There are an estimated 600 million cyberattacks around the world every day. Multinational car manufacturers, European airports, Japanese weather forecasters and Australian pension funds are among those to have been hacked in the past 12 months, with potentially disastrous reputational, financial – and even fatal – consequences.

According to the UK National Cyber Security Centre, advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks have increased by more than 200% in the past year, a clear signal that the external threat landscape is intensifying. With cybercrime surging, the timing of ISE’s inaugural CyberSecurity Summit couldn’t be more fitting, explains summit chair Pere Ferrer, a senior public executive and strategic advisor with over 15 years of experience in leadership roles across public safety and critical infrastructure governance – most notably as director of the Catalan police.

“Cybersecurity has long been a concern in the AV industry, but principally for critical infrastructure. Now every organisation is part of the global digital ecosystem. From control rooms and conferencing platforms to digital signage, smart buildings and event venues, AV solutions are high-value targets for ransomware, data breaches, social engineering and denial-of-service attacks,” he says.

“Video conferencing and webcams, ubiquitous across industry, is one example. Could it be the weakest link making your company vulnerable to attack?”

Coordinated repsonse

A key message is that cyber resilience cannot be achieved internally. A robust defence to current and future threats needs the coordinated response of vendors and end users together with regulators and certification agencies.

“The summit will bring everyone together in the same room to understand the risks, what to do about it and what’s coming next,” says Ferrer. “We will share best practices for cybersecurity control rooms, best practices for cybersecurity conferencing systems and for smart buildings and integration.”

At the summit, AV professionals will learn about safeguarding critical systems, navigate evolving regulations such as NIS2 and ISO 27001, and discover how to transform cybersecurity from a vulnerability into a strategic advantage, before it’s too late. Attendees will hear from Spanish water and energy provider Veolia, which has installed a control room specifically designed to combat cybercrime; and from TRC, which provides the video conferencing system for the Spanish government and NATO.

“It is important to emphasise that investment in cybersecurity should not be seen as an expense but as a critical investment to safeguard both operations and reputation. This makes the summit a must-attend for ISE visitors who want to stay ahead in cybersecurity practices, with leading experts presenting practical insights and future-focused strategies," he adds.

The summit will feature sessions on building cyber resilience, ensuring secure control room operations, and compliance and governance for securing critical AV environments.

What's next?

Finally, a closing keynote from Roman Vargas, a cybersecurity specialist at Cisco, will focus on what’s coming next in cybersecurity and emerging digital threats to the AV and systems integration sectors. “How does artificial intelligence multiply the cyber threat or provide us with new tools to repel criminals? Quantum computation could be with us within the decade but are we ready for it? These are some topics we will discuss,” he adds.

There will also be an opportunity to visit the brand-new command control room of the Port Police in Barcelona, which has been provided by summit sponsor Barco.

For AV manufacturers, integrators and technology users, cybersecurity is no longer a technical afterthought. It’s essential for accessing public tenders, ensuring regulatory compliance and building long-term trust with clients.

“AV solutions are not just providing nice videowalls with great screens, it is also about protection from attack. Cybersecurity needs to be embedded at the heart of every AV innovation,” he concludes.

This interview is taken from the ISE Daily 2026. The Preview Edition of the Daily will be available from 22 January.