By Tom Holt – Professor, Criminal Justice, Michigan State University

The threat of cybercrime cannot be understated, whether to the individual consumer or a business.  Novel attack methods are constantly being identified, while we still have to deal with well-known threats that cannot be easily deflected.  It is a challenge for the IT professional, policy maker, and regulator to keep pace with these threats, and understand the ways that innovative solutions can be properly adapted to secure their operational environment.  

I created the MSU Interdisciplinary Conference on Cybercrime (http://cj.msu.edu/programs/interdisciplinary-conference-cybercrime/) with this challenge in mind, to bring academia, industry, and law enforcement together to explore these issues through cutting edge research with practical implications. 

This year’s conference will be held on April 19-20^th at the Kellogg Center in East Lansing, MI, and is unique compared to most security events as we take an integrative approach to understand cybercrime and cybersecurity threats.  A number of our speakers are practitioners in medium and large organizations or from law enforcement who can provide direct insights on the threats they face and how they combat them.  For example, Tim Mielak, the CISO of MSUFCU, will discuss how he has attempted to innovate incident response despite being an industry with tight regulations and adept attackers.  

At the same time, our academic presenters provide insights on the methods and tactics of cybercriminals and threat actors.  This sort of insight is largely absent in the average security event.  For instance, Dr. Rutger Leukfeldt (NSCR, the Netherlands) will talk about the ways that cybercriminals meet and recruit actors in order to complete financial cybercrime schemes like phishing and fraud.  Similarly, Dr. Johannes Bauer (Michigan State University) will discuss how models of cybersecurity do not account for actors who are not chiefly motivated by monetizing an attack.  

Bringing these ideas together in the same place gives attendees the ability to understand not only how attackers may act within the environment, but why they choose to target certain resources and how their attacks may evolve over time.  In fact, our keynote speaker, Mr. Chris Pogue from Nuix, will discuss his company’s novel method for assessing threat trends from the attacker’s perspective to better strategies to defend resources in the short and long term.    

I heartily encourage everyone to attend the conference, as it will provide practical insights on cybersecurity trends, emergent threats, and methods to proactively defend networks and resources.  The two-day event also provides great opportunities to network with professionals across the state, and thought leaders from around the world.  And all at the low price of $75, which is far below most other security events of this caliber! To register or get more information about the event, please visit: http://cj.msu.edu/programs/interdisciplinary-conference-cybercrime/

Bio: 

Dr. Holt is a professor in the School of Criminal Justice at Michigan State University whose research focuses on computer hacking, malware, and the role of the internet in facilitating all manner of crime and deviance. His work has been published in various journals, including Crime and Delinquency, Deviant Behavior, the Journal of Criminal Justice, and Youth and Society.  He is also the organizer for the MSU Interdisciplinary Conference on Cybercrime, now in its 5th year.