As news of cyber leaks continues to surface and swirl, Virginia Tech is convening a panel of experts on Capitol Hill to discuss “America’s Cyberthreat: Should You Be Afraid and What Can Congress Do About It?”

Virginia Tech President Tim Sands will introduce former Congressman Jim Moran, professor of practice at the Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs,
who will lead the roundtable discussion about the evolving cyberthreat and potential public policy responses on March 22, from 3:30 to 5 p.m., at 485 Russell Senate Office Building, 2 Constitution Ave. NE, in Washington, D.C. 

Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., keynote speaker for the event, serves as vice chairman for the U.S. Senate’s Select Committee on Intelligence.

The panel will address a range of topics, including Russian hacking in the 2016 election, recent leaks of U.S. intelligence cyber tools, vulnerabilities in critical infrastructure and the Internet of Things, and cybersecurity workforce development.

Cybersecurity experts participating in the roundtable include:

  • Charles Clancy, director, Virginia Tech Hume Center for National Security and Technology
  • Karen Evans, national director, U.S. Cyber Challenge, and former chief information officer, U.S. federal government
  • Russ Housley, board member, Internet Architecture, and former chair, Internet Engineering task force
  • Richard Puckett, vice president, Product and Commercial Cybersecurity, General Electric
  • Steve Ryan, partner, McDermott Will & Emery LLP
  • Teresa Shea, executive vice president and director, Cyber Reboot Lab, In-Q-Tel, and former director of Signals Intelligence and Cyber Operations at the National Security Agency

The event is free and open to the public but space is limited; an RSVP is requested to events.president@vt.edu by Monday.

The Virginia Tech School of Public and International Affairs (SPIA) and the Hume Center for National Security and Technology are co-sponsoring the event. The Hume Center is a core contributor to the Integrated Security Destination Area at Virginia Tech and the School of Public and International Affairs is a core contributor to the Policy Strategic Growth Area.

“Virginia Tech professors and researchers are working at the intersection of cybersecurity technology and policy to address ever-emerging threats to our nation’s critical infrastructure and citizens' privacy. Our goal is to not only address current and future research challenges, but to educate students to develop the workforce that our country is going to need moving forward,” Clancy said.

“This is the third Capitol Hill roundtable co-sponsored by SPIA,” said SPIA Director Anne Khademian. “Our goal is to highlight the policy and technical expertise of our Virginia Tech faculty and the importance of bridging and integrating this expertise to effectively engage the world’s most pressing public problems.”

Earlier roundtables focused on Drones in America, and safety and security in America 15 years after 9-11.

Editor's note: This story was updated and corrected March 17 to say that Virginia Tech Tim Sands will introduce former congressman Jim Moran.

Share this story