Symposium panel discussions to examine key cyber challenges

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  While much attention has been focused on the impressive list of high-level speakers scheduled to address the second annual Air Force Cyberspace Symposium June 17 to 19, the event will also feature three highly informative panel discussions.

A technology panel will look beyond military applications at the wider range of issues affecting how people interact with each other and with technology in the cyber era, and will look for ways to maximize benefits while minimizing threats.

"The capabilities available to us in the cyber age are tremendous, and they now affect how we live, how we work, how we conduct business transactions and, indeed, how we fight," said Col. Leslie Blackham, commander of ESC's 753 Electronic Systems Group, the panel lead. "Our panel will look at the benefits and risks of sharing information across global networks and discuss how technology, now and in the future, will influence both."

Other panel members include: Dr. Marianne Hedin, program manager for IDC's Worldwide Services and Services-Oriented Architecture; Noah Shachtman, a contributing editor at Wired magazine and the editor of its national security blog, Danger Room; Richard Bejtlich, the director of Incident Response for General Electric Corp; Grant Wagner, technical director of the National Security Agency's National Information Assurance Laboratory; John N. Stewart, vice president and chief security officer for CISCO Systems, Inc.; Jim Stogdill, the chief technology officer of Accenture Mission Services; and Peter Tippett, vice president of Research and Intelligence - Security Solutions for Verizon Business and chief scientist of the security product testing and certification organization, ICSA Labs.

The symposium will also feature an Operations Panel, which will organize its discussion on the theme: "Defending the Cyber Maginot Line: Principals of Warfare in Cyberspace." The panelists will attempt to answer the question of whether mistaken assumptions have been used in cyber defense planning, and whether the U.S. has paid sufficient heed to the basic principles of warfare and the changing technology and tactics of its adversaries.

Panel members will include: Col. Mark Ware, director of the Air, Space and Cyberspace Operations and Plans, 8th Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, La.; Col. Joseph Pridotkas, commander of the 67th Network Warfare Wing, Lackland AFB, Texas; Col Ward Heinke, commander of Detachment 1, Eighth Air Force, at Barksdale; Lt. Col. Timothy Sands, chief of the 53rd Electronic Warfare Group's AFCYBER Transition Team; and Lt. Col. John Gloystein, chief of the Cyberspace Operations Branch at the Curtis E. LeMay Center for Doctrine Development and Education.

There will also be an industry panel, which will focus on the balance between information sharing and protection.

The panel will be lead by retired Maj. Gen. Bob Behler, the senior vice president and deputy general manager for programs and advanced command and control for the MITRE Corporation's Command and Control Center. He'll be joined by: Kurt Kratchman, who guides Schematic's national Client Services group; Jamshid Afnan, vice president for Information Services for ISO-New England; Dr. Charles C. Palmer, the chief technology officer for Security and Privacy for IBM Research, and associate director of Computer Science at Watson; Andy Ellis, senior director of Information Security and chief security architect at Akamai; David Aucsmith, senior director of Microsoft's Institute for Advanced Technology in Governments; and Dr. Rajive Jain, a vice president at Merrill Lynch with over 16 years of experience in creating and managing leading edge security solutions.

"We really have put together a tremendous line-up of panels staffed by groups of diverse and talented individuals who are well prepared to take a hard look at the key issues in front of us," said Colonel Blackham.

The Cyber Symposium will be held at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in Marlborough, Mass. The vice chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. James E. Cartwright, will headline the list of speakers scheduled to address the gathering.

He will be joined by a number of key Air Force leaders, who will discuss the emerging and ever-expanding cyber challenges facing the nation. In addition to General Cartwright, the symposium will feature Gen. C. Robert Kehler, commander of Air Force Space Command, ESC Commander Lt. Gen. Ted F. Bowlds, Defense Information Systems Agency Director Lt. Gen. Charles E. Croom Jr., 8th Air Force Commander Lt. Gen. Robert J. Elder, Air Force Cyberspace Command (Provisional) Commander Maj. Gen. William T. Lord and Air Force Research Laboratory Commander Maj. Gen. Curtis M. Bedke, and Maj. Gen. John C. Koziol, commander of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency.

This is the second cooperative symposium to focus on the Air Force's efforts to develop offensive and defensive cyberspace capabilities. The first, hosted by the provisional Cyberspace Command, headquartered at Eighth Air Force, Barksdale Air Force Base, La., was held in November.

Approximately 90 percent of the seating capacity for this year's event has already been reserved, but there's still some space and time to register. To do so, visit the AFA chapter's Web site: www.paulrevereafa.org. Cost for the symposium is $330 for both government and industry. Booth space registration for the symposium's technology exposition is also available on-line at the chapter's web site, as well as sponsorship opportunities and registration for a June 17 golf tournament held in conjunction with the event.

The entire Royal Plaza facility, including its 430 guest rooms, has been reserved for the symposium. Rooms are available for $104 plus taxes per night, which falls within the government per diem rate. Reservations can be made by calling the Royal Plaza at (508) 460-0700, and referencing "AFA Paul Revere." Information on a number of other hotels located nearby is also available on the AFA Web site.