Inspired by Hiro Protagonist: The Reality of Science Fiction
Hiro Protagonist is – as his name suggests – the main character in the cyberpunk novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. In a dystopian Los Angeles, he delivers pizzas. But he is also a swordsman and “hacker.” In the latter role, he helped to program the so-called Metaverse – Facebook comes to mind – a parallel world in which people can immerse themselves as avatars thanks to virtual reality goggles. When Snow Crash was released in 1992, the Internet was still far from what it is today. Nevertheless, Neal Stephenson foresaw much of what makes up today’s digitalized world.
Florian Schütz emphasizes that science fiction will always remain storytelling, but can certainly make us think about current phenomena. In connection with Snow Crash, for him these include computer viruses or the shift of power from government organizations to private companies. Florian Schütz is the first federal cybersecurity delegate, a position that was created in 2019. In this role, Florian Schütz heads the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and coordinates the national strategy for the protection of Switzerland against cyberrisks.
Under the leadership of the NCSC, the foundations for the establishment of the association Swiss Financial Sector Cybersecurity Centre (Swiss FS-CSC) have been laid. Florian Schütz explains to host Hannah Wise the characteristics and advantages of such a public-private partnership, makes cyberrisks an issue for the board of directors, and, as a bonus, gives useful cybersecurity tips.