In celebration of October – Cybersecurity Awareness Month – Mount Saint Mary College’s Center for Cybersecurity will be hosting two free, public talks by local leaders in the field.
All of the presentations will take place on campus in Aquinas Hall, Room 062. The college is located at 330 Powell Ave., Newburgh, N.Y. For more information on these presentations, visit cyber.msmc.edu
Upcoming talks are as follows:
- Tony Cusato, a Business Information Security Officer (BISO) with IBM Corporate, will discuss cybersecurity on Tuesday, October 17 at 4 p.m.
- “A Journey from a Student to a Cybersecurity Professional,” a cybersecurity panel talk featuring three Mount alumni, will be held on Thursday, October 19 at 4 p.m. The alumni are Ryan Bellows, Cybersecurity Analyst at Regeneron; Sean Jennings, Cybersecurity Analyst at Central Hudson; and Jack Santaroni, Cybersecurity Consultant at Unit 42 by Palo Alto Networks.
The theme of Cybersecurity Awareness Month this year is “Secure Our World,” revolving around four key cybersecurity best practices: Understanding the benefits of using strong passwords and a password manager; turning on multifactor authentication on personal devices and business networks; recognizing and reporting phishing; and installing updates on a regular basis and turning on automated updates.
“Cybersecurity is everyone’s business,” noted Sagar Raina, associate professor of Information Technology. “As an institute of higher education in the Hudson Valley, the Mount has a critical role to play in educating people about cybersecurity. The college’s Center for Cybersecurity, through workshops and boot camps led by expert faculty, will provide effective resources for local businesses, schools, and government organizations in cyber defense education and training.”
The Mount’s Center for Cybersecurity provides program guidance and oversight to the college’s Cybersecurity major and concentration; brings expert speakers to campus; provides cyber defense resources to the campus and the community; and more. The initiative is maintained by the college’s Division of Mathematics & Information Technology and supported by an external advisory board of local and national industry professionals, as well as faculty from the Mount and other institutions.