Cyber Security Summit 2023 highlights

By Wendy Rager. The University of California (UC), Office of the Systemwide CISO, Cyber Risk Coordination Center (C3) hosted its 14th Cyber Security Summit at UCLA on April 19. The 2023 summit was the first in-person gathering since the pandemic and was held at the UCLA Carnesale Commons. Over two hundred industry leaders, including those in higher education in California, as well as thought-leaders in industry and the government, including members of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Department of Justice (DOJ), gathered to address critical knowledge gaps in cybersecurity while fostering the professional connections needed for further progress. Jay Panchal, our new system-wide Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) provided opening remarks, “The Cyber Security Summit is highly anticipated by the UC cybersecurity community each year. It demonstrates the important relationship between this gathering and the impressive progress happening in higher education across the state.”

2023 Cyber Security Conference themes

  • Cybersecurity and the law
  • Privacy-enhancing technologies
  • Cross-industry insights for higher education on cybersecurity
  • Creating a security-first mindset

About the conference attendees

Summit guests came from state-funded institutions across California, including the University of California, four campuses in the California State University (CSU) system, Caffey College, the Los Angeles and North Orange County Community College Districts, the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC), and the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. 

About the speakers/presenters

Industry leaders, and the topics they addressed:

  • Olivia Olson, Assistant special Agent in Charge, Cyber & Counterintelligence Branch, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Los Angeles: US Government Case Studies: Lessons Learned.
  • Cameron Schroeder, Chief, Cyber & Intellectual Property Crimes of United States Attorneys’ Offices, Department of Justice (DOJ): US Government Case Studies: Lessons Learned.
  • Jenny Brinkley, Director of Amazon Security: How to Develop a Security-First Mindset
  • Rafail Ostrovsky, Distinguished Professor of Mathematics and Computer Science, UCLA: Privacy Enhancing Technologies: From Theory to Practice. 
  • Brian Kelly, Data & Listings Associate at Compass IT Compliance: talked about the importance of collaboration in the fight against cyber threats.
  • Sajjad Matin, Principal Counsel for Cybersecurity and Data Protection in the UC Office of General Counsel: Law and the CISO.
  • Franklin Monsour, Partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe: Law and the CISO.

Industry thought-leaders from platinum sponsors Fortinet and Trellix/Mandiant (now part of Google Cloud)  shared their expertise:

  • Bob Turner, Field CISO for Education, Fortinet: Leading Education Cybersecurity for 2023-2025.
  • Brian Young, Security Customer Engineer, Mandiant: SOC Automation: Benefits and Proven Methods. 

About the sponsors

Logo of all sponsors of the 2023 Cyber Security Summit

The Cyber Security Summit is grateful to the following sponsors for supporting a fantastic opportunity to exchange information across industry leaders, state-wide:

  1. Fortinet (Platinum sponsor)
  2. Trellix/Mandiant (now part of Google Cloud) (Platinum sponsor)
  3. CDWG 
  4. AHEAD
  5. Dell Technologies 
  6. SailPoint 
  7. Zscaler 
  8. CrowdStrike 
  9. Palo Alto Networks 
  10. Netskope

Milestones in cybersecurity at the university in the past 12 months

The community took stock of progress in the past 12 months:

  • Improving systemwide incident response and communication processes
  • Updates to the the seminal IS-3 policy
  • Developing a systemwide risk assessment unit
  • Growing the UC Tech Academy with a new UC Tech Cyber Leadership Program
  • Recognizing the Cyber Security Summit planning team with a UC Tech Awards for their success in pivoting to an online conference in 2020

Joining the UC cybersecurity community

The Cyber Security summit team welcomes all community members to collaborate with them in the bold plans that lie ahead. Join their mailing list and consider participating in the summit next year (date and place to be announced shortly).  To learn more subscribe to the UC IT Blog newsletter.

Sponsors for the 2023 Cyber Security Summit (Left to Right): Trellix/Mandiant, Netskope, CDWG, Zscaler, SailPoint, Fortinet, Abnormal

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About the Author

Wendy Rager
Wendy Rager
Manager, Cyber Risk Coordination Center
UC Office of the President