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Contact: Shawn Flaherty, 703-554-3609
Billington CyberSecurity Founder Recognized by Ukrainian Government for Work to Build Understanding of Cyber Threats to Ukraine and World
Cyber Head Vitiuk Presents Award at Recent Summit
WASHINGTON, DC (October 9, 2023)—The Ukraine Government presented Thomas Billington, CEO and Founder, Billington CyberSecurity (opens new window), with one of its highest cybersecurity awards for his ongoing efforts to highlight global cyber threats exposed by the war against Ukraine.
The award was presented to Billington by Illia Vitiuk, Head of Cyber Security Department, Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) last month at the 14th Annual Billington CyberSecurity Summit. The company has held six events featuring Ukraine speakers in the past two years.
In presenting the award, Vitiuk explained: “This award, given to FBI Director Christopher Wray and a few other top government and cybersecurity companies' CEOs, recognizes exceptional leaders who have helped enhance the security and cybersecurity of Ukraine as it fights against Russia’s invasion. I am deeply grateful to Mr. Billington’s steadfast support of our cybersecurity in Ukraine.”
Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, Minister of Digital Transformation added: “I have visited the U.S. twice in the past year, and on each visit, Tom Billington supported our team by engaging the cybersecurity community which resulted in great connections for us within the U.S. government and industry. This is a strong contribution in advocating the Ukrainian agenda, and the award recognizes the great contributions of Tom and his team.”
“On behalf of our amazing partners and speakers, I am very honored and humbled by this award. It’s critical for the U.S. and its allies to understand the scope and severity of the cyber threats we face and to support Ukraine. Ukraine is learning real-time about digital threats so understanding their war-time challenges will help us protect them and ourselves from hostile forces and bad actors,” explained Thomas K. Billington, CEO and Founder, Billington CyberSecurity (opens new window), a leading cyber education company for executives founded in 2010. “We all want Ukraine to win and our summit partners are helping in tremendous ways.”
For the past several years, Billington CyberSecurity has hosted Ukrainian officials to speak during special sessions at its summit and in webinars. The award was presented during the 14th Annual Billington CyberSecurity Summit held September 5–8, 2023 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C., which convened nearly 2,000 attendees, over 200 speakers and over 115 exhibitors. During the recent summit, Vitiuk, the head of Ukraine's primary cyber law enforcement and counterintelligence agency, shared lessons learned about how to better protect its nation’s infrastructure from physical and cyberattacks as its critical infrastructure has been under constant attack.
This past April, Billington hosted a webinar featuring Vitiuk entitled “Cyber Updates from Ukraine’s Frontlines.” In the webinar, SSU's cyber chief discussed key lessons learned in defending against Russian cyber aggression for the past decade and how Ukraine leverages its cyber talent to shore up defenses while countering its digital adversaries.
At last year’s summit, cyber leaders from Ukraine shared learning from the Russian invasion. During that event, the Government of Ukraine received the 5th Annual Billington International Cybersecurity Leadership Award for its perseverance against Russian cyberattacks and collaboration with allies to bring greater cyber knowledge to democracies worldwide.
Billington CyberSecurity’s summit and webinar are part of Billington’s series of events that convene leading senior cyber government decision-makers to examine key trends and topics while fostering deeper dialogue between government leaders and private industry.