Researchers and Industry Leaders Address Digital Defenses at NYIT-Vancouver

NYIT-Vancouver hosted its annual Cybersecurity Week events on June 8-10, which included the Second Annual Cybersecurity Symposium as well as the International Workshop on Information Security, Assurance, and Trust (I-SAT 2016). Attendees included industry professionals, government officials, and academic leaders from several countries as well as faculty members and students from NYIT campuses in Vancouver, China, and New York. The event was sponsored by Vancouver-based social media management company Hootsuite, and ISACA, a nonprofit association devoted to supporting information technology professionals.

“With increasing dependence on the internet, we must be united to confront threats to cybersecurity,” said Campus Dean Paul Dangerfield in his opening remarks. At the Cybersecurity Symposium, Hootsuite’s resident cybersecurity experts Noel Pullen, senior director of security, and Irwan Tjan, chief information security officer, spoke about creating a company culture that takes security seriously, while Fortinet’s Ladi Adefala, senior security Strategist, reviewed strategies for preventing cyber attacks. Leo de Sousa, the City of Vancouver’s senior manager of technology planning and an adjunct faculty member at NYIT, spoke on the “internet of things” and the data mining associated with devices, vehicles, and other physical equipment that share online connectivity. Later, the speakers joined a moderated panel discussion on additional digital security challenges. The I-SAT 2016 academic workshop featured faculty members and industry professionals discussing topics such as understanding risk and behavioral biometrics.

“The best part for me was getting to know people here in Vancouver who share my concerns and who give me insights in how to deal with challenges,” said software engineer Vinh Tran (M.S. ’16), who presented research on botnet classification and detection at I-SAT.

Gifty Susan Mani (M.S. ’16), who presented research on cloud security, added: “Cybersecurity Week created a unique synergy where fresh ideas of new grads were evaluated by the best experienced minds of industry, which made it a great learning platform.”

Cybersecurity Week offered professional opportunities as well; NYIT-Vancouver Career Services Coordinator Lee Harris said, “Our current students and alumni got a lot out of these events, in both networking and cybersecurity perspectives.”