A safe space in the Alps
Over two days at Zurich’s stunning Dolder Grand — hosted by the Swiss Cyber Institute — I witnessed something I’ve seldom seen at cybersecurity events: real vulnerability. In a closed, attribution-free environment, leaders shared not just strategies, but doubts. And that made this event stand out — not as another conference, but as a safe space for CISOs to drop their armor. The Dolder Grand’s panoramic views over Lake Zurich and the Alps provided a serene contrast to the high-stakes discussions inside, amplifying the sense of a neutral, reflective sanctuary.
Zurich, with its alpine precision and global neutrality, was the perfect backdrop. The theme Future Resilience echoed everywhere, but the magic happened in the margins: pre-conference coffee chats, late-night Swiss CISO Awards talks, quiet lounge exchanges. The SCI has built something extraordinary — a community where CISOs exchange phone numbers, not just slides. Multiple leaders told me they now call peers directly during live anomalies. That’s trust you can’t buy. One manufacturing CISO shared how a Zurich contact helped him contain a supply-chain incident in under four hours — something that previously took days through formal channels.
5 threats that hit home
Here are Brown’s five threats — straight from the slides, raw insights from the room and my takeaways as a consultant advising energy, manufacturing and finance giants.
