On October 10, the State of California Cybersecurity Education Summit will tackle 24 of the hottest topics in cybersecurity, including the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain and how to better protect people, data and reputations as well as the looming risk of ransomware attacks and the future of cyber terrorism.

Among the conference presenters is Dr. Jun Dai, a computer science professor and director of the Center for Information Assurance and Security (CIAS) at Sacramento State. After meeting stringent requirements in curriculum, faculty and research, the National Security Agency and Department of Homeland Security designated CIAS as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education.

An advocate of cyber education, Dr. Dai also led the 2017 Cyber Security Academy, one of the most popular offerings in the Summer Academies for High School Students program at Sacramento State. 

Dr. Dai sat down for a conversation.

What do we need to know about cybersecurity today?

Dr. Dai: We need to know there are a lot of cybersecurity threats that have happened and are happening around us. We need to realize there are real threats to government, companies, and big institutions like hospitals, banks, retailers and individuals.

What kinds of cybersecurity attacks are happening every day?

Dr. Dai: Many computers at work are being unknowingly infected and taken over and controlled by hackers. These computers are used as steppingstones to attack other computers. Hackers are stealing confidential information such as Social Security numbers, credit card numbers and other things. Hackers are also going in and modifying data or changing financial transactions.

There are also attacks known as ransomware, where hackers break in, then lock your data. Then they are forcing you to pay to get your data back. And if you refuse to pay, you can’t get the data unencrypted.

There is also spyware. If your computer is monitored by spyware, then whatever you type on your keyboard is sent back to the hackers including passwords. Many intrusions have already happened, but we don’t even know about it because it’s sometimes very hard to detect.

How can we defend against cyberattacks?

Dr. Dai: Big companies need to upgrade their servers so they are not that vulnerable to hackers. If they are still using older operating systems, they are under a bigger security risk and need to pay close attention to the manufacturers’ updates and patch all of the security weaknesses.

Manufacturers also have a responsibility to produce higher quality code. Companies are releasing products too quickly in order to optimize market share, but sometimes the code contains security vulnerabilities. And so the applications you are downloading to your computer and mobile phone contain the security weaknesses, and that increases the chances for hackers to break into your system because the code has problems.

If you own a computer, always make sure you are using the current version of an operating system, do the upgrades periodically and run an anti-virus system. If everyone did a reasonable job with security, attacks could be minimized. But the reality is many people lack security awareness.

What is the California Cybersecurity Education Summit all about?

Dr. Dai: We are covering 24 of the hottest and most important topics in cybersecurity. The audience will be exposed to more techniques and strategies on how to defend against cyberattacks. They will learn their responsibility in protecting data and become more sensitive to protecting privacy information.

If they have confidential data on their systems, they will learn how important it is to encrypt their data and the necessity of backing up data. So if their computer is hacked in a ransomware attack, they can retrieve the data. People will also gain better security awareness and share it with their communities.

Remember, as long as a computer is connected to the internet and has some security weakness, a cyberattack can happen at any time. But currently, too many people are ignoring the security problem. So we need to promote security education.

Thank you, Dr. Dai.

Dr. Dai will join his colleagues in a workshop examining why some cyber defense strategies fail and share his latest research in cybersecurity.

The Summit will also feature Donaldo Wilson, an FBI special agent who specializes in national security and criminal cyber investigations; Carol Rollie Flynn, a 30-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency with extensive experience in intelligence and security; and Assemblymember Jacqui Irwin who co-chairs a national legislative conference on cybersecurity.

Up to 800 people in government, private industry and education are expected to attend the conference.

For more information, please visit the State of California Cybersecurity Education Summit web page.