffee Break
12:00–12:50
Panel. Architecture of Trust: Securing Critical Supply Chains
  • Moderator: Lauri Luht, CIO Estonia
  • Andrii Zhukovskii, CEO, Kyivstar.Tech & CIO, Kyivstar
  • Dmytro Pakholchenko, Acting Director of Department of Cyber Protection, SSSCIP
  • Dmytro Kravchuk, CTO Protagonist
  • Oleksandr Mazur, Director of Digital Technology Development and Support, MHP
12:50–13:20
Coffee Break
13:20–17:30
Session. AI-Native Warfare: Securing Autonomous Systems and Precision Weapons
13:20–13:30
Keynote Speaker: Serhii Demediuk, Chairman of the Board at the Institute of Cyber Warfare Research (ICWR)
13:20–15:00
Speakers:
  • 13:30–13:50 Offence Death Cycle: Operationalising the Cyber Persistence Theory for Resilience and DefenceVolodymyr Styran, SSSCIP of Ukraine
  • 13:50–14:10 Decision Making in the Age of the MachineLTC (ret) Christopher Ghorbani, RAINCLOUD
  • 14:10–14:30 From self-defense to pressure on the enemy: how AI helps plan offensive FIMI operationsAndrii Olenin, Mantis Analytics
  • 14:30–14:45 Using OSINT to train the AI for autonomous warfareMerlin Hipp, Lancelot Systems GmbH
  • 13:45–15:00 Cyber Capacity As A Systemic ModelJesse Nuese, Vlad Tereshyn, Cracken
15:00-15:50
Panel. Around AI in cybersecurity: threats, protection and automation
  • Moderator: Serhii Kulyk, Country Manager at iIT Distribution, Head of CyberTech Committee at IT Ukraine Association
  • Maksym Iashchenko, Head of Information Security Service, UKRSIBBANK BNP Paribas Group
  • Taras Loboda, CISO - Board Member, Universal Bank
  • Yurii Shatylo, CISO MHP
  • Yevhen Kudrevych, CISO Diia
  • Oleh Polihenko, CISO Nova Group
15:50–16:10
Coffee Break
16:10–17:30
Session. AI-Native Warfare: Securing Autonomous Systems and Precision Weapons
  • 16:10–16:30 Commanding the Information Battlefield In the Age Of AI Representatives, Dirigent Intelligence
  • 16:30–16:50 Microtargeting and disguise as "inner voices" when conducting influence operations in hybrid warfare. Defense strategyRoman Osypchuk, CDTO National Anticorruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)
  • 16:50–17:10 Black Snow: Boardroom Billion Dollar Chinese WhispersJohn Mackenzie, Director, CyberEQ
  • 17:10–17:30 The Unified Front: Architecting Resilience Across Civil and Military DomainsSheldon Bernstein, Chief Strategy Officer, bitCorp.it
17:30–18:00
Awards Ceremony and Official Closing of KICRF 2026
08:30–09:30
Participant Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:30–13:10
KICRF Crypto Track
Max Lurya, Crypto Track Event Host
09:30–11:30
Crypto-Assets: Global Regulation and Blockchain Intelligence
09:30–09:50
Keynote Speakers
  • Hetmantsev Danylo, Chairperson of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy
  • Shaban Oleksii, Deputy Head of National Bank of Ukraine
  • Semeniuk Oleksii, Head of the National Securities and Stock Market Commission
09:50–11:30
Speakers:
  • 09:50-10:05 The Influence of Armed Aggression on Cryptocurrency Development and Emerging Cybersecurity Threatslllia Vdovin, SBU Cyber Department
  • 10:05-10:20 How cryptographic timestamps can be used to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty and democratic institutionsPeter Todd, Founder of OpenTimeStamps
  • 10:20-10:35 Modern Trends in Crypto-Related CrimesOleksandr Plakhotniuk, Cyber Police Department of the National Police of Ukraine
  • 10:35-10:45 DarkWeb monitoring of illegal operations and data leakageSerhii Khariuk, Founder & CEO of AmonSul, expert at the ICWR
  • 10:45-11:00 NymVPN: How Our Decentralized VPN & Noise-Generating Mixnet Protects Your Network TrafficMax Hampshire, leads DevRel & Integrations at Nym
  • 11:00-11:15 Post-Quantum Threats to Blockchain: Myth or RealityNatalia Kuchynska, Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
  • 11:15-11:30 Diversification is Being Rewritten: Risk, Tokenization, and the New Portfolio EraNikita Smohorzhevskii, CIO & Partner at Solus Group
11:30–11:50
Coffee Break
11:50–13:10
Session. Regulation vs Innovation: finding the security balance of Public–Private Cyber Defense in the Crypto Domain
11:50–12:40
Panel. Legal Framework and Challenges in the Field of Cryptocurrency - Digital Trust in a Trustless World
  • Moderator: Petro Bilyk, Head of AI, Juscutum
  • Andrii Halych, CEO Prodefence
  • Viktoriia Derevianko, Notary, lawyer, Doctor of Law, Professor
  • Dmytro Nikolaevskii, Chief Legal Officer of the Project Office for Digital Economy, MDT of Ukraine
  • Oleksii Geiko, National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine (NABU)
  • Vadym Burlakov, VP of Sales - UA, Crystal Intelligence
12:40–13:10
Speakers:
  • 12:40-12:50 Anti-Scam & Critical ThinkingDmytro Donskoi, CEO Fomo
  • 12:50-13:00 Тhe Problem with Crypto Tokens in 2026Anton Dziuba, DoubleTop
  • 13:00-13:10 Architecting a New Power System: How Blockchain Enables the Integration of Decentralized Electricity Generation with a Decentralized Energy MarketVolodymyr Yevdokimov, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Expert on the Electricity Market, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine; Liudmyla Kovalchuk, Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
13:10–13:40
Coffee Break
13:40–15:00
Session. Human Capital Resilience: Education, Inclusion, and Reintegration
13:40–13:50
Keynote Speaker: Todd Spires, Program Operations Director, CRDF Global
  • 13:50-14:00 Developing human capital in cybersecurity and defense through technological sportsVitalii Lavrov, CDTO Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine
  • 14:00-14:10 People, Skills, Resilience: Building Cyber Capacity in an Evolving Threat LandscapeTim Conway, Technical Director of ICS and SCADA programs at SANS Institute
14:10–15:00
Panel. Human Capital Resilience
  • Moderator: Viktoriia Stavytska, State Enterprise &qout;National Information Systems&qout;
  • Maksym Delembovskyi, PhD in Technical Sciences, Associate Professor at the Department of Cybersecurity and Computer Engineering of KNUCA, expert at the ICWR
  • Serhii Koniushok, Deputy Head of the Institute (for Scientific Work), ISCIP of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute
  • Anastasiia Loban, Product Manager - Unit Range, Cyber Unit Technologies
  • Illia Kuznietsov, Independent cybersecurity consultant, PhD student at The National University &qout;Kyiv Aviation Institute&qout;
  • Мирон Пацай, заступник начальника відділу Департаменту освіти і науки Львівської ОДА, Голова ГО ICSA (tbc)
15:00–15:50
Panel. Trends and Priorities in Cybersecurity 2026
  • Moderator: Nataliia Mykolska, Executive Director, Diia.City United
  • Oleksii Yasinskyi, Director of B4 Department, Bakotech
  • Oleh Umantsev, CIO, Aurora Retail Chain
  • Oleksandr Voloshchuk, Deputy Director for Cybersecurity, Kyivteleservice
  • Serhii Zabirka, Technical Director, Parkovy Data Center
16:00–16:20
Coffee Break
16:20–17:30
Session. Dual-Use Evolution: How Wartime Tech is Reshaping Future Markets
16:20–16:40
Integrating Ukrainian Defense Technology Into the U.S. Defense Industrial BaseDavis Richardson, America-Ukraine Strategic Partners (AUSP)
16:40–17:30
Panel. Dual-Use Evolution: How Wartime Tech is Reshaping Future Markets
  • Moderator: Yegor Dubinsky, Advisor to the President of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine
  • Emily Harding, Director, Intelligence, National Security, and Technology Program at Center for Strategic and International Studies
  • Robert A Potter, Founding Partner, Cyber Activities Group (CAG)
  • Oleksii Hichko, Embassy of Ukraine in the USA
  • Yuliy Gere, Chairman of the supervisory board, U-Tech Investment Fund
08:30–09:30
Participant Registration and Welcome Coffee
09:30–11:40
Workshop. Women Leadership in Cybersecurity
  • By separate invitation. Request event@ncscc.gov.ua for attendance.
  • Moderator: Ilona Khmelova, Economic Security Council of Ukraine
  • Speakers:
  • Nataliya Tkachuk, Secretary of the NCSCC, Head of Dept. on Information Security and Cyber Defense at the Office of the NSDC of Ukraine
  • Maryna Mkrtycheva, MAGNET LEGAL
11:40–12:00
Coffee Break
12:00–13:20
Workshop. Stopping the Irreversible: Emergency Response to Wipers and Sabotage
  • A hands-on walkthrough of the entire incident lifecycle: from detecting initial anomalies to the final after-action report. Participants will master rapid containment techniques to stop threat propagation, proper forensic evidence collection procedures, data recovery techniques, business operations restoration, and the essential coordination protocols between technical teams and management during a crisis.
  • Serhii Denysenko, Executive Director, Digital Forensics Expert, Computer Forensics Laboratory CyberLab
13:20–13:50
Coffee Break
13:50–15:50
Workshop. Resilience of Critical Infrastructure: Lessons from Ukraine’s Experience in War
  • By separate invitation. Request info@understandingcyberwar.org for attendance.
  • This specialized thematic area focuses on the direct experience of Ukrainian experts and practitioners who are safeguarding critical infrastructure during full-scale war under shelling and cyberattacks. Participants will gain practical knowledge, insights, and strategies to enhance resilience against physical attacks, cyberattacks, and information operations – threats faced daily by Ukraine’s communication, transport, and government sectors.
15:50–16:10
Coffee Break
16:10–17:30
Workshop. Resilience of Critical Infrastructure: Lessons from Ukraine’s Experience in War
09:30–17:30
BugBash
  • A dynamic bug hunting event inviting ethical hackers and security researchers to stress-test designated platforms in real-time. Participants will compete to uncover vulnerabilities, helping system owners patch security gaps before they can be exploited by adversaries. Clear guardrails will be established, including sandbox‑only environments, explicit authorization, coordinated vulnerability disclosure, and exclusion of government production systems. Please contact organisation team for details.
09:30–17:30
Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (CCDC): Blue-Team Defense with AI-Assisted Tools
  • A unique CTF tournament featuring challenges based on real-world modern cyber warfare scenarios and actual cases encountered by Ukrainian defenders. Participants will test their skills in a combat-simulated environment, competing for exclusive and valuable prizes awarded to the champions. For the first time in the Forum’s history, we launch a unique experiment to separate marketing hype from harsh reality. Top-tier human experts will face off directly against cutting-edge autonomous AI agents to determine empirically: can algorithms truly outperform human intuition and creativity in solving complex cybersecurity challenges?
    Please contact organisation team for details.