Digilience conference in Sofia with Professor Petra Haferkorn

20241115 Konferenz DIGILIENZE in Sofia-Bulgarien

From November 13–15, the Digilience Conference took place for the fifth time in Sofia, Bulgaria. For the first time, Petra Haferkorn (H-BRS), a professor of IT security management and a member of our Institute für Cyber Security & Privacy, participated and, together with her Ukrainian colleague Mariia Dorosh, professor of IT and software engineering department of Chernihiv National University of Technologies, presented new organizational approaches to shaping the information security of companies and public authorities.

Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh and Prof. Dr Petra Haferkorn at the conference Digilience photo: Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh

The conference was organized by the European Software Institute & CyberRes Lab, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, and the Bulgarian Defence Institute. The organizers created a productive working atmosphere that facilitated exchange between experts from a wide variety of disciplines. The topics covered were diverse, ranging from legal issues of data protection in the use of artificial intelligence to the psychology of societal disinformation and technical questions, such as the coordination of intelligent drone swarms.

Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh (1st from right) and Prof. Dr Petra Haferkorn (2nd from right)at the conference Digilience photo: Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh

Organizations must identify these or other relevant information security topics and ideally address them simultaneously to respond effectively to threats. It is precisely at this point that the presentation by Mariia Dorosh and Petra Haferkorn comes into play: they draw on the organizational theory of sociologist Niklas Luhmann to develop an interdisciplinary theory of information security management. This communication theory enables not only technical content but also the social and temporal dimensions of information security to be considered systematically.

Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh (left) and Prof. Dr Petra Haferkorn (right) at the conference Digilience photo: Prof. Dr Mariia Dorosh

The research findings received significant attention from the IT security researchers present and led to further invitations to the other information security events for the two scientists. All in all, the participation in the conference and the audience's interest in the presented research, expressed in questions and discussions, inspires the authors to formulate new questions for further research. Corresponding results may be presented at the conference next year.