New York State Cyber Security Conference: June 5-6, 2012

ALBANY, NY (05/30/2012)(readMedia)-- The 15th Annual New York State Cyber Security Conference will be held on June 5-6, 2012 at the Empire State Plaza in Albany. Recognized as the premier Northeast conference for cyber security education, the event is co-hosted by the NYS Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services' Office of Cyber Security (OCS), the New York State Forum, Inc., and the University at Albany's School of Business and College of Computing and Information.

The event, which draws approximately 1,000 professionals each year to the Capital Region, will focus on the future of cyber security.

"As all aspects of our daily lives become increasingly reliant on Internet-connected devices, those devices are constantly subjected to sophisticated and evolving attacks," said Thomas D. Smith, OCS Director. "Consequently, it is necessary for those responsible for information security to work to maintain the skills required to operate in this challenging environment. This conference brings together experts from government, the private sector, and academia to share information on the latest threats and the means to address them."

This year's conference will feature keynote speakers Melissa Hathaway, former White House cyber security expert and Billy Rios, Google's Team Lead for cyber security. Melissa Hathaway served as a strategic advisor to private sector companies such as Cisco and Core Security Technologies, as well as the U.S. Government and Interpol. Billy Rios, presenting at the Annual Symposium of Information Assurance, will review this year's top vulnerabilities, how they were discovered, and discuss how these vulnerabilities could have impacted real world systems.

The Annual Symposium of Information Assurance (ASIA) is a complementary academic session that engages security practitioners and researchers to foster the integration of academic research into practice. It runs concurrently with the main conference and presents academic papers on information security topics by academic experts.

"With so much of our society and economy on-line, the conference is a terrific opportunity to get high-quality information about keeping ourselves and our information safe," said Peter A. Bloniarz, Dean for the College of Computing and Information at the University at Albany, State University of New York. "The University at Albany is pleased to partner with New York State and The NYS Forum in bringing together a strong group of professionals and academic researchers to focus on the important topic of cyber security."

"Each year, this exchange of knowledge among government and corporate professionals further enhances our region by strengthening our member companies' ability to compete in the global marketplace," said Deborah Buck, Executive Director of The New York State Forum, Inc.

Other highlights of the conference include:

• Lance Spitzner, SANS co-founder of the Honeynet project, will lead a session on building high impact security and awareness programs.
• Krysten Moore, founder of Student's Helping Instill New Esteem (SHINE), will discuss a range of topics including case studies by Cisco and cyber-bullying.
• More than 30 training sessions designed for a broad audience, including sessions on cloud security, identity and credit card theft, mobile security, and child exploitation in cyberspace.

For more information, including conference agenda, keynote biographies, and registration information, visit the OCS website at www.dhses.ny.gov/ocs/awareness-training-events/conference/2012.

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