Widely publicised hacks, such as the hack of the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre by Isis and the attack on Sony Pictures, have brought security trends to the forefront of international news.

The rise of social networking, mobile device proliferation, cloud computing, the internet of things and big data has increased the potential number of vulnerabilities for employers. In 2014, more than a billion pieces of personally identifiable information were leaked, representing a 25 per cent increase from the previous year, according to IBM.

Against this backdrop, the third annual Secure Computing Forum, which is taking place this Thursday, will examine the rise of cyberwarfare and how third platform threats such as cloud computing and social networking expose businesses.

Freddy Dezeure, head of the European Union's computer emergency response team (Cert), will speak about his experience running pan-European security initiatives. Dezeure joined the European Commission in 1987 and set up Cert for EU institutions, agencies and bodies in 2011. Other speakers include Jeffrey Moulton, director of the cyber research centre at Louisiana State University, RSA chief security architect Bob Griffin and Davi Ottenheimer, senior director of trust at EMC.

They will explain diverse approaches and real-world experiences that can help IT and security specialists in Irish business and public sector organisations, as well as the possible risks trends such as cloud computing pose to Irish businesses.

The event, hosted by Data Solutions, will be held in the Light House Cinema in Dublin 7.