Inaugural Cyber Security Summit outlines current threats and future focus

Contact: Wisconsin National Guard Public Affairs Office
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NEWS: Inaugural Cyber Security Summit outlines current threats and future focus

October 16, 2013
By Kelly Bradley
Public Affairs Office

MILWAUKEE - So, what does "cyber" mean, anyway?

In a descriptive letter written from the Defense Intelligence Agency to U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn 17 years ago, cyber may have come from the Greek work kybisteter, from which the word cybister is derived, meaning "a genus of large diving beetles."

While we have all heard of "computer bugs," there is still a lot to be learned and understood about cyber security in 2013.

To that end, more than 250 members of law enforcement, IT managers, government officials and business leaders came together at Wisconsin's inaugural Cyber Security Summit Oct. 11 at Marquette University to hear cyber security experts on the latest concerns and controls.

Maj Gen Don Dunbar, Wisconsin adjutant general and also the state's Homeland Security advisor, organized the summit.

"We're not here to solve cyber security today," Dunbar said, "but to establish where we go from here as a state. Wisconsin is not responsible for all of cyber security, but we do have an important and unique role to play."

Gov. Scott Walker opened the summit by acknowledging cyber security is a continual threat to Wisconsin and the nation.

"This Cyber Summit brings together industry and government officials to discuss potential threats and how we can work to improve cyber security at all levels," Walker said. "We need to be vigilant so our security is maintained."

Six million cyber attacks are blocked per day from Wisconsin state websites, according to the Wisconsin Homeland Security Council.

"We need to make a choice every day to be prepared and respond to incidents," said David Cagigal, chief information officer for the state of Wisconsin.

In conjunction with the Wisconsin Homeland Security Council, four cyber working groups have been established to continually assess threats to the state and to focus on future cyber security strategies. The cyber working groups will address threats to state websites and provide an update next spring to the governor.

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