Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2024 Webinar Series
Join us Oct. 3 and Oct. 16 for some fascinating talks! All are welcome.
You're invited to join us for an exciting webinar series featuring two of the nation's foremost cybersecurity leaders: Neil Daswani of Stanford University on Oct. 3, and Ron Ross of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) on Oct. 16.
Each webinar will include a brief presentation, followed by a moderated Q&A session where audience members are encouraged to ask their own questions.
Both webinars are free and open to the university community. To attend, please complete the registration via Zoom (links for each are under that event's details).
Oct. 3, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Neil Daswani on 'GenAI Attacks and Defenses"
For more than 20 years, Neil Daswani has been helping high-profile organizations including Google, Twitter, LifeLock (now part of Symantec), and others elevate their security stance, mitigate risks, and protect their assets and users from cyber attacks. He is currently the co-director of Stanford University’s Advanced Computer Security Certificate Program and Chief Information Security Officer for QuantumScape, as well as the author of Big Breaches: Cybersecurity Lessons for Everyone.
About the webinar: Daswani will provide an overview of recent vulnerabilities, breaches, and abuses of some of the world’s most popular Generative AI (GenAI) systems, such as OpenAI and Mistral. Participants will learn about major GenAI vulnerabilities and abuses such as jailbreaks, prompt injections, hallucinations, adversarial examples, and deep fakes, and explore how these vulnerabilities can be addressed. You will gain a clearer understanding of some of the current capabilities and limitations of GenAI, as well as practical steps for enhancing GenAI security. If time permits, we will also look at a few simple yet striking demos showcasing how easily GenAI can be exploited for malicious purposes, underscoring the importance of robust defenses.
Topic: GenAI Attacks and Defenses with Neil Daswani
Date: Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024
Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Register to attend via Zoom »
Oct. 16, 2 to 3:30 p.m.: Ron Ross on systems security and risk management
Ron Ross is a Fellow at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). He currently leads the NIST Systems Security Engineering Project, which includes the development of standards and guidelines for the federal government, contractors, and United States critical infrastructure.
The recipient of numerous public and private sector awards over his nearly 40-year career, including three times as one of the Top 10 Influencers in Government IT Security, Ross has been inducted into the National Cyber Security Hall of Fame, selected as an (ISC)2 Fellow, and inducted into the Information Systems Security Association Hall of Fame, receiving its highest honor of Distinguished Fellow.
About the webinar: Ross will share his experience and perspective on security risk management, as well as some interesting projects that NIST is leading to advance the field of systems security engineering across industries and organizations of all sizes.
Topic: Ron Ross on Cybersecurity Risk Management & Systems Engineering
Date: Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024
Time: 2 to 3:30 p.m.
Register to attend via Zoom »
Accessibility
Both events will be live captioned and are fully online via Zoom webinar.
If you are an individual with a disability and desire an accommodation, please contact Angela Correa at least 10 days prior to the event at 540-231-4202 or email acorrea@vt.edu during regular business hours.
Moderators
Moderators for the webinars will be Randy Marchany, chief information security officer for Virginia Tech, and Zachery Mitcham, associate director of security operations.
Recordings and notes
Both sessions will be recorded. Recordings will be posted on this website in the days following each event.