The Greater San Antonio Chamber hosted cybersecurity professionals from around the region at SAMSAT Area 21 within the Boeing Center at Tech Port for Cyber Horizons: AI and the Future of Cyber Defense on October 4th. Presented by Leidos, the event featured subject matter experts to highlight cutting edge technology and use of artificial intelligence that leaders across the cyber community are adopting.
The Chamber’s Interim President and CEO, Dave Petersen, welcomed attendees and emphasized the importance addressing the challenges in cyber defense that lay ahead. The breakfast featured two speakers, the first was Mr. Brian Cook, Technical Director for 16th Air Force headquartered at JBSA-Lackland, who touched on the changing threat environment and the challenges posed by a range of adversaries.
Following Mr. Cook and a brief video overview of Leidos’ capabilities, Dr. Paul Roysdon, Leidos AI Chief Scientist, presented on AI/ML applications the Leidos team is actively researching. During his talk, Dr. Roysdon referenced the alarming number of “zero-days” still faced by businesses and organizations, contrary to popular belief “zero-days” are such rare occurrences. Additionally, he acknowledged academia within the U.S. are beginning to research and publish academic papers on AI capabilities and utilization at a comparable rate to China and Russia. Dr. Roysdon and his team believe AI may not be the threat to jobs many fear, but a critical partner in performance accomplishing mundane, repetitive tasks that will increase human efficiency in other target areas.
At the conclusion of the event, Dave Petersen encouraged attendees to take home a small business cybersecurity handout the Chamber’s Cybersecurity Council spearheaded under the leadership of the Small Business Focus Team lead Andrew Evans with Bridgehead IT. This calendar year, the council has prioritized educating our region’s small businesses on how to evaluate their security needs based on what’s connected to their network and what level of protection they need. Throughout October, the council will be releasing more information and education materials to promote implementation of cybersecurity practices before it’s too late.
Once again, we would like to thank our sponsors Leidos, Port San Antonio, Bridgehead IT, and CNF Technologies for their commitment and support.
To stay up to date on the latest cybersecurity trends and news in San Antonio, follow Cybersecurity San Antonio on LinkedIn and visit the Chamber website for more information on the Cybersecurity Council.
Links:
Small Biz handout: https://www.sachamber.org/clientuploads/Email_Documents/Small_Business_Co-Branded_Handout.pdf?_t=1696365572
Leidos: https://www.leidos.com/
Port SA: https://www.portsanantonio.us/
Bridgehead IT: https://www.bridgeheadit.com/
CNF: https://cnftech.com/
CSSA LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/cybersecurity-san-antonio/
Cyber Council: https://www.sachamber.org/councils/cybersecurity-council/