MIS Alliance and The Hub at Stetson Hall in Randolph Co-Hosts the First Annual Cybersecurity Awareness Conference

NEWTON, Mass., Nov. 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cybersecurity Awareness Conference for small to mid-sized businesses was held on October 23, 2019 at Stetson Hall in Randolph in celebration of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NSCAM). The conference featured experts, leaders and technologies available in the field of cybersecurity. 

Stetson Hall Manager, Katie Goldrick and Chris Kimball, Director of Engineering at MIS Alliance, joined forces to promote education to local small to mid-sized businesses. The goal was to help business owners create a more secure environment by arming them with information, awareness and tools to address threats in the current cybersecurity landscape.

Speakers included Brian Howard, Town Manager of Randolph, Andrew Sellars, Director of the Boston University MIT Technology Law Clinic, and Ron Ford, Regional Cybersecurity Advisor – New England Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). Vendors included Datto, SOCSoter, SonicWall and Sophos to demonstrate how businesses may be vulnerable to exploits and the latest technology available to create a more secure environment.

Andrew Sellars presented the legal need for good cybersecurity and highlighted the progression of IT security requirements for different industry types. Andy spoke to the different tiers of Cybersecurity Law from the bare minimum to the future. Technical as well as physical steps need to be taken to control access to data. While the medical industry is currently required to implement robust protocols to keep patient information private and secure, the future will change with requirements for GDPR, CCPA, etc. Andy also stressed what every business should be doing to be more secure, such as information security training for employees, using complex passwords and data encryption, etc.

Ron Ford reported the cost of breaches jumped from $3M per incident in 2018 to $4.6M (Jan-Jun 2019) and the impacts included loss of customers, brand reputation, revenue loss and operational costs. Ron made the audience aware of the foreign cyber-criminal activities and the financial industry being especially vulnerable to foreign cyber-attacks. He reviewed the educational materials, programs and support available through the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) including, best practices, corporate responsibilities, creating cyber resilience and Cybersecurity Assessments. Attendees learned they have a lot of control over how to keep their businesses safe and walked away with information that could be implemented immediately.

The Cybersecurity Awareness Conference gave everyone an opportunity to network, interact with presenters and ask questions, and talk directly to the vendors that provide IT security products and services.

There are announced plans to host the conference again in October 2020!

Media Contact:
Alexis Downing
[email protected] 
617-500-1700

SOURCE MIS Alliance