Cybersecurity for Next Generation Connectivity Systems
October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Each week in October 2025, the series will feature expert perspectives from around the world on how to mitigate the emerging threats and challenges associated with next-generation systems.
Here are various discussions and thought pieces that we plan to produce throughout October 2025.
Oct 2 – Launch: Rethinking Cybersecurity Architectures for Next-Gen Connectivity
In this introductory interview, Vikas Malhotra suggests mitigating cyber risk by “Rethinking Cybersecurity Architectures for Next Gen Systems” in accordance with the five principles proposed by the IEEE SA Industry Connections Activity on Cybersecurity for Next Generation Connectivity: Human Centricity, Decentralization, Distribution, Heterogeneity, and Self-Healing. Video: Rethinking Architectures
Vikas Malhotra is the Founder & CEO of WOPLLI, and he serves as the chair of the IEEE SA Industry Connections Activity ‘Cybersecurity for Next Generation Connectivity Systems’. He is interviewed by Eduardo Jorge Brito Rodrigues, a cybersecurity specialist and esteemed member of the IC Activity.
Oct 6 – Architectures & Foundations: From legacy to Zero Trust; human-centricity, decentralized identity, distributed computing, heterogeneous controls, self-healing – Dr. Belal Hafnawi & Dr. Eduardo Rodrigues
An insightful conversation with technology leader Belal Al-Hafnawi on rethinking cybersecurity architectures for next-generation connectivity. From legacy systems to Zero Trust, we explored the growing role of artificial intelligence and its impacts on today’s cybersecurity challenges, while questioning whether the Internet was ever designed to be secure in the first place. This marks the first video of our Cybersecurity Awareness Month series. Since 2004, October has been a time to highlight the importance of cybersecurity and safe online practices, not only in the United States, but around the world. The discussion was aligned with the five guiding principles of our IEEE SA Cybersecurity for Next-Generation Connectivity Systems Study Group: human-centricity, decentralization, distributed processing, heterogeneity, and self-healing.
Interviewed by Eduardo Jorge Brito Rodrigues, a cybersecurity specialist and esteemed member of the IC Activity.
Oct 13 – Developing Resilient Cyber leaders – will explore how executives and practitioners can expand participation in cybersecurity, remove barriers to entry, and strengthen professional pipelines through mentorship and support. Dr. Diana Janosek & Joyce Hunter
Oct 20 – Securing Open Ecosystems & Supply Chains: Open RAN threat model & hygiene; SBOM/VEX/SLSA; signed updates; device identity & lifecycle; vendor risk & measurable assurance – Dr. Lourenco Alves Pereira Jr and Don Davidson
Oct 27 – Future of Secure Connectivity: Quantum & crypto agility; Web 3.0; 5G/6G interoperability; path to new standards/collaborations. – Dr. Dave Chatterjee and Drew Spaniel
