The Arizona Junior Fellows along with the Arizona State University School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership are collaborating with the American Enterprise Institute to host a panel on cybersecurity titled Cybersecurity and the Future. The event is sponsored by Global Market Innovators.

The focus of the panel will be to discuss how Arizona has adapted to new cybersecurity threats, how those efforts compare to other states and jurisdictions, and how the public and private sectors can work together to prevent cyberattacks and better protect consumer privacy.

National cybersecurity expert Klon Kitchen will join policymakers, business leaders, and university students and faculty for the event. Kitchen is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who has previously worked at the National Counterterrorism Center and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.

Joining Klon is Tim Roemer, the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security. Roemer recently led the effort to create the Cyber Command Center, which serves as the state’s headquarters for cybersecurity operations.

Gregg Davis, the president of Global Market Innovators, and Brian Elisco, the CEO of Tenet-Abrazo will also join the panel. Davis and Elisco will be bringing the business leaders’ perspectives to this cybersecurity conversation.

The event will be moderated by Eileen Klein, the former Arizona treasurer and president emerita of the Arizona Board of Regents, as well as a former healthcare executive.

Cybercrime the world a collective $3 trillion in 2015 and is expected to cost $10.5 trillion by 2025. Arizona has been no stranger to the danger presented by cyber-attacks, as researchers estimate that data breaches from 2005 to 2020 cost the state $1.6 billion. In that time frame Arizona had 181 data breaches, putting more than 10 million records at risk. 

Despite these attacks, Arizona has been for itscommunity-based and cross-sectoral approach to cybersecurity that emphasizes trust and collaboration between government agencies and private companies. 

This includes the recent establishment of the command center, which will serve as Arizona’s headquarters for coordinating cybersecurity operations. 

As more personal data like banking information and medical records are transferred into the digital world, there is an increased risk of cyber-attacks that undermine public and private enterprises. People, companies, and governments are looking for new solutions to rising cybercrime as it becomes a more prominent issue.

About the event

The Future of Arizona Democracy: Cybersecurity and the Future will be hosted from 5:00-6:15 pm at ASU’s Old Main (400 E Tyler Mall, Tempe, AZ 85281) on Monday, March 21, 2022.

The event is free and open to the public. Registration is available .This event is a part of the series, “,” which is produced by the Arizona Junior Fellows in partnership with the School of Civic and Economic Thought and Leadership at Arizona State University. The Arizona Junior Fellows are a project of the Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ Foundation. They conduct research in a variety of fields in order to communicate important issues to policymakers and business leaders.

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Arizona last fall announced the launch of a “Cyber Command Center”, which will serve as the state’s headquarters for organizing operations. The center will provide a central location for facilitating information sharing and cooperation between cyber experts, government agencies, and private-public partnerships.

At a ceremony hosted at the Department of Public Safety’s Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC), Gov. Doug Ducey was joined by leading state officials to celebrate the launch. 

“Cybersecurity is homeland security. Our society is becoming increasingly interconnected through technology, and cybersecurity has become one of the most important issues facing Arizona,” Ducey . “This new command center will be critical in protecting Arizonans and ensuring our cyber infrastructure remains safe and secure.”

Others in attendance included Tim Roemer, the director of the Arizona Department of Homeland Security and the chief information security officer. Roemer, who earlier in his career served in the CIA, led the initiative to launch the center and integrate its mission into homeland security. 

The creation of the center highlights the growing need to protect Arizonans against cyber attacks. Arizona’s Department of Homeland Security that, in September alone, they detected 68 million cyber threats and protected Arizona websites from more than 800,000 attacks.

Researchers that data breaches from 2005 to 2020 cost Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ore than $1.6 billion. Arizona is only one of two states, including New Jersey, that group cybersecurity with homeland security.

Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce talks business with Tim Roemer 

The Arizona Â鶹´«Ă˝Ół»­ of Commerce & Industry last month hosted a panel with cyber security experts in Arizona. Roemer led the panel and discussed the importance of the new cyber command center, public and private sector partnerships in cyber security, threat information sharing, and investment in cyber threat prevention systems. 

Reflecting on the new Cyber Command Center and Gov. Ducey’s remarks about some of the center’s primary functions, Roemer explained the importance of public and private sector partnerships. 

“We can throw tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars at advanced cyber protection technology and it won’t make a difference without coalition and partnership between business leaders in the private sector and the state government,” Roemer said.

Roemer was asked what businesses should be focussing on to protect against the growing threat of cyber attacks that include email phishing, ransomware, zero-day exploitation, and even password attacks. He said companies should, “Protect their human firewall, invest in their employees, and create a culture of cybersecurity awareness.” 

Roemer stressed the importance of annual cyber security training, examples of which include internal simulated phishing attempts and various kinds of penetration testing that can determine weak points in a company’s digital security perimeter. 

The panel also included David Riza, the security delivery senior manager at Accenture, a company that specializes in business strategy, technology strategy, and operations strategy services. 

Riza was asked about security strategies for different kinds of businesses and corporations and whether some business models are especially vulnerable to cyber threats. 

“Some businesses are bigger targets,” he said. “Government, energy, architecture are a few industries that cyber hackers want to attack. Access to these industries allows hackers to cause real-world physical consequences.”

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