Mobile Communications Security Symposium

The Innovation and Leadership Institute will host the Mobile Communications Security Symposium on December 4, 2009 from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. in the Avrum Gudelsky Memorial Auditorium. Have you ever wondered if current information assurance techniques would be enough to protect cellular mobile communications devices from cyber attack? Then join us for this free event as key speakers David Ward, JD, of the FCC, Rick Kemper of The Wireless Association, Dr. Donald Goff of Criterion Systems, Inc., and Dan Hickey of Navy Marine Corps Internet, discuss the intricacies of protecting our “pocket computing” systems. To register, email ili@capitol-college.edu.

Schedule:
8:00-8:45 Registration and refreshments
8:45-9:00 President’s welcome
9:00-9:10 Comments from Allan Berg, Director, ILI
9:10-10:00 Keynote - Dave Ward, JD
10:00-10:15 Break
10:15-12:00 Panelist presentations, discussions, conclusion

Background

Two technological trends are transforming the cellular mobile radio service “telephone” model into robust, mobile and hand-held communicating and computing model. These are the convergence of telecommunications to the Internet Protocol and the substantial increase in computing power built into portable communications devices. With the advent of third (3G) and fourth generation (4G) cellular telecommunications technology, we enter the era of fully-networked “pocket computing.”

Recent news coverage of hacker successes with putting private communications content into the public realm without the permission of the owners of that information has shocked the American public. Can a hacker actually listen in on our cellular telephone conversations when the telephone is turned off, use cell phone cameras, read our text messages, and even track our whereabouts at all times without our knowledge or permission?

Often the reports of security breaches achieve public notoriety not on the basis of fact, but on unsupported and untested sensationalism attributable to trader reporters and blogs.

The symposium will discuss:

• The threat de-bunked: the myths and realities of the current threat to internet-enabled, cellular mobile devices.
• The ways/means that hackers install malicious code on unwitting users.
• Whether or not current techniques used to secure information can be used to stop third-party access.
• The specific tools and techniques used by hackers to successfully breach mobile devices.
• Which cellular telephones are most vulnerable to hacking.
• What users and cellular telephone companies can do to protect the users privacy.
• How the IA community can help law enforcement agencies track down, prosecute, and incarcerate the criminals involved.