2021 was a record year for the cybersecurity industry. 100's of millions of customer records were exposed in data breaches and 1000's of ransomware attacks took place, including disruption to physical assets like the Colonial pipeline in the US and major hospitals globally.

But 2021 was also the year of the metaverse, with Facebook rebranding to Meta and betting it all on the new reality; which is meant to combine the latest fintech innovations like Cryptocurrencies, DeFi, NFTs with virtual worlds, transforming how humans interact with each other.

However, with great opportunities come great challenges. Although it’s still early days, we’re already getting a taste of what could happen, with several crypto scams and a woman who was sexually harassed on Meta’s VR social media platform in December. Kavya Pearlman, an award winning cyber security expert and former Information Security Director for Linden Lab and its Second Life online virtual world, states: With web 2.0 “The attack surface has remained limited to nodes, networks, and servers"...but with the metaverse, “The attack surface is now our brain.”

This event is co-hosted by the Warwick Professional Finance Network (WPFN) and China-Britain Artificial Intelligence Association (CBAIA).

We will explore the following questions:

What are the main differences between web 2.0, 3.0 and the metaverse?

What kind of security and privacy challenges are likely to arise?

Are “Big Tech” organisations ready to redeem themselves from years of data privacy scandals?

Join us on the 28th of February @ 18:00 at The Shard to explore all of this and more with our esteemed panelists.

After the panel discussion, you will have the opportunity to network with fellow alumni and guests over drinks and snacks.

WFPN presents: Data security - from web 2.0 to web 3.0 and the Metaverse.