CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM is the largest event in Central and Eastern Europe devoted to cybersecurity, new technologies and digital resilience organized by the PTWP Group. It combines two parts: the strategic FORUM conference and the EXPO technology fair. The 2026 anniversary edition took place on June 15-16 at the International Congress Center in Katowice under the slogan “We are the firewall”.
What is the difference between FORUM and EXPO within an event
FORUM is the conference part – strategic debates with the participation of international experts, representatives of public administration, business and the defense sector. Topics concern regulatory and geopolitical decisions, not specific products: implementation of UKSC / NIS2, protection of critical infrastructure, role of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.
EXPO is the trade fair where technology companies present hardware, software and strategies for protecting against cyberattacks. A participant can listen to a debate on the direction of regulation in one place, and a moment later see live what a specific implementation of an industrial network protection system looks like.
This division distinguishes CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM from purely conference formats in which the exhibition part is an addition, not an equal element of the program.
Scale and scope of CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM
The event gathers nearly 100 partners and exhibitors and over 2,000 participants representing the public, private and uniformed services sectors. This is a scale incomparable to any other cybersecurity conference organized in Poland – for comparison, KSC Forum or Advanced Threat Summit gather several hundred people.
Among the participants there are representatives of:
- government and local government administration,
- army and security services,
- large enterprises from the energy, financial and industrial sectors,
- scientists and technical students.
When and where the 2026 edition took place
The 2026 edition took place on June 15-16 at the International Congress Center in Katowice – it has already been almost a decade of the event’s activity, which the organizers emphasized by calling this anniversary edition. The choice of Katowice and Silesia as a location has its justification: a region strongly associated with industry and energy infrastructure naturally attracts the topic of protection of industrial systems and critical infrastructure.
The motto of the edition, “We are the firewall”, reflected the main theme of the program – responsibility for the security of systems, data and services distributed among the state, business and citizens, and not concentrated solely in one institution.
The most important topics of the 2026 edition
The first day focused on strategic aspects: geopolitics of cyberspace, counteracting disinformation and public-private partnership in digital defense. A significant part of the program was devoted to the implementation of the amendment of the KSC and the EU NIS2 directive – a topic that in 2026 will move from the stage of interpretation of regulations to the stage of real implementation obligations, which we also describe in more detail in the context of impact of these regulations on the role of CISO and risks related to the two-year period without sanctions.
On the first day, the third edition of the “Cyberportrait of Polish business 2026” report prepared by ESET and DAGMA IT Security was presented. The second day was devoted to sectoral competences and resilience: cooperation between the state, the military and business in acquiring talent, the challenges of CISO and CIO, and the specificity of cybersecurity in finance, energy, health and industry. A new feature of the 2026 edition were the CYBERSEC Awards – the first awards gala for industry leaders in the history of the event.
SECAWA at CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM 2026
The Secawa team was present at this year’s edition. As Dagmara Polak wrote in her LinkedIn summary, the topic that resonated most strongly was technological sovereignty – the opening session, “Geopolitics of cybersecurity and technological sovereignty”, set the tone for the entire edition and was repeated in subsequent lectures and side conversations, especially in the context of the US government cutting off access to the flagship Anthropic model a few days before the conference.
This thread has a specific reference for Secaw: the company is developing its own, fully Polish platform for systematic phishing simulations – not as a reseller, with data remaining in the EU. As Dr. Radosław Nielek summed up during the event, “we should have our own solutions” – a sentence that, in the context of the discussion on technological sovereignty, accurately describes the direction in which the Polish cybersecurity market is developing.
Will there be CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM 2027?
The organizers have not yet announced the date of the 2027 edition. Taking into account the regularity of the event and its growing scale from year to year, the announcement of the next edition can be expected in the coming months.
Frequently asked questions about CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM
What is CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM?
CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM is the largest event in Central and Eastern Europe devoted to cybersecurity, organized by the PTWP Group and combining a strategic conference with a technology fair.
What is the difference between FORUM and EXPO?
FORUM is strategic debates on the regulations and geopolitics of cyberspace, and EXPO is the trade fair part with presentations of technologies and solutions for protection against cyberattacks.
When was the CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM 2026 edition?
The 2026 anniversary edition took place on June 15-16 at the International Congress Center in Katowice.
Where is CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM held?
The event takes place at the International Congress Center (MCK) in Katowice.
Will there be CYBERSEC EXPO & FORUM 2027?
The date of the 2027 edition has not been announced yet, but considering the cyclical nature of the event, the announcement should take place in the coming months.
