Venafi CEO Jeff Hudson keynotes Investors Choice Conference - Cyber Attacks, Snowden, NSA, Target: How to regain trust in our digital world

SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Venafi CEO Jeff Hudson not only understands how hackers stole financial data from Target and Neiman Marcus, he knows how to fix it and prevent it. These and related security failures highlight how vulnerable global companies are to cyber attacks and data losses. Failure to secure the trust digital keys and certificates establish in our modern world of payment cards, smartphones and cloud computing leaves the front doors open for criminals.

Hudson is a serial entrepreneur and one of the featured speakers at the 2014 Investors Choice Venture Capital Conference, February 6 at the Zermatt Resort and Spa in Midway, just minutes from Park City, Utah.

This is the 30^th anniversary of the annual conference where venture capitalists from all over the country convene to learn about the best and brightest emerging IT and Life Science companies.  Twenty-one companies will pitch investors during the conference. For a complete list of presenting companies go to: www.investorschoicevcc.com

In the last six years, technology start-ups who that have gone through the Wayne Brown Institute (WBI) process have raised more than $632-million dollars in angel and venture capital.

At this year's Investors Choice, WBI is going back to its roots, honoring Pelion Venture Partners, Utah's oldest and most successful venture firm. Pelion began in 1986 as Utah Ventures with founding partners, the late Dr. Wayne Brown, Richard Shanaman and James C. Dreyfous. Pelion success stories in early investments include Venafi, Anesta Corp., Sonic Innovations and Riverbed.

"In venture capital industry, which is sometimes plagued with low returns and declining profits, Pelion Venture Partners has consistently picked winners and is a national leader in venture capital," said Brad Bertoch, President of the Wayne Brown Institute.

For complete information on companies and how to register for the 2014 Investors Choice Conference events, entrepreneurs, speakers, panel discussions: www.investorschoicevcc.com

ABOUT THE WAYNE BROWN INSTITUTE (WBI): The Wayne Brown Institute is America's oldest and most successful non-profit 501(c)(3) venture accelerator. To date, more than 700 groundbreaking high tech companies have presented in a WBI program; 70% have participated in financial transactions totaling more than $7.5 billion in private equity, accounting for 1/2% - 1% of venture capital deal flow in the U.S.

ABOUT THE SPONSORS: Zions Bank is the Founding Sponsor of the Investors Choice Conference. Additional principle sponsors include the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP, Tanner LLC, the Utah Governor's Office of Economic Development and the Utah Division of Securities.

ABOUT VENAFI: Venafi is the market leading cybersecurity company in Next-Generation Trust Protection (NGTP). As a Gartner-recognized Cool Vendor, Venafi delivered the first trust protection platform to secure cryptographic keys and digital certificates that every business and government depend on for secure communications, commerce, computing, and mobility. Venafi customers are among the world's most demanding, security-conscious organizations. For more information visit: www.venafi.com.

For more information, contact:

Brad Bertoch, President
Wayne Brown Institute
801.598.4651
[email protected]

To register for the conference, click here or contact:

Matthew Zitting
Wayne Brown Institute
801.595.1141
[email protected]

SOURCE Wayne Brown Institute