Antoine Hautin Conference – Cybersecurity, Artificial Intelligence, and Geostrategic Challenges

We had the privilege of welcoming Antoine Hautin, Director of Transformation & Performance and Public Affairs at Almond, for a powerful conference on the contemporary challenges of cybersecurity. Through striking facts, historical anecdotes, and forward-looking perspectives, this talk offered participants a deep dive into a topic as complex as it is essential.

Eye-opening figures

The conference opened with a series of compelling statistics, highlighting the scale of the challenges we face. In 2021, 54% of French companies were targeted by cyberattacks, and 6 out of 10 SMEs that were hacked went bankrupt within 18 months. The global cost of cybercrime now amounts to €10 trillion, compared to "only" €183 billion spent on cybersecurity. Even more alarming: 95% of incidents are due to human error, and 90% of attacks exploit known vulnerabilities for which patches exist—but haven’t been applied. These figures laid the groundwork for a broader reflection on our collective ability to anticipate and respond.

From Chappe to WannaCry: cyberattacks through time

With clarity and pedagogy, Mr. Hautin traced key historical milestones in the evolution of cyber threats. The first documented cyberattack dates back to 1834, when two Bordeaux financiers hacked the Chappe telegraph system to gain early access to stock market information. More recently, the 2017 WannaCry attack left a lasting impression due to its scale: over 200,000 victims and billions of euros in losses within just a few days.

Among the examples cited were also the hacking of the Ashley Madison website, which exposed sensitive data from 33 million accounts, and the “Le Drian affair,” in which scammers used deepfakes to extract millions of euros from influential individuals. These real-life cases illustrate the growing sophistication and danger of malicious cyber activities.

Cybercriminals: the start-ups of crime

One of the highlights of the presentation was the profile of today’s cybercriminals. The stereotype of the lone hacker is outdated: today’s attackers operate like real businesses, with R&D, operations, and communications departments. Their motivations? Money, political or economic espionage, ideology—or simply the technical challenge. As a quote from Sun Tzu reminds us: “Know your enemy.”

Artificial intelligence: an accelerator of threats... and defense

With the rise of AI, attacks are becoming more frequent, faster, and highly personalized. Deepfakes, spear phishing powered by large language models, blackmail using deepnudes—the offensive uses of AI are exploding. In 2024, it’s estimated that a deepfake attack occurs every five minutes, with a 3000% increase in one year. But AI isn’t just a threat—it’s also a powerful ally for cyberdefense, enabling the automation of the decision-making cycle (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act), the development of autonomous systems, and the optimization of threat detection and response.

The invisible war of undersea cables

Antoine Hautin also shed light on a little-known but vital issue: undersea cables. These 470 cables carry 99.7% of global Internet traffic, spanning more than 1.3 million kilometers. Yet they are highly vulnerable—to natural disasters, marine mammals, or acts of sabotage. A striking example is the 2024 incident in the Baltic Sea, where a Chinese vessel was suspected of damaging cables between Sweden, Lithuania, Finland, and Germany.

Digital sovereignty: Europe at a crossroads

In conclusion, Mr. Hautin emphasized the importance of strategic thinking at the European level. Technological lag, dependency on American or Asian giants, fragmentation of national policies—the challenges are many. Europe must invest, coordinate, and leverage its talent to assert its digital sovereignty. On an individual level, this also involves responsible practices: never using the same password for multiple accounts and favoring European technologies.

A necessary wake-up call

We sincerely thank Mr. Hautin for this enlightening presentation, which allowed everyone to grasp the complexity and urgency of the issues surrounding cybersecurity. More than just a technical field, it has now become a strategic pillar for the economic, political, and social security of our digital societies.