#LondonCyber kicks off on Tuesday morning

The inaugural London Conference on Cyberspace begins today with the aim of bringing together politicians, law enforcers, industry chiefs and other internet stakeholders for the first time to discuss the opportunities and risks that exist online and how to take advantage of the former while mitigating the latter.

Featuring top level politicians from India, the US, Europe and the United Nations, alongside law enforcers, private enterprise, not-for-profits and world-leading academics, the conference is the brainchild of foreign secretary William Hague, whose aim is to put the UK at the centre of the debate.

The various tracks will cover international security, cyber crime, economic growth and development, safe and reliable access and social benefits, and the conference organisers see this as an opportunity to shape the debate rather than lay down any prescriptive rules on internet governance.

The conference could not come at a more pressing time, as newly discovered sophisticated cyber attacks, such as the Nitro campaign uncovered by Symantec on Monday, appear on an almost weekly basis, while senior government officials warn of the increasing dangers presented by cyber space.

Also on Monday, GCHQ director Iain Lobban warned of the growing threat to private business and government from cyber space, branding it "one of the greatest challenges of our day", while a story in The Daily Telegraph on Tuesday reported Baroness Neville-Jones as accusing China and Russia of carrying out cyber attacks aimed at stealing other countries' intellectual property.

V3 will be at the conference on both days, covering the opening keynote from William Hague as well as the first session on Tuesday featuring Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Facebook UK president Joanna Shields and UN administrator Helen Clark, among others.

In the afternoon we'll be bringing you live coverage from US secretary of state Hillary Clinton's keynote, while on Wednesday there'll be a focus on cyber security.

01 Nov 2011