Peter Hacker

Peter Hacker is a passionate speaker, entrepreneur and author on the topics of digital transformation, cybercrime and underwriting. He gives keynotes and lectures from Frankfurt to Sydney to New York and uses real-life examples to describe challenges, opportunities and solutions that have a lasting impact on companies and politics.

The importance of cyber risks as a threat to Individuals, SMEs, Large Corporate Companies and Ministries has increased rapidly in the last 18 months. Cybercrime is booming and can have a massive impact on the security and stability of companies and countries.

Peter Hacker runs his own boutique company. This Cyber Risk Observatory focuses on cyber threat development, incident aggregation and management at Board Level using Manual Knowledge Transfer and AI Capabilities to support Boards, Risk Management, Legal, Underwriting, Security and Product Teams.

The digital revolution, cybercrime and innovation, for him these are three topics for the board, ministerial level, crisis management, strategic communications work (‘Public Affairs / Public Relations’) and sales. The future brings not only smart cities, housing, open banking and autonomous driving, but also a new form of violence and power with challenges in strategy, ethics, risk management, customer service and society.

Peter Hacker talks about bare facts and asks questions that are uncomfortable but at the same time unavoidable. He describes these alarming developments using his own real-life examples, and shows how the present is transforming into the future and lays out options.

Peter Hacker Lecture Topics

Expect the unexpected: It’s not a question of if you and your company will be hacked. It’s just when. How prepared are you for it?

• Cybercrime 4.0: A topic for the board level

Any company can become a victim of cybercrime at any time. It is just a matter of time and means. If you want to survive in today’s world, you have to ask yourself specifically: are we prepared at board level for an attack? Where do I stand in terms of liability as a board member? Am I aware of them? Where are our attack surfaces? How do we selectively protect our data, systems, employees, customers and intangible assets (IP, brand, reputation)? How do we communicate from the inside to the outside (strategic public relations)?

• The Lessons Learnt: ‘Covid-19’

Whether by chance or consciously, the ‘real viruses'(Covid‐19), allow companies and risk teams to learn important lessons for their cyber security strategy. Attacks can also affect companies whose systems run current, regularly updated and properly patched software. Certain malware shows how important it is to restrict administrator privileges. A simple way is ‘leasing’ privileges so that employees who need them only have access to admin rights for a certain period of time.

• The digital world in 2030: Not for the faint of heart!

Billions of connected devices and sensors. The leap from 4G to 5G technology. The next 21st century battlefield to market success, arms race and opinion influence!

• ‘Internet of Everything’: Disruptive, Global, Complex.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is bringing objects in our everyday lives to life. These are networking with people, but also with things and machines. It is changing us all. Our society is evolving into a megacomputer that allows us to provide security (blockchain), simultaneously drive growth (autonomous driving), better understand our customers (open banking) and transform our society (smart cities).

• Digital revolution: surviving in the 21st century

We live in a fascinating time where the only constant is change. In some cases, the rate of change is already outpacing our ability to keep up, and to respond effectively. We would do well to give equal priority to future opportunities and risks posed by artificial intelligence (AI), for example. In an interconnected world, cyber attacks through AI have the potential to be a devastating weapon for businesses, industries, and states of all kinds.

• Fake news, extortion and espionage in the connected world

Our future is becoming less predictable, more unpredictable, more at risk, and more exciting. States are fighting for dominance in digitalization. Technology providers, individuals, hacker organizations and terrorist groups are changing the security landscape. Data, viruses, malware, codes offer new means of power and violence thanks to networking. Will we soon become a free rider? Preventing this will not be easy.

• The power strategy of artificial intelligence: utopia or reality

The battle between California, Moscow and Shenzhen enters the second half of the chessboard. Data, data analysis, data thieves as a basis for ‘discovery’ or conquest are already changing the world situation and our everyday life. Are we really fighting back effectively and ethically with artificial intelligence? What’s next?

• The digital, social (re)organization

We are still at the beginning of the digital era. Governments and business are challenged. Digitization is forcing a geopolitical reordering. Our future brings new forms, smart cities, housing and autonomous driving, but also the threat of increased electronic warfare (‘non-kinetic warfare’), surveillance and the misuse of data. To survive safely, we need to become more critical. A healthy discomfort with the power of technology companies. Politicians and the digital state helps.

Prior to the founding of Distinction.Global, an independent observatory on cybersecurity, Peter Hacker held senior positions in the financial industry in London, New York, Singapore and Zurich. In 2019, he conducted research for the Financial Services Authority of Singapore (MAS), the Singapore Reinsurance Association (SRA), and numerous Asian and European financial institutions on the topic of cyber risks – scenarios, disasters, costs, and solutions.

Thought Leader, Advisor, Speaker & Coach

Peter Hacker holds a degree in Economics from HWZ Hochschule für Wirtschaft Zuerich, an MBA degree from both London Business School (LBS) and Columbia Business School (CBS) NY (both with distinction). In 2004 he was nominated for the international honor society ‘Beta Gamma Sigma’ by Columbia Business School. He is fluent in German, English, Spanish, Portuguese and French.

Over the past 18 years, Peter Hacker has worked as a thought leader in more than 90 countries with corporate executives and risk managers in the insurance, banking, critical infrastructure, retail, telecommunications, media and technology industries, and has first-hand knowledge of many attacks with expert insight. As a cyber expert, his advice is also sought by international and regional organizations, regulators, and rating agencies. These have included the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the financial regulators in Singapore (MAS) and England (PRA), and the Standard & Poor’s rating agency.

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