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On Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and CyberSC, will virtually host NOW + NEXT: Cyber Conference.

This conference was designed with both small and large businesses in mind. Broadband and information technology are powerful factors impacting new markets and increased productivity and efficiency. However, businesses need a cybersecurity strategy to protect both organizational infrastructure and customer data from growing cybersecurity threats. This event will teach businesses to mitigate cybersecurity risks to identify and prepare for potential threats. It will also provide a primer on cybersecurity’s economic impact and how it can affect our state’s infrastructure.

Panel Session Speakers Include:

Collective Cyber Defense

• General Keith Alexander, Founder and co-CEO, IronNet, former Commander, U.S.  Cyber Command, and former Director, National Security Agency 
• Lieutenant General Bruce Crawford, U.S. Army (Ret.), Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, Critical Mission Solutions, Jacobs and former Chief Information Officer, U.S. Army 
• Christopher D. Roberti, Senior Vice President for Cyber, Intelligence, and Supply Chain Security Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce (moderator)

Cybercrime-as-a-Service and Ransomware

• Raj Samani, Fellow, Chief Scientist, McAfee 
• Megan Stifle, Executive Director, Americas, Global Cyber Alliance 
• Harry W., Technical Director for Incident Management, National Cyber Security Centre 

Small Business Cybersecurity

• Kiersten Todt, Managing Director, Cyber Readiness Institute
• Karen Painter Randall, Attorney, Cyber Law Task Force, University of South Carolina 

Cyber Ecosystem-Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) 

• Sandra J. Jordan, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of South Carolina Aiken
• Will Williams, President and CEO, Aiken Economic Development Partnership 
• Tom Scott, Executive Director, CyberSC (moderator)

Tomorrow, Tuesday, May 25, 2021, at 9:00 a.m. (Eastern Daylight Time), U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce and CyberSC, will virtually host NOW + NEXT: Cyber Conference.

About this conference: Broadband and information technology are powerful factors impacting new markets and increased productivity and efficiency. However, businesses need a cybersecurity strategy to protect both organizational infrastructure and customer data from growing cybersecurity threats. This event will teach businesses to mitigate cybersecurity risks to identify and prepare for potential threats. It will also provide a primer on cybersecurity’s economic impact and how it can affect our state’s infrastructure.

*New Speakers*

• Kim Christ, Director, Technology and Cybersecurity Initiatives, South Carolina Council on Competitiveness
• Scott Cooper, Chairman, Edgefield County Council 
• Chris Herron, Territory Manager – South Carolina, Check Point Software Technologies 
• Nitin Natarajan, Deputy Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security
• Shannon Vavra, Reporter, CyberScoop

In the first portion of this conference, South Carolina’s Governor, The Honorable Henry McMaster, and the CEO of the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, Bob Morgan, kicked off the event. General Keith Alexander, Founder and co-CEO, IronNet, former Commander, U.S. Cyber Command, and former Director, National Security Agency, and Lt. General Bruce Crawford, U.S. Army (Ret.), Senior Vice President, Strategic Development, Critical Mission Solutions, Jacobs and former Chief Information Officer, U.S. Army, engaged in a meaningful discussion about the need for public and private organizations to form a collective defense in cyberspace to share information, hunt, identify and stop threats together. The following panel discussed cybercrime-as-a-service and ransomware, which was moderated by Shannon Vavra, a reporter at CyberScoop, and included a group of expert government and industry speakers, including Nitin Natarajan, Deputy Director, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), Department of Homeland Security, Raj Samani, Fellow, Chief Scientist, McAfee, Megan Stifel, Executive Director, Americas, Global Cyber Alliance, and Harry W., Technical Director for Incident Management, National Cyber Security Centre. Chris Herron, Territory Manager – South Carolina, Check Point Software Technologies introduced our final panel, which focused on the cyber ecosystem in the Central Savannah River area and included Kim Christ, Director, Technology and Cybersecurity Initiatives, South Carolina Council on Competitiveness, Scott Cooper, Chairman, Edgefield County Council, Dr. Sandra J. Jordan, Chancellor, University of South Carolina Aiken, Will Williams, President and CEO, Aiken Economic Development Partnership, and Tom Scott, Executive Director, CyberSC

The program featured keynote remarks from Kiersten Todt, Managing Director, Cyber Readiness Institute, who was in conversation with Karen Painter Randall, Attorney, Cyber Law Task Force, University of South Carolina, to discuss small business cybersecurity, as well as The Honorable Tom Young Jr., State Senator of South Carolina, who provided remarks on proposed cyber economic legislation.

Registration is opening soon for the Chamber’s NOW + NEXT: Cyber Essentials Webinar

• We look forward to welcoming you to our upcoming event on Tuesday, June 29th. The Chamber will send event details and the registration link in the coming weeks.

In the first portion of yesterday’s event, Secretary of Homeland Security Ali Mayorkas discussed with me why ransomware is one of his top priorities and the focus for his 

first sprint saying, “The threat is real. The threat is upon us. The risk is to all of us.” Small businesses, who comprise the backbone of the American economy, “must be able to defend [themselves] to the fullest extent possible…and it is not a matter of eliminating ransomware, it’s a matter of, quite frankly, defending against the attackers.” Secretary Mayorkas pointed to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s 

ransomware guide as a resource for businesses to improve their cyber risk management. 

The second part of the program focused on business resilience and included a panel of U.S. government and industry experts, including Pete Marta, a partner with Hogan Lovells, Eric Goldstein, Executive Assistant Director, Cybersecurity Division, CISA, 

David M. Smith, Special Agent in Charge, Criminal Investigation Division, Secret Service, and 

Lisa Wallace, Area Vice President, US Public Sector Security Sales Program, Splunk.

High-Scoring Audience Q&A:

• What are the best tools available right now to detect and prevent Ransomware attacks? Check out these free resources:
  • Cyber Readiness Institute: Ransomware Playbook or their  White Paper on Small Business Cybersecurity Recommendations for the Biden Administration
  • Secret Service: Preparing for a Cyber Incident – A Guide to Ransomware
  • Global Cyber Alliance’s Small Business Toolkit.
• To which Law Enforcement agency do I report a ransomware incident to? There are several options for reporting a cyber incident to the Federal Government and you should review this guide before doing so. 
  • CISA. Businesses can report a cyber incident to either the US-CERT or a Regional Office
  • U.S. Secret Service. The U.S. Secret Service has a helpful Contacting Law Enforcement Guide. Victims can report an incident to their nearest Field Office and ask to speak to an agent with the Cyber and Fraud Task Force.
  • FBI. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has several resources to support ransomware victims, including a NCIJTF Fact Sheet. Organizations can report a crime to either the Internet Crime and Complaint Center (IC3) or an FBI Field Office. 
• What does OFAC’s Ransomware Advisory Means for U.S. Companies? On October 1, 2020, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) published an advisory that reiterates the prohibition against U.S. businesses and persons conducting business or paying funds to any person on the “Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons” list. Organizations developing their incident response plan should consult counsel to review their legal and regulatory obligations, including OFACs.

Live Poll Results: 

• 93% of respondents consider ransomware an existential threat to their business.
• 88% of respondents do not think their organization will pay a ransom demand.
• 98% of respondents will report a ransomware incident to law enforcement, and 71% know which agency they will report to.

Media Roundup: 

• DHS secretary warns ransomware attacks on the rise, targets include small businesses (ABC News)
• Biden administration, Congress unite in effort to tackle ransomware attacks (The Hill)
• DHS set to launch its ‘most significant hiring initiative’ as part of cyber workforce sprint (Federal News Network)
• DHS Chief: Ransomware Leads DHS Cyber Sprints Due to Urgency (MeriTalk)
• DHS chief Mayorkas cites CISA tools for small businesses heavily targeted by ransomware attackers (Inside Cybersecurity)

Media Roundup: 

• McMaster: SC ready to lead crucial cybersecurity field (Yahoo News)
• Cryptocurrency Crackdown Won’t Stop Ransomware, CISA Official Says (Nextgov)