On Thursday, November 12, 2026, Synergy Advisors will take part as a Gold sponsor and speaker in ISMS Forum’s XXVIII International Information Security Conference, at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium in Madrid. Jose Zapata, Senior AI Solutions Engineer at Synergy Advisors, will join the round table “The Anatomy of Modern Ransomware: Breaking the New Kill Chain” in Track 3.
The International Conference is ISMS Forum’s annual flagship event. It brings together information security, privacy and risk leaders from public and private organizations. Our participation builds on the strategic alliance between Synergy Advisors and ISMS Forum announced in 2025.
Event details
| Item | Details |
|---|---|
| Event | XXVIII International Information Security Conference (XXVIII Jornada Internacional de Seguridad de la Información) |
| Organizer | ISMS Forum |
| Date | Thursday, November 12, 2026 |
| Time | 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Madrid time) |
| Venue | Riyadh Air Metropolitano Stadium, Avenida de Luis Aragonés, 4, 28022 Madrid, Spain |
| Entrance | Gate 34 |
| Synergy Advisors | Gold sponsor and speaker in Track 3 |
Our round table: The Anatomy of Modern Ransomware
“The Anatomy of Modern Ransomware: Breaking the New Kill Chain” · 10:00 to 10:40 a.m. · Track 3 · in person.
The round table brings together industry experts to discuss how ransomware has evolved, the tactics attackers use today and the strategies organizations are adopting to strengthen their resilience.
The timing could not be better. Attackers already automate parts of the kill chain: in October 2026, Microsoft documented a campaign in which an actor used AI agents to move from reconnaissance to privileged access within hours. Jose will share Synergy Advisors’ experience in security operations with Microsoft Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel, and in using agents so that response keeps pace with the attack.
Why ransomware is still at the top of the agenda
The Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025 shows the scale of the problem: more than 52% of cyberattacks with a known motive are driven by extortion and ransomware, and in 80% of incidents attackers aimed to steal data. Ransomware is no longer just about encrypting machines: attackers steal information first and use it for extortion.
The good news is that the chain has links that can be broken. Microsoft estimates that phishing-resistant multifactor authentication blocks more than 99% of identity-based attacks, and its previous report found that more than 90% of attacks that reached the ransom stage relied on unmanaged devices.
The new kill chain, link by link
| Link | What the attacker does | How to break it |
|---|---|---|
| Initial access | Uses stolen credentials, email, SMS or voice phishing, or an exposed vulnerability | Phishing-resistant MFA such as passkeys, and vulnerability management |
| Privilege escalation | Goes after admin accounts and overprivileged applications | Just-in-time privileged access and reviews of applications and consents |
| Lateral movement and evasion | Moves from unmanaged devices and tries to disable protections | Every device managed, tamper protection and Microsoft Defender XDR |
| Data theft | Exfiltrates information for double extortion | Classification and data loss prevention with Microsoft Purview |
| Encryption and extortion | Encrypts systems and demands a ransom | Automatic attack disruption, protected backups and a rehearsed response plan |
At Synergy Advisors we work on every link with our customers: Secure Access to move users to phishing-resistant methods, our MXDR service for round-the-clock monitoring and response, and the Micro-Vigilant SecOps Agent, which shows SOC teams in Microsoft Teams how Microsoft Defender XDR incidents are being handled.
Our speaker
Jose is part of Synergy Advisors’ AI solutions team and the speaker of our Protect the Agentic Enterprise webinar for Latin America.
Event program
The conference runs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., with its agenda organized in several tracks. The full program, with every session and speaker, is available on the ISMS Forum website.
Meet our team in Madrid
As a Gold sponsor, the Synergy Advisors team will be at the Metropolitano throughout the day. If you are attending, contact us to schedule a meeting with our security and AI experts.
In the meantime, see how we approach detection and response with our MXDR service and the Micro-Vigilant SecOps Agent.
Sources
- XXVIII International Information Security Conference ISMS Forum
- AI-driven, large-scale nation-state campaign using ARTEX enables supply chain compromise Microsoft Security Blog
- Microsoft Digital Defense Report 2025: Extortion and ransomware drive over half of cyberattacks Microsoft
- Microsoft sees drop in ransomware reaching encryption phase TechTarget
