Introduction: When and where
Join us for an exclusive afternoon of celebration, announcements and networking on cyber security at the University of Kent in Canterbury on 22nd May Wednesday.
The main venue of the event (2-5pm) will be Grimond Lecture Theatre 2 in the Grimond Building, but a BBQ lunch will take place 1-2pm on the lawn surrounded by the Registry, the Gulbenkian, Cornwallis South, and the Rutherford College Extension. The registration desk will be in the Grimond Foyer.
In case of wet weather, the BBQ lunch will take place in the Grimond Foyer and the Aphra Foyer (both are inside the Grimond Building).
We have also decided to allow remote participants since some people are keen to attend in person but cannot. To participate the event remotely, please use the following dial-in information from 2pm.
What is the event about?
Cyber threats are increasingly affecting all of us as individuals and also all types of private and public sector organisations. As cyber threats become more sophisticated and pervasive, we all need to be more cyber-aware and resilient, and all organisations across the globe are seeking cyber professionals who understand how do prepare and protect their organisation from cyber-attacks.
To help raise awareness on cyber security and online safety among more people, Institute of Cyber Security for Society (iCSS) at the University of Kent, KMCC (Kent & Medway Cyber Cluster Ltd) and KMCS3 (Kent & Medway Cyber Security Student Society) jointly organised the 2023-24 CyberAnything Competition. The prize winners of the Competition have now been selected and will be announced at the event.
In addition, to help equip more people with cyber security skills and to fill the cyber skills gap in many industrial sectors, iCSS has established an academic partnership with ISC2, the world’s leading not-for-profit member association for cyber security professionals, to organise cyber security certification training activities. Such activities are delivered jointly with KMCC as iCSS’s strategic partner. An ongoing project in this area is the ISC2-iCSS-KMCC 1MCC campaign, for encouraging more people to consider ISC2’s beginner-facing cyber security certification CC. Another planned activity is a pilot summer training course for ISC2’s more advanced cyber security certification CISSP. More details of such training activities will be announced at the event.
What will happen at the event?
The event’s agenda is as follows:
- 1-2pm: a BBQ-style lunch
- 2-2:15pm: light introduction talks to iCSS, KMCC, ISC2 and KMCS3
- 2:15-2:30pm: announcing the University of Kent’s new academic partnership with ISC2 and some cyber security training activities on ISC2 certifications co-organised by iCSS and KMCC
- 2:30-3:30pm: the prize ceremony of the 2023-24 iCSS-KMCC-KMCS3 CyberAnything Competition
- 3:30-5pm: social networking
Confirmed speakers of the event include the following:
- Tabitha Flax, Associate Director, Channel Partnerships and Alliances, ISC2
- Tabitha is over from Chicago, US and has been a senior manager at ISC2 for over 6 years. Tabitha has transformed the channel partnerships arm of ISC2 into a successful partner ecosystem in all regions (EMEA, APAC, Americas). Tabitha will highlight the work ISC2 is doing globally, particularly around both commercial and academic partnerships.
- Jason Steer, Director and CEO, KMCC
- Jason is an experienced cyber security professional. In addition to his KMCC roles, he is also the CISO of Recorded Future, a well-known cyber security company specialising in the collection, processing, analysis, and dissemination of threat intelligence. Jason will introduce KMCC and some of its ongoing and planned activities in cyber security ecosystem building and skills development.
- Shujun Li, Professor of Cyber Security and Director of iCSS, University of Kent
- Shujun has been Professor of Cyber Security at the University of Kent’s School of Computing since November 2017 and is the Director of iCSS, which represents the University of Kent as a UK government recognised Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research (ACE-CSR) and an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Education (ACE-CSE) with Gold Award status. Shujun will give the introduction to the University of Kent, iCSS, and some representative projects iCSS is running on cyber skills development and ecosystem building.
Who should attend and why?
The event is open to all to attend for free. The CyberAnything Competition part should be of interest to all who participated or considered participating in the Competition. We have a wide range of submissions and we believe that all should be able to find something they will like. We believe seeing, hearing, thinking about and talking about all the submissions can help the wider community to have an enhanced level of awareness about cyber security and empowering more individuals to learn how to protect themselves and their loved ones online.
The ISC2 cyber security certification part of this event is suitable for managers, directors and owners of businesses who want to understand the value of protecting their business from cyber-attacks. It is also for HR, learning and development leads who want to understand the power of recruiting graduates with the right cyber skills via university education and also cyber security certifications. It will be a valuable event for those who already have a plan or process for dealing with a cyber-attack as there will be opportunities to hear from and network with cyber security professionals. Last but not least, the event is also a great place for students and other learners who want to understand how to start a cyber security career and improve their future career perspectives.
The social networking part of the event will help all participants to intermingle with like-minded individuals to learn from each other, including future career and collaboration opportunities.
Whom to contact?
For more information about the event, contact the iCSS team (the main organiser) via cyber-info@kent.ac.uk, the KMCC team (co-organiser) via contact@kmcc-uk.org, or the ISC2 co-organiser Alex Mortimer via AMortimer@isc2.org.
About iCSS and the University of Kent
Cyber security research, education, innovation, wider impact and engagement activities of the University of Kent are coordinated by iCSS as a university-wide institute, one of the only four such institutes of the University.
Due to its excellent research profile in cyber security, the University of Kent has been recognised by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ) and EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, part of UKRI) as an ACE-CSR, from 2015-17, 2018-23 and more recently from 2024-29.
The University of Kent also has an excellent profile in cyber security education, and has been recognised by the NCSC (National Cyber Security Centre, part of GCHQ) and the DSIT (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology) as an ACE-CSE with Gold Award status, from 2023-29.
The overall profile of the University of Kent in cyber security, especially on real-world impact and engagement, has also led its being named ‘Cyber University of the Year’ of the inaugural Real Cyber Awards 2023.
