MIT Sloan to host “Think Security” event focused on critical infrastructure cybersecurity

Student seminar will run in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab from Jan. 23 – Jan. 26

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Jan. 16, 2018––The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in collaboration with Kaspersky Lab, will host its second annual “Think Security” seminar, which offers MIT students an opportunity to learn about the challenges of protecting today’s critical infrastructure against sophisticated, emerging cyberattacks. The event, organized in part by MIT Interdisciplinary Consortium for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity [(IC)3] and the Sloan School of Management, is open to select students during MIT’s Independent Activities Period (IAP) from January 23 – 26.The first two days of the weeklong seminar are dedicated to industrial cybersecurity, with a focus on forensic analysis of incidents and the advantages of using YARA rules to detect cyberattacks. On the last two days of the seminar, the sessions will cover the managerial, strategic and organizational aspects of cybersecurity. Participants will learn about the NIST Framework for Policy and Management, experience a demonstration of the types of decisions cybersecurity leaders make and the consequences of those decisions as well as the creation of a cybersecurity plan of action. There will also be a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge that requires students to think differently in order to be one step ahead of their competitors.

“With more than half of industrial companies experiencing at least one cyberattack in the last 12 months, it’s now more important than ever to educate and train the next generation of cyber experts on securing today’s critical infrastructures, tomorrow’s industrial IoT and various other cyber-physical systems,” said Evgeny Goncharov, head of Kaspersky Lab ICS CERT. “Last year’s ‘Think Security’ seminar was a successful, interactive and engaging event, where students walked away with valuable, practical knowledge, tools and intel that they wouldn’t traditionally gain in a classroom setting. We look forward to bringing this experience once again to MIT in order to raise further awareness around industrial cybersecurity and to continue building relationships within the cybersecurity academic community.”

MIT’s IAP program is a special four-week term in January that has been in existence for more than 40 years. The annual event allows the MIT community, including faculty, students, staff and alumni, to apply critical thinking and hands-on learning skills to real-world problems, furthering their technical skillset. 

“Industrial cybersecurity is an important issue affecting systems worldwide, and for this reason, we’ve once again joined cybersecurity experts at Kaspersky Lab to educate the MIT community on best practices, next steps and what they can do to make a difference,” said Stuart Madnick, director of (IC)3 and professor of information technology at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the MIT School of Engineering. “The weeklong seminar allows our students and staff to interact and work together in order to solve some of today’s most pressing ICS problems – creating an unforgettable, educational experience.”

For more information or to register for the “Think Security” seminar, please visit http://bit.ly/MITThinkSecurity2018.

Cybersecurity at MIT Sloan is a research consortium dedicated to solving the strategic, organizational, and managerial issues surrounding cybersecurity in organizations.  For more information visit the Consortium website: https://ic3.mit.edu.