Two leaders from the National Cyber Security Alliance will deliver keynote presentations at the 2016 North Dakota Cyber Security Conference, set for March 17 at the NDSU Memorial Union. The conference brings together community members from education, government and industry to share strategies, best practices and innovative solutions to address today’s challenges in cyber security. The theme is "Cyber security is our shared responsibility."
Kristin Judge, director of special projects for the alliance, will give the afternoon keynote address at 1 p.m. regarding internationally recognized best practices for safeguarding online data at work and at home.
Judge recognizes the role technology consumers play in cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities. "We are a very click-happy society,” Judge said, referring to the tendency to click on hyperlinks and open email attachments without carefully examining them. As a result, click-happy people are more likely to fall prey to cyber criminal attempts to steal information or money. According to Judge, “many data breaches are caused by this human factor."
In her role for the alliance, Judge has worked with Google, the Federal Trade Commission, Better Business Bureau, congressional leaders and other key stakeholders to educate consumers and businesses how to be safe and more secure online.
Michael Kaiser, executive director for the alliance, will discuss "creating a culture of privacy.” According to Kaiser, this cultural shift is becoming more pressing in light of the "Internet of Me."
"The 'Internet of Me' is our way of saying that in the new Internet of connected devices — homes, cars and phones — we all need to understand that it is our data that drives the usefulness of these new connections," Kaiser said. "We should think about what’s being collected, where it’s being stored, how it will be used and what’s being done to protect it."
As executive director, Kaiser engages diverse constituencies, including business, government and non-profit organizations, in the alliance’s public education and outreach efforts to promote a safer, more secure and more trusted Internet.
"One of our underlying assumptions in cyber security is that building a safer, more secure and trusted Internet is a responsibility all Internet users share," Kaiser said. "Every step anyone takes to be safer online makes the Internet more secure for everyone."
The conference is hosted by NDSU in partnership with the North Dakota Education Technology Council, EduTech and the North Dakota Information Technology Department.
Registration is open through March 10. For more information, visit the conference's website.
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