Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Cybersecurity, in collaboration with the PC4A Project and Information Technology Support Center, will host the sixteenth annual Cybersecurity Day on October 31 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the IUP Hadley Union Building Ohio Room.
This annual event features nationally recognized security experts as well as speakers from government, the security industry, and academia.
It is free and open to the community.
“This annual event, which draws students, faculty, and community members, brings nationally recognized security experts from academia, government, and the private sector to share their expertise,” Waleed Farag, director of the IUP Institute for Cybersecurity and professor of computer science, said.
“The event provides an important opportunity for participants to learn more about cybersecurity, including several essential and practical security aspects of our daily computer-dependent life,” he said.
Cybersecurity Day at IUP is part of IUP’s efforts to mark National Cyber Security Awareness Month in October and to bring awareness of the issue of cybersecurity. Persons can attend the full day or attend one or more specific sessions.
The event begins with a welcome and opening remarks from Farag; Dean of the John J. and Char Kopchick College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics Steven Hovan; and Department of Mathematical and Computer Sciences Chair Timothy Flowers. IUP President Michael Driscoll will speak in advance of the afternoon sessions and Farag will provide closing remarks.
Speakers and session titles for the day are:
“Cybersecurity Workforce Development and the Department of Defense”
- 9:20 to 10:05 a.m.
- Copresented by Director of US Department of Defense Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Outreach Office (DoD STEM) Louie Lopez and Chief of Cyber Workforce Governance Branch, US Department of Defense Wistar (Star) Hardison
Lopez’s office is located in the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense in Research and Engineering’s Science and Technology Foundations Office. He is responsible for the management and execution of the department’s pre-kindergarten through post-secondary STEM efforts under the National Defense Education Program.
Hardison is the chief of Cyber Workforce Governance Branch for the Department of Defense Chief Information Office in Arlington, VA. In this role, she oversees the policy that governs efforts to identify, recruit, retain, and develop an effective and agile cyber workforce. A graduate of Villanova University and a proud veteran with 26 years in the US Navy, she’s made significant contributions both in service and in her community.
“National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2023 – How to Stay Safe Online”
- 10:15 to 11 a.m.
- Cyber Security Advisor, US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Derek Mueller
Mueller serves as the cyber security advisor, cyber state coordinator for Pennsylvania at the US Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, where he leads the effort to protect and advance the resilience of the nation’s cyber infrastructure within the critical infrastructure while working with federal, state, local, and other stakeholders to maximize collaboration and minimize risk on matters of homeland security or emergency management.
“Building IT and Cybersecurity Careers, From Student to Executive”
- 11:10 to 11:55 a.m.
- Panel discussion: Associate Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, Duquesne University, Tom Dugas; IUP Chief Information Officer Bill Balint; Executive Director, IUP Information Technology Services Todd Cunningham
Dugas is responsible for leading the information (cyber) security program to protect the availability, confidentiality, and integrity of data and systems at Duquesne University. He is a certified information systems security professional and is a graduate of Robert Morris University with a master’s degree in communication and information systems and a bachelor’s degree in business administration with majors in accounting and management information systems. In 2019, Dugas was recognized as the Chief Information Security Officer of the Year by the Pittsburgh Technology Council. He serves as a leader within the region as a co-leader of the Greater Pittsburgh CISO Group, a member of the Advisory Board for the Pittsburgh Chief Information Officer Forum, and part of the Governing Body of the Pittsburgh CIO Executive Summit.
Balint has 34 years of IT experience and became IUP's chief information officer in 2006. He has presented at more than 50 industry events at the regional, state, national, and international levels and has authored, co-authored, or been interviewed for more than 35 publications and websites via written, audio, and video formats. He is also a member of the Pittsburgh Executive CIO governing board.
Cunningham is responsible for the operational management and leadership of the IT Services organization at IUP. This includes the oversight of enterprise systems, network, cloud, mobile devices, customer service, etc. He has over 30 years of experience as an IT professional and has been in his current role since 2006.
Following the lunch break, President Driscoll will offer brief remarks at 1:05 p.m.
Afternoon sessions are:
“An Executive Perspective on Cybersecurity”
- 1:10 to 1:55 p.m.
- Chief Information Security Officer, PNC Financial Services Group, Susan Koski
Koski serves as the chief information security officer and head of Enterprise Information Security for the PNC Financial Services Group. She is a 2023 Pittsburgh CISO of the Year winner and is a nationally recognized CISO in the financial services sector. She has presented at many major events and has appeared on various video and podcast programs. She is featured in the 2021 book Fight Fire with Fire: Proactive Cybersecurity Strategies for Today’s Leaders. Among her many achievements is converging cyber, physical, fraud, and insider monitoring into PNC’s 24x7x365 Global Security Fusion Center.
Koski is a governing board member for the Evanta Pittsburgh CIO and CISO Executive Summit and related programs and is a leader in the Pittsburgh Technology Council community. She earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and a master’s in business administration from Duquesne University.
“Advanced Computing Ecosystem and Cyber Analytics”
- 2:05 to 2:50 p.m.
- Chief Technology Officer, Information Technology Laboratory's Computational Sciences and Engineering, Raju Namburu
In his role, Namburu provides directions to DoD High Performance Computing Modernization office, computational sciences and engineering, and cyber research and development programs. Namburu represents DoD as a member of the US National Science and Technology Council subcommittee for the future advanced computing echo system.
Prior to coming to ITL, Namburu was chief scientist, division chief, Computational Sciences Division, and director, DoD Supercomputing Resource Center at the Computational and Information Sciences Directorate, US Army Research Laboratory. Namburu led various DoD scalable software development projects in computational sciences, including establishing DoD mobile network modeling institute.
Namburu obtained his PhD in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota. During his career, Namburu has worked at IBM Almaden research lab, Cray Research, and various US Army research, development, and engineering labs. Namburu has more than 100 refereed publications in journals and has presented at international conferences and symposiums. Namburu is a Fellow of American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
“Clean Up on Aisle 4: Active Cyber Defenses”
- 3:05 to 3:50 p.m.
- Chief Security and Technology Officer, CyberSN, Dom Glavach
In this executive role, Glavach is responsible for leading the company’s information security strategy, policy, IT operations, security engineering, security operations, data privacy, and cyber threat detection. Prior to CyberSN, Glavach spent 20 years working with Concurrent Technologies Corporation, where he served as the chief information security officer and research fellow. He played a critical role in the company’s cyber risk management, providing cyber technical leadership and subject matter expertise to commercial and government clients. Glavach is a CISSP, an active member of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association Cyber Committee, chairs a subcommittee on Vehicle and Embedded Systems Cyber Security, and mentors at cybersecurity meet-ups. He has presented on various security topics to a wide range of public and government audiences, including the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the National Security Agency.
About the IUP Institute for Cybersecurity
The Institute for Cybersecurity at IUP was founded in 2005 to further encourage and promote cybersecurity at IUP and the surrounding community.
For more than two decades, IUP has been recognized as a Center for Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (CAE-CD) by the National Security Agency, one of only 16 universities in Pennsylvania to hold this designation. IUP is one of the first universities in the nation to integrate the disciplines of criminology and computer science to support an academic program in cybersecurity.
In the last six years, IUP’s Institute for Cybersecurity has secured more than $15 million in federal funding for IUP-sponsored initiatives and programs. In September 2022, Farag was successful in securing IUP’s largest single grant, $11 million, from the Department of Defense for a project to enhance cybersecurity and STEM education in Pennsylvania (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). This grant is the largest single grant ever awarded to IUP.
In 2023, he secured a nearly $1-million grant from the Department of Defense to establish a pilot summer immersion program for cybersecurity students to develop language foundations and proficiency in Chinese. IUP was the only school in the nation chosen to develop this program.
Over the last five years, Farag has received more than $2.8 million through a Department of Defense program that has provided 50 full scholarships to students in IUP’s cybersecurity major. Part of the scholarship opportunity is a guaranteed position with the Department of Defense after graduation.
Farag also has received than $1 million in federal funding for IUP to enhance cybersecurity training for middle school students and teachers through the GenCyber program. More than 500 middle school students and teachers have completed GenCyber camps since 2016.
IUP began offering its bachelor of science in computer science/cybersecurity track (originally information assurance) and a minor in cybersecurity in 2002. This program combined core computer science and cybersecurity classes with a minor in criminology, creating a novel curriculum that helped students gain a broad understanding of the field and be work-ready.
The IUP Cybersecurity program has about 100 students enrolled, and about 20 students annually complete the program and receive their bachelor’s degree in the computer science/cyber security track. IUP’s program also focuses on cybercrime detection, loss prevention, and how to collect evidence to prosecute cybersecurity offenders.
IUP has a longstanding commitment to research on all levels and in all disciplines. In 2021, IUP was one of only two public universities in Pennsylvania and one of only 93 public universities in the United States selected for the “High Research Activity” designation by the Carnegie Classification of Higher Institutions of Higher Education.