Welcome note

Dear Participants,

We would like to WELCOME you to the 1st Network and Information Security Summer School jointly organized by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA) and the Institute of Computer Science of the Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas (FORTH-ICS).

Internet-connected systems are subject to millions of online attacks every day. Internet users are plagued by malware, spam, phishing, and other malicious activities. Besides the constantly increasing number of security incidents, we witness a steady rise in cyber attack sophistication. During the last few years, there has been a decline in the number of massive easy-to-spot global epidemics, and a shift towards more targeted and evasive attacks. At the same time, cyber-criminals, motivated by the promise of financial gains and personal recognition, constantly devise new deception and exploitation methods. Finally, the unstable political situation in many countries raises the possibility of protracted cyber wars which can have a devastating effect to the economies and the lives of citizens in target countries. Understanding properly the issues at hand and raising awareness on good practices is of paramount importance.

ENISA is dedicated to promote the culture of security in Europe by pursuing a strategy of mitigating risks through awareness and enhancing the level of expertise in the European Union. Towards this objective, through the NIS Summer School we aim to bring together a distinguished faculty from around the world and an audience of policy makers from EU Member States and EU Institutions, decision makers from industry, as well as members of the academic and research community, for the purpose of identifying current threats and opportunities against the background of recent advances on NIS measures and policies. This will raise the level of expertise of attendees and impact positively on, the ability of European Union Member States to respond to cyber-attacks.

This Summer School will have a special "Theme" and a fresh look each year, focusing on cutting-edge topics that guide the selection of the faculty each time. The theme for the 2008 Summer School is on "Network Security".

Recognizing the multi-dimensional facet of this theme, we have an array of very interesting lectures covering a variety of aspects such as policy, legal, academic and research. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our keynote speakers and faculty for helping us offer a program of such high quality.

We hope that you will enjoy the program of the School and your stay in Crete!