Computer security is topic of Nov. 30 forum

Nebraska Information Technology Security Day, in cooperation with the National Computer Security Day group, will be Nov. 30 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The day-long event, which is free and open to the public, will feature experts in various areas of computer security. The goal is to improve public awareness on issues of information technology security.

Information about times and locations of presentations will be available at the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., at registration, which is set for 8:30 a.m. Information can also be found at the Web site.

The conference will address topics including secure communalizations, security planning, cryptography and security certifications, "malware," such as viruses and Trojan horses, digital signatures, security audits, authentication, digital watermarking, identity management, security planning development, and security assessment. The information will be suitable for Nebraska businesses, government and educational institutions, university administration, faculty, and students.

The keynote address will be given at 9 a.m. at the Nebraska Union. The keynote speaker is Hal Berghel, director of the University of Nevada-Las Vegas School of Computer Science. Berghel is founding director of the UNLV Center for Cybermedia Research and the Internet Forensics Lab, as well as co-director of the international Identity Theft and Financial Fraud Research and Operations Center.

Berghel's topic will be the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of 2002, which requires CEOs and CFOs to certify personally and in writing quarterly and annual reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The executives must also establish that they have internal controls and oversight in place to protect stockholders against fraud. Information technology security is at the core of the internal controls, according to Donald F. Costello, senior lecturer in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at UNL. In addition, it is also the primary attack vector through which modern financial fraud reaches the modern organization. Other speakers will include Michael Carr, chief information security officer at University of Nebraska; Costello; Jim Gilley, senior scientist, Transcrypt International; Steve Hartman, director of the Nebraska Directory Services project, central data processing, Nebraska Statehouse; Bob Losee, systems coordinator, UNL Information Services; Byrav Ramamurthy, associate professor of computer science and engineering at UNL; Zac Reimer, network security analyst at UNL; Ashok Samal, associate professor of computer science and engineering at UNL; Steve Schafer, chief information officer for the state of Nebraska; and students of security and cryptography, who will present short security vignettes.

The conference is sponsored by the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Great Plains Software Technology Initiative, and the UNL student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery.

CONTACT: Donald F. Costello, Senior Lecturer, Computer Science & Engineering, (402) 472-5005