October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month. It is the kick off of a series of major town hall-style meetings around America, headed by the Department of Homeland Security. One can only hope it will jump start the effort to get the nation’s collective attention in a meaningful way.
On Wednesday, October 13, the Homeland Security and Defense Business Council will host an afternoon executive event to put focus on this key issue. Beginning at 2:00 PM at the Phoenix Park Hotel, the key trade association will bring together a group of senior officials from business and government to discuss ways to improve our cybersecurity posture.
The afternoon begins with a key note address from Roger W. Cressey of Good Harbor Consulting. Roger is a pioneer in trying to get the nation to properly address these issues. He will be followed by a first class panel, including Bruce McConnell of DHS, Mike Merritt of the Secret Service, Brandon Milhorn of the Senate Committee on HLS and Government Affairs, and Ty Sagalow of Zurich Financial Services.
This group will discuss “Protecting a Networked World – Who Can / Should be Responsible?”
They will end with a wrap-up address from me (hoping) to tie it all together. My goal will be to ensure we address the human factors in cybersecurity: education/awareness; leadership; policy (I include policy, law and regulations here); and corporate responsibility.
This will be an excellent afternoon of high-level discussion. The subject is a key one, and one in which there is still a shortage of real agreement. We all need to become part of the solution, as opposed to being among the admirers of the problem.
