Economic Crime, Cybersecurity, ID Theft Prove to Be Hot Topics

ECI of Utica College Conference Most Successful to Date

POTOMAC, Md., Oct. 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With all the buzz about protecting one's identity, Ponzi schemes and new jobs in cybersecurity, the 20th Economic Crime Institute (ECI) of Utica College conference -- highlighting the latest trends in the detection and prevention of identity theft, cybersecurity and economic crime -- was the most successful event in the organization's history.

"Extraordinary Circumstances: Combating Fraud and Corruption in Hard Times" featured keynote speaker Cynthia Cooper, CEO of The Cooper Group LLC and author of Extraordinary Circumstances. Cooper is best known for leading the team who discovered and reported some $3.8 billion in accounting fraud at WorldCom. Martin Biegelman, director of Microsoft's financial integrity unit, was the keynote speaker on the second day of the conference.

Bringing together corporate, government/law enforcement and academic experts, the conference was held this week at The Bolger Center, Potomac, Md.

Sponsors of the conference were: Allen Corporation of America, BNY Mellon, Cisco, Daylight Forensic & Advisory, Hage & Hage Law and Consulting, JCPenney, McKesson, TransUnion, Van Scoyoc Associates, and Wilson & Turner Investigative Consultants.

This year, for the first time, conference attendees chose tracks on ID theft, cybersecurity, or economic crime. Breakout sessions included discussions of authentication tokens to protect identity for online transaction, cross-border cybercrime, data security, mortgage fraud, organized crime, and much more. There were also discussions of investment schemes, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and electronic evidence gathering. Attendees were also eligible for up to 16 CPE credits.

"The conference was all about extraordinary circumstances. We had a record attendance in hard economic times, outstanding speakers, and attendees -- both professionals and students -- left the event with new ideas, methods and solutions for combating economic crime," said George Curtis, executive director of ECI. "In addition, each attendee received personally autographed books from both keynote speakers. I would also like to thank our ten generous sponsors for their support of this event."

Utica College, a longtime leader in economic crime education, is home to both the Economic Crime Institute and the Center for Identity Management and Information Protection (CIMIP), which has garnered national attention for its landmark study of closed Secret Service identity theft cases. "We at Utica College are pleased to pioneer not only higher education in economic crime, but also look forward to future conferences through which we can continue to present timely topics on economic crime, cybersecurity and identity theft by expert speakers to professionals in both the public and private sectors," Curtis said.

Utica College offers bachelor's degrees in economic crime investigation and cybersecurity -- information assurance, as well a master's degree in economic crime management, MBA in fraud management, MBA in professional accountancy, certificate in financial crimes investigation, and a master's degree in criminal justice administration.

Networking at the conference celebrated the 20th anniversary of the undergraduate economic crime investigation degree, one of the first such programs offered, as well as the 10th anniversary of the master's program. For more information, visit www.utica.edu/eciconference.

Contact: Christine Leogrande, Director, Media Relations, (315) 223-2519, cleogrande@utica.edu

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SOURCE Utica College