MSU, Cadence Bank Align to Help Businesses Battle Fraud

September 10, 2015

Story PhotoMSU President Mark E. Keenum welcomed business owners and executives to The Mill at MSU Conference Center for the forum "Cyber Attacks: Is Your Business Ready for Battle?" The event was a partnership between the university's Distributed Analytics and Security Institute and Cadence Bank.
A forum to help local businesses address the critical issue of cyberterrorism and develop strategies to guard against cyber fraud was held on September 3rd by Cadence Bank in partnership with Mississippi State University.

Speakers from Cadence and MSU's Distributed Analytics and Security Institute (DASI) addressed more than 120 business owners and executives for the forum "Cyber Attacks: Is Your Business Ready for Battle?"

Presenters included Dave Dampier, director of Mississippi State's DASI; Wesley McGrew, assistant professor for DASI; Roy Sexton, director of corporate security at Cadence Bank and former U.S. Secret Service; and Katrina King, treasury management executive at Cadence.

Dampier explored recent occurrences of cyber incidents in the news, vulnerabilities that enabled these incidents, and a framework for dealing with cyber intrusions. He stressed that cyber intrusions will happen, and every organization must have an adaptive incident response program in place for dealing with intrusion incidents. Such programs, he contended, are essential in minimizing the loss or theft of information, returning impacted systems back to normal operating status quickly, and properly dealing with the legal issues that may result from these incidents.

McGrew discussed the importance of penetration testing, including what to expect at each stage of the process. "Every day, organizations face advanced threat perpetrators who are well organized, funded and motivated to compromise their targets," he explained. "To have a shot, companies have to think like thieves." He emphasized that simulating relevant and realistic threats against a business's network, performed by a skilled third-party team, should be a critical part of every company's cybersecurity defense plan.

To view the full article, please see: Mississippi State University News