Cyber defense doesn’t just happen in code. It’s shaped in conversation. Behind every cyber norm or sanction, there’s a diplomat working to stop digital wars before they start.
In this episode of Threat Talks, Lieuwe Jan Koning (CTO & co-founder of ON2IT) sits down with Ernst Noorman, Ambassador at Large for Cyber Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands. They reveal how backchannel talks, sanctions, and shared rules define what countries can and can’t do in cyberspace, and what CISOs can learn from a diplomat’s playbook. This isn’t patch management. It’s peacekeeping in real time.
What You’ll Learn (From Real-Life Example Discussions)
- What a cyber ambassador actually does – and why every nation needs one.
- How diplomacy helps prevent cyber conflicts between world powers.
- Why UN-backed cyber norms matters even when nations ignore them.
- How global collaboration builds cyber resilience, from Ukraine to Asia.
- What businesses can learn from diplomats about cooperation and intelligence sharing.
- (00:00) - - 02:29 - Intro
- (02:29) - - 03:46 - What is the role of a cyber ambassador?
- (03:46) - - 09:13 - What diplomacy achieves
- (09:13) - - 10:07 - The US and cyber diplomacy
- (10:07) - - 11:51 - Asian countries and their approach to cyber crime
- (11:51) - - 15:47 - The five ‘don’t’s and eight ‘do’s’ at UN level
- (15:47) - - 19:52 - What happens if someone violates a rule?
- (19:52) - - 21:09 - Helping Ukraine with cyber resilience + the Tallinn mechanism
- (21:09) - - 23:01 - Efforts against disinformation
- (23:01) - - 26:22 - How to ensure information integrity
- (26:22) - - 29:12 - What is the Brussels Effect?
- (29:12) - - 30:13 - Common ground on worldwide subjects
- (30:13) - - 30:35 - Treasure hunt
- (30:35) - - 34:51 - Diplomacy and skepticism
- (34:51) - - 37:59 - A European Splinternet - how realistic is this?
- (37:59) - - 39:07 - The Cyber Resilience Act and China
- (39:07) - - 47:23 - Initiatives to look forward to
- (47:23) - - 48:53 - Outro
Related ON2IT Content & Referenced Resources
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Click here to view the episode transcript.
