FORT GORDON, Ga. -- More than 400 participants came out to see the latest in cybersecurity technology offered by 50 exhibitors at the Fort Gordon Cybersecurity and Technology Day, March 12.
"This year we concentrated on cyber technology because that's the direction Fort Gordon is taking," said Megan Williams, the National Conference Services, Inc. event manager.
For the first time the technology day offered Cyber Lunch and Learn with continuing education units for those attending the sessions. Rob Jenkins of BAE Systems presented "Cyber as an Intelligence Challenge," Michael Madon, the vice president of Business Development for Red Own Analytics discussed " Beware the Trojan Horse? How to Combat the Threat Within," and Brian Zielke, principal cyber engineer at Raytheon Cyber Products presented "An Interconnected Approach to Cyber Situational Awareness."
A Norse represent discussed "Commercial Intelligence Gathering in the Department of Defense," Finn Ramsland, an analyst at Fire Eye presented information about "Advanced Cyber Threats and how to defend against them," Sypris Electronics, LLC, discussed "Digital Drilling -- Integrating Cyber into Military Exercise," and a Symantec representative presented information on "Insider Threat Perception versus Reality."
The Norse representative pointed out the use of a map showing global cyberattacks happening in real time found out map. ipviking.com. Somewhere in the world, right this second, someone is launching a cyberattack -- and a new online map offered by Norse, a St. Louis-based cybersecurity firm specializing in "live dark intelligence," will give individuals an opportunity to view the cyber-spying battle going on in the world.
During the Cyber Lunch and Learn the Sypris Electronics representative encouraged the Army to implement a cyber range to integrate cyber into military exercises. A cyber range is a virtual environment that is used for cyber warfare training and cyber technology development. Cyber ranges function like shooting and kinetic ranges, by incorporating training in weapons, operations or tactics.
Ramsland briefly discussed the Advanced Persistent Treat 28 report, "APT28: A Window into Russian Cyber Espionage Operations," which was published by FireEye. The espionage group targeted a variety of Eastern European governments and security related organizations including the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations about a decade ago.
"It takes an average of about 205 days for incident of hacking to be detected," Ramsland said. "An attack can leave a minimal footprint and prevention is no longer an option."
One of the exhibitors was surprised to learn how small the cyber technology world really is.
" I encountered four alumni members from our school at this expo," said William Butler, the chair for Cyber and Information Security for Capitol Technology University of Laurel, Maryland. "One is a student working on his doctoral degree in cyber security online; and the other three completed their master's degree in cyber with us. One is a naval officer working with the Navy Information Operations Command Georgia. In 2002, we were one of two schools in the country certified by the National Security Agency."
"We go where are potential students are," he said. "Currently, we are working with Alvin Crawford of the Fort Gordon Education office, to bring our online cyber degree programs to the post."
One of the attendees at the Cyber Lunch and Learn session, Sgt. Mohamed Amer with the 782nd Military Intelligence Battalion, expressed an appreciation for the information that was shared by the representatives of the cyber technology companies.
"I liked the way Ramsland described how threat reactors are being discovered," Amer said. "The APT28 report talks about Russia's targets and their intent. It's important for the military to understand how information for reports such as the APT28 are gathered."
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