Cyber security is quickly becoming a topic of some urgency at companies, governments, institutions, and even private homes around the world. Where once these entities fought to protect their land, assets, and wealth, today one of the most important assets for any group is their data – a series of 1’s and 0’s stored away on computer server farms, miles from their physical location.

There are some theorists who opine that in the future, wars may be fought over data “turf”, and attacks on networks, servers, and data farms will become common place.

That’s where cyber-security comes in; taking measures, employing personnel for information security management, installing software and applications to protect the hardware and facilities where data resides. You’ve undoubtedly seen news stories about companies that have ‘lost’ customers credit card and other personal data due to cyber attacks. The growing size of the protection industry is going to require many new trained personnel, and higher learning institutions are designing course curriculums around the field.

One way for personnel already in the field, or those interested in the industry to stay up-to-date on the latest methods and tools of cyber security, is to attend professional conferences on a regular basis, and they are held numerous times a year at various locations around the planet. The organizers of these conferences run the full range of types of entities, from government security agencies to multinational corporations to hardware and software manufacturers.

Some of the Largest Conferences

The International Conference on Cyber Security is sponsored by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation and Fordham University. A five day workshop in New York City, the conference is described as a “White Hat Summit.”  Tutorials and demonstrations are given, and there are special breakaway sessions for law enforcement officials.

AT&T sponsors and annual confab on cyber security, covering aspects of protecting cloud computing, the latest innovations in security hardware and applications, and presentations by independent security companies.

The Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technologies of Azerbaijan will hold a conference on cyber security in Baku, towards the end of the year. They propose to conduct this meeting annually.

The Government IT Forum will include a cyber security conference at their annual meeting in December in Washington, DC.  A series of programs and seminars will be conducted, and participants will have the opportunity to meet and talk to vendors providing security hardware and applications.

The RSA Conference, held annually in Amsterdam, is one of the world’s oldest gatherings on the topic of cyber security.  The RSA Conferences claims they attract the “best and the brightest” in the field, and also hold spin off meetings in different parts of the year in Asia and North America. Sessions include analysis of data vulnerabilities, and the latest ways to combat invasions of server banks and data farms.

These types of conferences can be of great benefit to the cyber security professional or novice.