With new threats to cybersecurity evolving at an unprecedented rate, cyberspace has become an operational domain – like air, land, and sea, in military-speak – in which governments, businesses, institutions, and individuals must equip themselves to defend against attack.

How can we know with any certainty that our personal information is secure? Which groups or organizations pose the biggest threats to internet safety? What is being done – and what can we do – to help build a safer online world?

These questions and more were addressed at a 25^th anniversary reception and panel discussion hosted by Fairfield University’s School of Engineering on Monday, September 16 in the Dogwood Room of the Barone Campus Center. Faculty, students, alumni and friends of the University joined the conversation about the ever-changing cybersecurity landscape and its impact on “air, land, sea… and your wallet," moderated by broadcast veteran Marc Bernier, host of an eponymous Florida radio talk show. The panel featured the following cybersecurity innovators and experts:

• Hon. Michael A.L. Balboni – President and Managing Partner Redland Strategies,
  Chair for the Cyber and Physical Security Committee of the New York Power Authority's Board of Trustees
• Paul Caulfield ’96 – Chief Risk Officer of Israel Discount Bank
• Neill Fulbright – Professor of Aviation Maintenance Science, College of Aviation
  Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
• J. Patrick Kelly '09 – Vice President, Cyber and Intelligence Solutions, Mastercard
• Dr. Gary Kessler – Branch Chief - Cyber Readiness, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and Professor of Cybersecurity
• Andrew Struzik ’01, M’09 – Director of Cybersecurity for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society

“Conversation is the first step toward raising awareness and finding solutions to the challenges of cybersecurity,” said Dean of the School of Engineering Richard H. Heist, PhD, “The shared knowledge, experience, and insight of these diverse panelists contributed greatly to this important dialogue.”