The Power to Convene: The Spark to Unify with Partners in Democracy
By Chuck Brooks, Skytop Contributor / December 1, 2025
Chuck Brooks serves as President and Consultant of Brooks Consulting International. Chuck also serves as an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University in the Cyber Risk Management Program, where he teaches graduate courses on risk management, homeland security, and cybersecurity.
Chuck has received numerous global accolades for his work and promotion of cybersecurity. Recently, he was named the top cybersecurity expert to follow on social media, and also as one top cybersecurity leaders for 2024. He has also been named "Cybersecurity Person of the Year" by Cyber Express, Cybersecurity Marketer of the Year, and a "Top 5 Tech Person to Follow" by LinkedIn” where he has 120,000 followers on his profile.
As a thought leader, blogger, and event speaker, he has briefed the G20 on energy cybersecurity, The US Embassy to the Holy See, and the Vatican on global cybersecurity cooperation. He has served on two National Academy of Science Advisory groups, including one on digitalizing the USAF, and another on securing BioTech. He has also addressed USTRANSCOM on cybersecurity and serves on an industry/government Working group for DHS CISA focused on security space systems.
Chuck is a featured writer for Skytop Media and the SkyTop/Sling streaming TV show host of "Intelligence Briefing". He is also a contributor to Forbes, The Washington Post, Dark Reading, Homeland Security Today, Skytop Media, GovCon, Barrons, Reader’s Digest, The Hill, and Federal Times on cybersecurity and emerging technology topics. He has keynoted dozens of global conferences and written over 350 articles relating to technologies and cybersecurity.
In his career, Chuck has received presidential appointments for executive service by two U.S. presidents and served as the first Director of Legislative Affairs at the DHS Science & Technology Directorate. He served a decade on the Hill for the late Senator Arlen Specter on the Hill on tech and security issues. Chuck has also served in executive roles for companies such as General Dynamics, Rapiscan, and Xerox.
Chuck has an MA from the University of Chicago, a BA from DePauw University, and a certificate in International Law from The Hague Academy of International Law.
Skytop Media’s Global Cybersecurity Summit in Rome, Italy will be an important event for promoting shared knowledge and building security alliances. In a world where cyber risks transcend borders, the imperative for collective defense has never been clearer.
Embracing Alliances
A key theme that will resonate from the conference is that we are now living in a hyper-connected digital era where new cybersecurity threats are constantly emerging. Democracies and their industries must embrace alliances to mitigate risks and address these formidable challenges.
An outcome of past Skytop Summits has been recognition that allies must work closely together to help prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents. The urgent requirement is for a new multilateral cooperative paradigm—one that emphasizes information sharing, collaborative research, and the deployment of emerging technologies to bolster defense.
Cooperation and Sharing
In today’s interconnected world, the complexity and volume of cyber-attacks demand cooperation. Threats now reach across continents, targeting everything from energy pipelines to financial networks. Because of this rapidly changing cyber threat environment, democratic governments and industry must enhance cooperation, share frameworks, exchange intelligence, and develop tools collectively.
Global cooperation in protecting critical infrastructure is especially vital. Much of the world’s critical infrastructure still relies on aging, legacy systems that are often unprotected against sophisticated breaches. These systems are increasingly targeted by state-sponsored hackers and criminal groups wielding ready-made attack kits.
Infrastructure Protection
Many recent attacks against critical infrastructure have employed ransomware, often with significant success. Energy industries, electric grids, healthcare systems, and transportation networks remain vulnerable to both physical and cyber incidents. The Colonial Pipeline shutdown in the United States demonstrated the scale of disruption these incidents can cause, with cascading consequences for economies and communities.
In all cases of infrastructure protection, situational awareness, layered defenses, readiness, and resilience remain paramount. Protecting critical infrastructure requires an integrated approach—one that blends cyber defenses with physical security and ensures strong communication channels across governments, industries, and communities.
Public-Private Partnerships
Another prevailing theme is the essential role of public-private partnerships. Much of the world’s critical infrastructure is owned and operated by private companies, making industry engagement critical. In recent years, both the U.S. and the EU have reached out to the private sector to establish priorities, create information-sharing protocols, and open lines of communication to better respond to cyber incidents.
Information sharing—whether about new malware strains, phishing campaigns, denial-of-service tactics, or forensic lessons—remains one of the most effective ways to enhance resilience. It enables both government and industry to stay ahead of evolving threats and to coordinate faster, more effective responses.
A New Threat Landscape
Geopolitical realities amplify the urgency. China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea are investing heavily in cyber capabilities, often working with affiliated criminal enterprises. To counter these threats, the West must not only match those efforts but also remain vigilant in identifying vulnerabilities and strengthening defenses.
The New Technological Era
The Summit also highlights that we are entering a new technological era, one that presents both risks and opportunities. Cooperative research and development across allied nations will be crucial to ensure that innovation in areas like algorithms, encryption, and network security keeps pace with evolving threats.
Artificial intelligence (AI) in particular has emerged as a double-edged sword. On the positive side, AI can automate network monitoring, enhance threat detection, and deliver smarter analytics—acting as a force multiplier for defenders. Yet adversaries can also exploit AI to identify vulnerabilities and launch more sophisticated malware and phishing campaigns. AI, as I have written in my articles, must therefore be approached with both enthusiasm and caution: it is an enabler, but also a potential equalizer for adversaries.
Looking further ahead, quantum computing poses both a risk and an opportunity for cybersecurity. On one hand, quantum capabilities could eventually break much of the encryption that underpins today’s secure communications, posing existential risks to global data security. On the other hand, quantum technologies hold promise for creating next-generation cryptography, biometrics, and layered defenses that could transform enterprise networks and critical infrastructure protection. Cooperative global efforts in quantum research and standards development will be essential to ensure its benefits outweigh the risks.
Toward Global Cybersecurity Frameworks
As I have long emphasized, one of the greatest gaps in our current global posture is the lack of shared frameworks, norms, and protocols to collectively combat cybercrime. While regional efforts exist, there is no universally adopted set of international rules governing state behavior in cyberspace. Democratic nations must work together to develop standards that define acceptable conduct, clarify response thresholds, and foster greater interoperability across borders.
The stakes could not be higher. Without stronger global frameworks, cyber incidents will continue to spiral across industries and borders with potentially destabilizing effects. The Summit in Rome represents an opportunity to advance these conversations and to take concrete steps toward building the cooperation, trust, and shared defenses that our hyper-connected world demands.
Closing Thoughts
We are at an inflection point in global cybersecurity. Emerging technologies like AI and quantum computing will redefine the digital landscape, just as geopolitical rivalries intensify cyber risks. Protecting critical infrastructure and securing the global digital ecosystem will require unprecedented levels of cooperation.
The Skytop Global Cybersecurity Summit is more than a venue for discussion—it is a call to action. Building resilience, fostering trust, and advancing shared frameworks will ensure that democracies remain prepared to face the evolving threat matrix of the 21st century.