Mr Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawyer by training, he was first elected to Parliament in 1980. He was part of the Portuguese administration in Macau, returning in 1989 to become a judge of the Constitutional Court. In 1995, he became Minister for defence and Deputy Prime Minister in the first government of António Guterres. From 1999-2004, he was European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs under Commission President Romano Prodi. During his tenure, he was responsible for the European Extradition and Sentence Recognition Treaty and the various internal security policies in the crucial period of 9/11 and onwards.

In addition to his ongoing role as commentator for RTP 1's programme Notas Soltas hosted by television journalist Judite de Sousa, Mr. Vitorino is also a lawyer.

The conference will feature more than 36 high-level educational sessions for and by international security experts that will cover the entire spectrum of security topics ranging from cyber crime, energy security, piracy, terrorism, intellectual property rights, hotel and building security, and more.