Cyber Summit 2024

Over the past three decades, cybersecurity has dramatically evolved, influenced by rapid technological advancements and the rise of digital culture. This journey, marked by milestones often trivialized through memes, highlights the pervasive nature of cyber threats.
This presentation explores the history of cyber culture, examining key events and trends that have shaped the cybersecurity landscape. We will delve into how memes and internet culture have influenced public perception of cyber threats, from script kiddies to ransomware and state-sponsored attacks.
Looking ahead, the next thirty years promise even more challenges as digital expansion continues. Technologies like quantum computing, AI, and IoT increase the attack surface, posing significant risks that demand innovative and resilient security solutions.
Amidst these evolving threats, data resilience emerges as the cornerstone of a robust cybersecurity strategy. Ensuring data resilience means organizations can maintain continuity, recover quickly, and protect their most valuable asset—information—regardless of a cyber attack's success.
Join us as we journey through the past, present, and future of cybersecurity, understanding the critical importance of data resilience in an ever-changing digital world.

In this enlightening session, attendees will dive deep into the foundational principles and practical applications of Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA). Presented by Zscaler, a leader in cloud security, the session will demystify the core tenets of Zero Trust and illustrate how organizations can implement these principles to enhance their security posture.
The session will begin with a comprehensive overview of what Zero Trust Architecture entails, emphasizing the paradigm shift from traditional perimeter-based security to a model where no entity, whether internal or external, is trusted by default. This framework is crucial in today’s environment, where threats can originate from any vector.Attendees will then explore the seven critical elements of a successful Zero Trust Architecture.

In a rapidly evolving post-pandemic landscape, effective leadership must adapt to new challenges. This dynamic mixed-media presentation invites participants to rethink leadership through a creative lens, utilizing storytelling and compelling metaphors drawn from diverse fields—from ancient history to modern achievements like Apollo 11 and motorsports. Attendees will explore timeless leadership principles while gaining fresh insights into how to inspire and empower their teams. Whether you have a passion for history, art, or innovation, you'll leave with unexpected stories and ideas that will enhance your understanding of leadership and guide your team toward transformative success.

As digital interactions blur the lines between virtual and real emotions, maintaining genuine human connections becomes challenging, making emotional intelligence (EI) crucial for navigating the tech-driven future. This presentation highlights the importance of EI skills and emotional development amidst AI and automation, offering strategies to harness EI for innovation and resilience.

In today’s digital age, cybersecurity threats are increasingly sophisticated and pervasive, demanding a unified response from all sectors. This talk, "Public-Private Partnerships in Cybersecurity: An Alberta Roadmap for Powered Collaboration," delves into the critical role of collaboration efforts between government agencies, private sector entities, and academic institutions in bolstering Alberta’s cybersecurity ecosystem.

The talk will explore the benefits and challenges of forming strategic alliances to address cyber threats effectively, together. 

Key topics will include:

1. Successful case studies of public-private partnerships both in Alberta and in Canada; and how we got here
   
2. The advantages of a shared cybersecurity procurement model for businesses who lack the purchasing power of larger firms;
   
3. Practical strategies for addressing the chronic shortage of cybersecurity labor supply by activating existing relationships between government and education institutions – both K-12 and post-secondary.
   

This talk is designed for government officials, policymakers, cybersecurity professionals, business leaders, and academic researchers who are involved in or interested in cybersecurity initiatives in Alberta. It is particularly relevant for those seeking to understand the benefits and practicalities of public-private partnerships in enhancing cybersecurity.

Digital research has existed for more than thirty years, but the Beowulf cluster at NASA coincided with the emergence of the web. What have we accomplished since then, and what are possibilities for the next thirty years? How might we on the Canadian Prairies best provide, use, and support digital research, and how does networking support those efforts?

Join us for an engaging session exploring how AI is revolutionizing education, influenced by three decades of cyber culture. We'll examine real-world AI use cases that enhance learning, personalize education, and improve administrative tasks, all while considering the ethical implications of AI in classrooms.
Discover how AI fosters inclusive and equitable learning environments and gain insights into the future of education. This session will provide practical strategies for implementing AI-driven solutions in your educational setting, linking the past, present, and future of digital-age learning. Be part of this forward-thinking dialogue on AI's role in transforming education.

Cyber resilience is an organization’s ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from cyberattacks and data breaches while continuing to operate effectively. Developing a robust cyber resilience capability is a must for businesses and organizations in today’s threat environment. When prevention fails to stop a cyberattack, the ability to quickly respond and recover is critical to the viability of the business. Posture management allows for proactively reducing risks, to minimize the impact of a Cyber event, to improve resilience and further speed up Cyber recovery.

In this session you will learn:
1. The current threat landscape for endpoints
2. Learnings from the recent attacks
3. Effective strategies for Mitigating known & unknown threats

At the 2023 Cyber Summit, plans for a pan-Pacific 24 hour SOC were announced by Cybera and the national research and education network for Australia, AARNet. After a year of exploring the tricky “who” and “how” questions with our AARNet counterparts, Cybera is now launching the pilot SOC. This session will provide a refresher on the work done to date, what the immediate next steps are, and what the long-term goals are for protecting Alberta’s higher education sector.

In recent years, online discourse has profoundly influenced political landscapes, particularly in municipal elections. This presentation, “Digital Dialogue: The Impact of Online Discourse on Municipal Elections,” examines how social media, forums, and digital platforms have transformed voter-candidate interactions, shaping perceptions and electoral outcomes.

Millennials and Gen Z have influenced the digital landscape, and been influenced by it. Now, they play pivotal roles in the modern workforce and economy. This presentation unpacks evaluation data from cybersecurity training programs for post-secondary women and youth in Canada, focusing on technology's impact on the generations that grew up using it. Using the Information and Communications Technology Council (ICTC)'s Cybersecurity Training & Work-Integrated Learning (WIL) and CyberTitan programs as case studies, it offers lessons learned on how digital culture shapes participants' learning styles and workplace communication.

Over the past three decades, the cybersecurity landscape has evolved dramatically, marked by rapid technological advancements and an increasingly sophisticated threat landscape. However, this growth has also led to a proliferation of fragmented solutions, creating a complex and often disjointed security environment. Organizations are frequently burdened with managing multiple, isolated tools, each addressing different aspects of security. This fragmentation not only increases costs but also complicates threat detection, response efforts, and creates gaps that adversaries can exploit.

This presentation will explore the evolution of cybersecurity, focusing on the challenges posed by fragmented solutions. We will discuss how these silos have hampered comprehensive threat visibility and response, often leading to increased vulnerability and risk. As the industry moves towards a future of integrated security platforms, we will highlight the benefits of consolidation, including streamlined operations, improved threat intelligence, and enhanced organizational resilience.

Join us to learn how the future of cybersecurity lies in unifying diverse security functions into cohesive, efficient platforms, ensuring a more robust defense against the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape.

Join us for an insightful session on the transformative impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence. We will explore its rapid rise, highlight key advancements, and provide insights into its foundational principles and inner workings. Attendees will discover practical applications within educational institutions, showcasing how Generative AI can enhance learning experiences and streamline administrative tasks. Microserve, in partnership with Dell Technologies, will offer valuable insights into the resources and infrastructure solutions available to support educational institutions on their AI journey. Join us at our session and learn how our collaboration can provide customized AI solutions to meet the evolving needs of the education sector.

Generative AI has made it exponentially easier to flood the world with junk content (a.k.a. pink slime journalism), but it is also helping responsible media companies carry out their work more deeply and efficiently. This session will explore the uses and abuses of AI in journalism, as well as what it will take to align the incentives to ensure we all get the information we need.

Join us for an engaging and insightful panel discussion. We will delve into the critical issue of stress management in the fast-paced, ever-evolving world of technology and how it has evolved over the last twenty years. Technological advancements have dramatically transformed how we work, communicate, and live, and while these changes have brought incredible benefits, they have also led to unprecedented levels of stress and burnout. Our expert panellists, each with extensive experience in high-stress team management, personal resilience, cybersecurity, and C-suite IT leadership, will share their personal stories, strategies, and insights. They will discuss constant connectivity, the pressure to stay ahead, and the emotional toll of life events in their personal and professional lives. Attendees will gain practical tips that are easy to implement, empowering you to find balance, build resilience, and maintain mental health as technology changes around you.