“Rogue FBI Agent” and Dark Web Expert to Address Southern California Cybersecurity Audience
West Coast CISOs, InfoSec Thought Leaders Gather Virtually for “SoCal” Summit
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 12, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Data Connectors, representing the largest cybersecurity community in North America, continues its industry-leading series of Virtual Cybersecurity Summits through the remainder of the year, with its next stop in Southern California.The 2020* Southern California Virtual Cybersecurity Summit* will take place this week over a two-day period, on Wednesday and Thursday, October 14 and 15, and is slated to allow the local community of cybersecurity professionals to gain insights and education regarding the latest updates and challenges in the industry, despite the continued effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
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The two-day Summit will feature three keynote speakers, including former FBI Agent and current CISO EJ Hilbert and current respected industry analyst Michael Osterman on Wednesday, and Michael Mayes, a cybersecurity threat researcher on Thursday.
Hilbert will recount his high-stakes experiences in his session, titled, “Confessions of a Rogue FBI Agent,” where he’ll talk about cases from that time, and walk through the scintillating story of his own travels, which led him to bring down the first major Russian CyberHacker, and later land him squarely in the crosshairs of an international spy thriller: corporate espionage, rogue agents, questionable officials and bad actors.
“There’s so much to cover in the current cybersecurity climate now – we’re constantly surrounded by new and different threats. It’s more important than ever for us as a community to share our experiences and learn from each other,” Hilbert said. “Between the daily breaches on corporations and external threats on our national security, we need to come together and find solutions to keep our country safe.”
Cybersecurity Threat Researcher At-Large Michael Mayes will be Thursday’s featured speaker, with his hour-long session titled “The Dark Web: A New Underground Economy.” Mayes has completed extensive research on the threats that live in the Dark Web, and will give insight into market innovation and activity, including the sale of COVID-19 drugs and supplies.
“At no time in modern history have we faced a financial crisis like this one,” said Mayes. “Traditionally, underground markets thrive during times of economic instability, political upheaval, war or natural disaster. A combination of durable technology, Bitcoin price stability and economic necessity could usher in a golden age for darknet markets.”
Michael Osterman, well-known industry analyst and author of numerous research papers on cybersecurity topics, will present a guest keynote on Wednesday afternoon. Osterman Research has conducted an in-depth study and produced a white paper on the cybersecurity skills shortage in 2020. At the Summit, Osterman will be presenting the results of that research, and taking live questions from the audience.
The Summit will also feature industry expert presenters and virtual exhibits from cybersecurity solution providers, as well as live, topical Q&A sessions fielded by leading subject-matter experts. Key topics include how to build a comprehensive data protection strategy, handling remote work environments from a security perspective, and ransomware recovery.
Data Connectors, which has conducted physical conferences since 1999, rapidly responded to the COVID-19 crisis, moving its full schedule of planned events online. The cybersecurity community has in turn responded to the opportunity: more than twice as many people have signed up for the virtual regional events than had registered to attend the previously scheduled in-person meetings.
The Virtual Summit will also feature an interactive panel discussion on both days, with some of the top Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from organizations throughout Southern California and the surrounding areas. This week’s panelists include:
· Quinn Jones, CIO - Elite Sales Processing
· Donny Fan, CIO - APLA Health
· Michael Romanino, Head of Information Security - Blink Health
· Steven Ramirez, CISO - UofL Health
· Jake Bernstein, Attorney - Focal PLLC
· E.J. Hilbert, CISO & Founder, KCE Cyber
· Mohammed Bagha, CISO - Kayne Anderson Capital AdvisorsAttendees will ask questions and interact online with the CISOs, as well as each other and the organizations who will feature their solutions at the event. Solution providers at the Southern California Cybersecurity Summit include Cisco, Blackberry, Auth0 and more.
The Summit will take place on Wednesday and *Thursday, October 14-15, 2020 at 8:00 a.m. PT. *Registration is free for qualified professionals, who can also obtain Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits for participation.
Data Connectors Virtual Cybersecurity Summits continue to focus on the local and regional requirements for cities such as Florida and Caribbean, St. Louis and Oklahoma, and the Great Lakes region.
More information can be found at dataconnectors.com/socal
*About Data Connectors*
Since 1999, Data Connectors (*dataconnectors.com*) has facilitated the collaboration between cybersecurity professionals and solution providers. Today, the community comprises over 650,000 members and 250 active vendor partners. Members enjoy informative education from industry luminaries, innovative solution providers and government agencies such as the FBI, InfraGard, US Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security. Data Connectors brings live conferences to cities across North America each year, and also provides interactions with the community via Virtual Summits, Web Briefings, and regular communications.
Note to reporters: If you wish to attend these sessions at no charge, please contact Michael Hiskey, Chief Strategy Officer, at *+1.636.778.9495*, or *info@dataconnectors.com*.