Davenport, Iowa September 5-6, 2019: Cybersecurity and privacy are on the minds of government officials, business leaders, educators and parents. In an age where everything can and will be connected to the Internet, we are faced with the opportunities that new connected technology brings and at the same time must deal with attacks coming fast and furious by our digital adversaries. The 5th annual Quad Cities Cybersecurity Conference & Kids’ Hacker Camp seeks to raise awareness to these threats and offer solutions. Security executives and federal officials are set to descend on the Quad Cities on September 6th and 7th to provide a roadmap for local businesses, IT professionals, students and the general public on how to prepare and defend against cybersecurity threats. On Friday, September 5, there will be a private educational event to introduce 125 local high school students to cybersecurity as a career. [Learn more about CornCon www.corncon.net]
CornCon, as the conference is better known, was founded in 2015 by the Quad Cities Cybersecurity Alliance, in a partnership with the IEEE Computer Society and St. Ambrose University. The 2019 Platinum Sponsor is Malwarebytes. This year, the conference will be held in the Rogalski Center, on the SAU campus, with an expected attendance of 500. Friday, September 6 will feature a workshop for business leaders and IT professionals, taught by information security executives. The general conference will commence on Saturday, September 7, with a full day of expert speakers, hands on workshops and contests. Keynotes on Saturday will include JD Henry, Region VII Cybersecurity Advisor Integrated Operations Directorate DHS/CISA, and Michael Daugherty, LabMD CEO who defeated the FTC in court. There will be a vendor expo and hacker villages, such as virtual reality, lockpicking and car hacking. The US Army will hold a penetration testing workshop for kids and adults.
The Saturday conference also offers children an opportunity to learn about the field of cybersecurity. The kids’ hacker camp, known as The Children of The CornCon, will introduce 100 kids to 20+ STEM related activities, including: “pen testing”, car hacking, build-a-computer, cryptography, puzzles, electronics and more. “Kids are great with technology,” says John Johnson, CornCon Co-Founder and Conference Chair. “When you understand technology and how it can be vulnerable, you have a responsibility to use that knowledge to promote safety, privacy and security and defend against cybercriminals. We show kids the benefits of technology and the risks. Making and breaking, hacking and learning, while instilling an ethical framework for the creation and use of technology.”
