Top Cyber Talent from Around the World to Convene in San Antonio, Texas, to Combat Shared Threats Cyber Future Summit 2022 will strengthen collaboration to defend against cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, the private sector, armed forces and everyday citizens.

News release by Port San Antonio / Cyber Future Foundation

SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS | August 31, 2022 08:00 AM Eastern Daylight Time

In the face of increasing threats against the information networks essential to the global economy and the security of nations, over a thousand leading experts from around the world will come together in the Alamo City this fall. Together, they are part of a growing collaboration that is establishing best practices, developing human talent and identifying innovative state-of-the-art technologies to defend factories, transportation networks, power grids, government operations and other critical assets from cyberattacks launched by rogue individuals, criminal enterprises or hostile nation states.

The exploitation of networks, ransomware and malware are among the most common and growing threats that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the top cybersecurity agency in the U.S., tracks on an ongoing basis. And these are among the types of cyberattacks that warrant a united front where allies can share intelligence, human talent and innovations in a joint effort to ensure the well-being of billions of people around the world whose daily lives depend on the proper functioning of digital technologies.

Now in its seventh year, the Cyber Future Summit, an annual event hosted by the Dallas-based Cyber Future Foundation (CFF), will bring together a cross-section of public and private sector leaders to discuss shared priorities and showcase the diversity of innovations being developed nationally and internationally.

Representatives from around the world will be present at the upcoming event, including Canada, the United States, Mexico, Israel, Estonia, Germany, Italy and Romania.

This year’s summit—from October 26 to 28—is the foundation’s most ambitious yet. See here for the most current speakers, agenda and other event details. (This information is being updated on an ongoing basis.)

CFF selected San Antonio as the host community given its national standing as “Cyber City, USA” – home to one of the largest and fastest-growing hubs of information technology operations and innovation in the world.

The venue for the event, which will include over 40 main stage presentations and additional tracks, is Tech Port Center + Arena—a state-of-the-art facility launched earlier this year in the heart of the community’s innovation hub, Port San Antonio. The Port’s vast campus is itself home to leading cybersecurity operations, including the Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) headquarters and marquee industry names.

The Port also houses the Alamo Regional Security Operations Center (ARSOC) – a first-of-its-kind facility in the United States that consolidates information security operations from municipalities and other area public entities into a single hub. And in just a few months, work will be completed on a new facility on the Port campus to house the Cybersecurity Manufacturing and Innovation Institute’s (CyManII) Texas Manufacturing x Transformation Hub. That enterprise will accelerate training and collaborations that safeguard installations and transportation assets operated by U.S. public- and private-sector partners.

In addition to national and international participants, San Antonio-based experts who will be represented at the upcoming summit include presentations by the University of Texas at San Antonio’s National Security Collaboration Center (NSCC), CyManII and the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce’s Cybersecurity Council.

Other local partners supporting Cyber Summit 2022 include greater:SATX, the Cyber Texas Foundation, Capital Factory, BioMedSA and Visit San Antonio.

“The concentration of cyber expertise and innovation in the San Antonio community, our partnership with the Port and other local industry leaders and the outstanding and multi-faceted platform at Tech Port Center and Arena will make for a comprehensive event that will be of tremendous value to participants,” said Valmiki ‘Val’ Mukherjee, Chairman and Founder of the Cyber Future Foundation.

“As bad actors try to exploit and harm essential digital assets, there is unparalleled strength in coming together to defend against a common threat to ensure that our critical infrastructure and new technologies that are making the world a safer and more productive place—from medicine to communications to transportation and more—are duly protected,” he added. “Our upcoming event in San Antonio will do just that: connect cybersecurity with an array of other industries and disciplines so that the whole will be much larger, and much more resilient, than the sum of its parts.”

“Our focus has been to grow our campus as a unique community that brings people together from throughout our region, around the nation and across the world with a shared objective to create a better world,” said Port San Antonio President and CEO Jim Perschbach.

“We are honored that the Cyber Future Foundation has selected our campus and our newest facility to do just that: Spur conversations and collaborations that will build the resiliency of our digital infrastructure in within the U.S. and our allies,” he added. “The upcoming event reinforces our core belief at the Port that, in an increasingly connected world, it is essential that we also connect and work more closely than ever with the people who are responsible for safeguarding our critical infrastructure assets.”

MEDIA ATTENDANCE:

Media are invited to join the conference at no charge. Advance pre-registration and credentials are required by contacting Katherine Thompson, CFF Head of Ecosystems, at kthompson@cyberfuturefoundation.org or by calling (647) 202-0624.

While the majority of the conference will be open to the press, some sessions could be closed and/or require separate credentials at the discretion of presenters. These details will be indicated on the event agenda as it is updated with individual sessions.