FIRST Fall Symposium 2013 in D.C. Area to Focus on Cybersecurity Needs of Energy Sector

Morrisville, N.C. (PRWEB) October 17, 2013

The Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams (FIRST), a global non-profit that fosters knowledge sharing among computer incident response and cybersecurity teams, announced today that registration remains open for individuals seeking to attend its global event focused on the energy sector. The event will take place October 28 and 29, 2013 at the Lansdowne Resort in Leesburg, VA, just outside of Washington, D.C.

The 2013 FIRST Fall Symposium: Computer Incident Response in the Energy Sector will address the growing need of energy organizations to adequately respond to and prevent computer security breaches in light of ever-increasing reports of worldwide cyber attacks within the sector. The Symposium will bring together members of computer industry response teams from government, business, research and educational organizations from around the world to collaborate and share knowledge.

“Computer networks in the energy sector are a prime target of cyber attacks,” said Maarten Van Horenbeeck, chair of FIRST. “It’s important that computer incident response teams and cybersecurity personnel in the field stay abreast of the latest developments to help combat these attacks. Those who attend our Symposium will be much better equipped to detect incidents, as well as handle such incidents and prevent them in the future.”

The event will promote networking and knowledge sharing among security professionals, and will include sessions on the industry’s most topical issues as they relate to the energy sector. The Symposium will focus on lessons learned from prior attacks, and include discussions on best practice in energy incident response management, business continuity planning, malware analysis, incident response program development and disaster recovery. It will also feature topics that can help organizations confront computer security issues proactively, such as evaluating new security technologies, and detailing how organizations can apply the most effective techniques used for vulnerability assessment and penetration testing.

Many prominent leaders in the energy sector will not only be attending the event, but will also be speaking on topics such as cyber risks, preventative measures to take to avoid cyber-attacks, incident responses, and building global knowledge for energy security. The speakers include Mark Bristow, Chief, Industrial Control Systems-Cyber Emergency Response Team (ICS-CERT) Incident Response, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Kyle Wilhoit a Threat Researcher at Trend Micro, David Balcar of IOActive, Chris Blask the Chair of ICS-ISAC, and more.

In addition, the FIRST Symposium will offer TRANSITS training on day two for attendees interested in furthering their expertise in basic incident handling and response techniques, operational practices, as well as organizational and legal issues.

Registration information: There’s still time to register and the Symposium is open to both members and non-members. Cost is $195 and includes breakfast and lunch. To register, please visit: http://www.first.org/events/symposium/energy2013.

About FIRST:
Founded in 1990, FIRST consists of internet emergency response teams from more than 250 corporations, government bodies, universities and other institutions from the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. It leads the world's fight-back against cyber-crime, sabotage and terrorism, and promotes cooperation among computer security incident response teams and law enforcement agencies. For more information, visit http://www.first.org.

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