Cyber Security Symposium Wrap-Up

After Digital Government Institute's highly successful Cyber Security Conference held May 6, and with the administration's increased cyber security focus including new FISMA rules, DGI presented a Cyber Security Symposium in September to continue the dialog about how to detect, protect, and respond to Cyber threats.

Mitchell Komaroff (pictured left), Director, Globalization Task Force for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Networks and Information Integration / DoD Chief Information Officer, Department of Defense, presented "What's Next for Federal Cyber Security" during his keynote address. "The Defense Department is in "the midst of [developing] a netcentric capability that ultimately we see as creating a huge force multiplier," he told attendees, as reported by Washington Internet Daily.

In the session titled "Identity Management for Government 2010: Moving Beyond Credentials", Tim LeMaster, with Juniper Networks said "Just as important as access is "attribution" -- tracking what people do when they sign on." With single sign-on functionality and "federating that identity" across networks, if the wrong person gets on or gets too much access, "the threat is just as severe" whether they log in remotely or bring a laptop to the building, LeMaster said. The move to open standards for authentication is good, because the government would rather be in the position of providing guidance, not managing them on its own, Stephen Duncan, with the Center for Identity Management and Information Assurance at the GSA said.

In the session titled "Data Loss Prevention: One Breach is One Too Many?", Peter McDonald (top left) with Symantec said "Up to 67 percent data loss incidents involve information that employees download on computers or storage devices for temporary use and then don't delete," as reported by NextGov. "Every organization has had a leak. If you think you haven't, think again," said Charles McGann with the U.S. Postal Service (bottom right). "Security awareness is your biggest weapon in the arsenal," he added. "If you don't store it, you won't lose it, and if you don't need it, don't store it."

To read the articles written as a result of DGI's Cyber Security Symposium, or to find resources related to the topic, visit DGI's Cyber Security Knowledge Center.

What Attendees Said...

...about DGI's Cyber Security Conference:

"Great conference, well worth the time."
"Thank you for producing this seminar—I was here on my own time – well worth it."
"The speakers were very good and the topics were great."
"Information was new or never heard before."
"Relevant, interesting topics; good symposium."
"Thank you for the opportunity to build relationships with other government computer security folks."
"Speakers provided practical, timely information."
"Currency of speakers, very little dated information; quality of these events continues to grow—great investment of my time."
"Excellent comments on inter-related areas and topic."

Other Event Photos

Keynote speaker Mitchell Komaroff presents to a full house at the Willard InterContinental in Washington, DC.

Pictured left to right: Mary Dixon, Defense Manpower Data Center, Department of Defense; Stephen Duncan, GSA; Robert Dix, Juniper Networks (standing); and Tim LeMaster, Juniper Networks field questions from the audience during session"Identity Management for Government 2010: Moving Beyond Credentials". "These three panelists were knowledgeable and informative and the moderator asked very good questions," said an attendee.

Devon Bryan, IRS (pictured left) and Jim Butterworth, Guidance Software, discuss Polymorphic Malware Detection: What It Is and Why It Matters. Attendees commented: "Useful information in surprisingly non-technical terms." "Good technical topic presented well." "The topic was very informative and the speakers were funny."

Attendees network with Symantec during the expo break.