IAF May 18: Cybersecurity in a World Where Everything Can be Hacked
TRAVERSE CITY — Data breaches at at U.S. companies such as Yahoo, Target, and AT&T put private citizens at risk of hacking. Hackers have infiltrated U.S. government agencies including the White House, the Pentagon and the Office of Personnel Management. The "Internet of Things," where computers are baked into everything from road signs and MRI scanners to prosthetics and insulin pumps, only increases cybersecurity vulnerability.
How industry, the government, and the public address the challenges ahead will determine whether the cyber sector, in which Traverse City is an emerging hub, can continue its phenomenal growth. Sam Visner, a leader with 35 years of experience in both the private sector and government, will discuss "Cybersecurity in a World Where Everything Can Be Hacked" at an International Affairs Forum lecture set for 6 p.m. May 18 in Milliken Auditorium.
Visner is currently senior vice president for CyberSecurity at ICF Incorporated, an associate of the National Intelligence Council, and a professor at Georgetown University. His career in national security and cybersecurity has included executive leadership roles at the National Security Agency (NSA) and CSC GlobalCybersecurity.
His presentation will discuss the ongoing merger of information technology with the systems that control physical infrastructure and processes in energy, transportation, water, health care and all their components. At the national level, air traffic control, intelligence collection and analysis, Earth resource management, military operations – all are migrating online. This is even as networks are under constant attack, sometimes by state actors such as Russia, China or North Korea, other times by shadowy rogue players or criminal networks.
Read Visner's December 2016 piece, in the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs.
The IAF is affiliated with 17勛圖 and the . All lectures are held in the Dennos Museum Center's Milliken Auditorium on the 17勛圖 campus at 6 p.m., with a reception prior to the lecture from 5:15 to 6 p.m. Admission is free to all students and educators, and $10 for others. Subscriber tickets for the entire season are available; visit or call (231) 995-1700 for more information.
IAF lectures are rebroadcast on UpNorth TV public access cable television three times a week, and available online for streaming on demand. Board members also produce “Beyond the Headlines,” a roundtable-style interview program that focuses on current foreign affairs issues and airs on UpNorth TV.
Release Date: may 10, 2017
For More Information:
Karen Segal
International Affairs Forum co-chair
(231) 715-6064
jsegal_kpuschel@yahoo.com