Hack This: Xconomy to Host the State of Cybersecurity on Dec. 8

The end may be near. No, I’m not talking about the U.S. presidential election. I’m talking about the chances of a catastrophic cyber attack on our companies and infrastructure (though the two may be related).

With the mounting number of vulnerabilities out there—see last month’s massive Internet attack—what can we all do to help secure our data and IT systems? And what are the real opportunities and challenges for cybersecurity researchers, companies, and investors?

Xconomy is pleased to announce our first-ever dedicated public event on cybersecurity. It’s called The State of Cybersecurity, and it’s all happening at WGBH in Boston—the public broadcaster makes for a very cool venue—on the afternoon of December 8. (Tickets have been going fast, but you can still snag an early-bird seat until midnight tonight.)

It will be a highly interactive and productive event, with plenty of discussions, deep dives, and networking. We are convening a who’s who of business and tech leaders in the field, from Boston and beyond. Here are some speakers to highlight (with more on the way):

Christopher Ahlberg, Co-founder & CEO, Recorded Future
Mohamad Ali, CEO, Carbonite
Jen Andre, Founder & CEO, Komand
Stephen Boyer, Co-founder & CTO, BitSight Technologies
John Bruce, CEO, Resilient, an IBM company
Lior Div, Co-founder & CEO, Cybereason
Greg Dracon, Partner, .406 Ventures
Chris Lynch, General Partner, Accomplice
Udi Mokady, Co-founder & CEO, CyberArk
Patrick Morley, CEO, Carbon Black
Paul Paget, CEO, Pwnie Express
Sandor Palfy, CTO, LogMeIn
Lou Shipley, CEO, Black Duck Software
Dug Song, Co-founder & CEO, Duo Security
David Ting, Founder & CTO, Imprivata
Cynthia Wright, Principal Cybersecurity Engineer, MITRE
Chris Wysopal, Co-founder & CTO, Veracode

We’re also working on bringing in a few big, non-tech companies to talk about what cybersecurity customers want and need in this age of perpetual threats. More broadly, our speakers will address topics ranging from enterprise security strategy to startup and venture investing approaches, to the regulatory landscape—and they’ll share what they can from their own recent experiences.

Hope to see you all on Dec. 8 at WGBH for what will be a very special event.

Author: Gregory T. Huang

Greg is a veteran journalist who has covered a wide range of science, technology, and business. As former editor in chief, he overaw daily news, features, and events across Xconomy's national network. Before joining Xconomy, he was a features editor at New Scientist magazine, where he edited and wrote articles on physics, technology, and neuroscience. Previously he was senior writer at Technology Review, where he reported on emerging technologies, R&D, and advances in computing, robotics, and applied physics. His writing has also appeared in Wired, Nature, and The Atlantic Monthly’s website. He was named a New York Times professional fellow in 2003. Greg is the co-author of Guanxi (Simon & Schuster, 2006), about Microsoft in China and the global competition for talent and technology. Before becoming a journalist, he did research at MIT’s Artificial Intelligence Lab. He has published 20 papers in scientific journals and conferences and spoken on innovation at Adobe, Amazon, eBay, Google, HP, Microsoft, Yahoo, and other organizations. He has a Master’s and Ph.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT, and a B.S. in electrical engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.