CyberNI Week 2025 Wrap-Up!

In our ongoing effort to build on the legacy of CyberUK 2023, the Northern Ireland Cyber Security Centre successfully coordinated CyberNI Week 2025, held from March 3rd to 9th.

Throughout the week, our local cyber security community delivered 37 events spanning government, industry, academia, and the charity and voluntary sectors.These events covered a wide range of topics from current challenges in Digital Forensics, Web and App Vulnerabilities, Cracking Passwords, Phishing Awareness, Scam Awareness, Cyber Essentials and hands on events such as exploiting software vulnerabilities through the eyes of a hacker and capture the flag exercises.  There were events for Primary School children empowering children & young people in Northern Ireland to find out more about careers in cyber security.  The week finished celebrating International Women’s Day with an uplifting workshop and collaborative discussion dedicated to building a resilient future for women working in Northern Ireland's thriving cyber security sector and a celebration event for the top ten teams in the CyberFirst girls’ competition. Over 4000 delegates participated, both in person and virtually, to further our shared goal of enhancing cyber security awareness in Northern Ireland.

On Tuesday, March 4th, the NI Cyber Security Centre hosted the Government Cyber Security Conference at the historic Crumlin Road Gaol. Themed ‘Building a Cyber Resilient Public Sector,’ the event featured senior representatives from the Devolved Administrations, Isle of Man, and ROI. Attendees benefited from insightful discussions, panels, and valuable networking opportunities.

On Thursday, March 6th, we held the inaugural CyberNI Conference, bringing together cyber security experts from both the public and private sectors. The conference highlighted the importance of public/private sector collaboration in strengthening Northern Ireland's cyber resilience. Attendees enjoyed engaging presentations and Q&A sessions with notable figures such as Cyber Security BT, Tristan Morgan; the infamous hacker, Greg Van Der Gaast; Chief Librarian of the British Library Liz Jolly; Investigative Journalist Geoff White; UK Cyber Security Council’s, Dr. Claudia Natanson MBE; NCSC representatives; CyberFirst leads, and a CyberFirst Bursary Graduate. The event, hosted by Donna Traynor, was a resounding success.

We extend our thanks to all event hosts, exhibitors, speakers, and participants. Your contributions were crucial in making CyberNI Week a success.

The diverse range of events throughout the week underscored our collective commitment to ‘Collaborating to Strengthen Cyber Resilience.’ We are already planning for next year and look forward to continued collaboration within our local cyber security community to ensure CyberNI Week 2026 is even more successful.