NSU Hosts South Florida Joint Security Event on State-sponsored Hacking

Presenters at the NSU Hosted Seminar (From left to right): Ramon Hurlockdick, a doctoral candidate in the NSU Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences, Carlos DeJesus, M.S., GSEC, MCP, NSU Information Security Team, and Marlon Clarke, Ph.D., NSU Network Operations and Services Team.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – In the wake of the controversy surrounding Edward Snowden, who leaked details of top-secret U.S. government mass surveillance programs to the media, Nova Southeastern University’s (NSU) Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences recently hosted a joint security event with RSA, The Security Division of EMC. A highlight of the event was a presentation on “State Sponsored Hacking” by John Christly, NSU’s chief information security officer.

The presentation focused on the organized cyber-attacks supported by government entities on various groups, and steps to help prevent and detect these types of threats. Methods of prevention included using multiple forms of cyber defense, including products that both block and report an attempted intrusion, and ensuring good audit trails. In addition, techniques were provided to help reduce the risk of state-sponsored attacks, including reviewing an organization’s infrastructure design and introducing a multilayer system of preventative measures, understanding the scope of a possible problem, hiring qualified staff who constantly are updating their skill levels to prevent and identify issues, educating employees about the dangers associated with posting sensitive information, using software with built-in security features, and implementing an effective cyber defense strategy.

“With today’s cyber threats, a single layer of security such as an anti-virus is simply not enough,” said Christly. “As groups seek to exploit cyber space and the threat of the loss of property looms, it is vital that managers of organizations educate themselves, their employees and allocate the resources needed to ensure sensitive information is protected.”

Other presenters joining Christly included Carlos DeJesus, M.S., GSEC, MCP,  NSU Information Security Team, Marlon Clarke, Ph.D., NSU Network Operations and Services Team, and Ramon Hurlockdick, a doctoral candidate in the NSU Graduate School of Computer and Information Sciences.  Mike Huckaby, senior director of global presales at RSA, also spoke at the event on the topic of “Trends in Cyber Security.” The event, which was held on July 24,  was sponsored by the South Florida Digital Alliance.

To view the presentations, visit http://www.nova.edu/oiit/video-links/security-event.html
For more information, visit: www.nova.edu.

About Nova Southeastern University:  Situated on 300 beautiful acres in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, Nova Southeastern University (NSU) is a dynamic fully accredited research institution dedicated to providing high-quality educational programs at all levels.  NSU is a not-for-profit independent institution with approximately 27,000 students. NSU awards associate’s, bachelor’s, master’s, specialist, doctoral and first-professional degrees in a wide range of fields. NSU is classified as a research university with “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and it is one of only 37 universities nationwide to also be awarded Carnegie’s Community Engagement Classification. For more information on NSU, visit: www.nova.edu

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Contact:
Julie Spechler
NSU Office of Public Affairs
954-262-5348 (office)
954-591-3361 (cell)
julies@nova.edu