[432] Upcoming MTSU symposium tackles ‘cyberthreats’ to community at all levels

FOR RELEASE: April 19, 2013

EDITORIAL CONTACT: Forensic Institute for Research and Education, 615-898-2221 or fire@mtsu.edu

MURFREESBORO — The 2013 Middle Tennessee Cyber Summit will be held May 7-8 at MTSU in the ballroom of the new Student Union Building.

The free event, which is open to the public, will be of particular interest to government agencies at all levels, as well as the utility, education, health care, transportation and financial services industries — and others — that want to protect their operations from online attack.

The theme of the event, sponsored by MTSU’s Forensic Institute for Research and Education, is “Building Partnerships and Understanding the Threat.”

The summit will address how a company or agency’s assets and reputation can be threatened by electronically breaching its security, confidentiality, data or other facets of its operations via external or internal unauthorized access.

“Cybersecurity has been labeled the greatest challenge to economic prosperity and security by the highest levels of U. S. government and industry,” said Dr. Hugh Berryman, director of MTSU’s FIRE and an internationally recognized forensic science expert.

“Our partnership with Tennessee Department of Safety and Homeland Security to host this summit will build inroads between these victimized industries and agencies that investigate cyber intrusions.”

In addition to representatives from the state homeland security office, speakers at the two-day event will include representatives from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Secret Service and private-sector cybersecurity companies.

A complete agenda of speakers and their topics is available at http://www.mtsu.edu/fire/FinalAgenda2.pdf. To register for the summit, book a hotel room or get more information, please visit http://www.mtsu.edu/fire/workshops.php or contact FIRE at 615-898-2221 or fire@mtsu.edu.

Along with FIRE, the 2013 Middle Tennessee Cyber Summit is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs, MTSU’s Information Technology Division, Enterasys Inc. and Mandiant.

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