FBI Director James B. Comey delivered the keynote address at the first Boston Conference on Cyber Security, held at Boston College. (Lee Pellegrini)
Several hundred experts, industry leaders and officials, and media representatives gathered at Boston College on March 8 for the first Boston Conference on Cyber Security, organized through a partnership between the FBI and the Cybersecurity Policy & Governance master鈥檚 degree program at the University鈥檚 Woods College of Advancing Studies.
The daylong conference, which organizers hope will become an annual event, featured a keynote address by FBI Director James B. Comey, whose remarks centered on the cyber threat landscape, what the FBI is doing to stay ahead of the threat, and the importance of strong private sector partnerships.
"The cyber-threats we face are enormous," Comey said. "We need to ensure that cybersecurity is a priority for every enterprise in the United States at all levels; we need to get better and faster at sharing information in appropriate ways; we need to make sure we have the right people on board to help us fight that threat, and we need to build trust between the government and the private sector; but most of all, we need to work this together."
"Boston College is a leader in thinking and educating on these incredibly important issues, so this is a great place to have this; I hope you'll have it many more times," he said. (Read more about his remarks in this or view the video of his speech .)
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His speech was followed by panel discussions with a who鈥檚 who of cybersecurity experts from the FBI, Boston College, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Defense, U.S. Cyber Command, IBM Security, Dell EMC, Symantec, Jones Day, PwC, Mintz Levin, Raytheon, Akamai, Draper Labs, State Street, Charles River Associates, National Grid, and the U.S. Naval Academy, among many others.
Topics centered around emerging technologies, best practices, operations and enforcement, and real life cyber- and national security experiences, an agenda designed to help students of the master's program, as well as private industry and government leaders, to address today鈥檚 cyber-threats.
鈥淐ombating cyber-crime is one of the FBI鈥檚 top priorities because of the direct threat it poses to our national security and economy,鈥� said FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Joseph Bonavolonta, who oversees the cyber/counterintelligence program for the agency's Boston Division. 鈥淭he work we do wouldn鈥檛 be possible without close collaborative partnerships with the private sector," he said, noting his hope that BCCS 2017 would "help everyone get on the same page so we鈥檙e better positioned to identify threats, share information and ultimately defeat cyber criminals.鈥�
"Boston College is a leader in thinking and educating on these incredibly important issues, so this is a great place to have this; I hope you&#