Update on Bay Path’s 11th Annual Cybersecurity Summit
Over 100 people attended the 11th Annual Cybersecurity Summit held on October 13, 2023. The hybrid event attracted participants from a variety of areas, including IT, cybersecurity, human resources, law enforcement, education, and of course students.
A cross representation of companies and organizations in attendance were Travelers, FIT Staffing, MassMutual, Paragus Strategic IT, and Accenture, to name a few.
This year’s featured speaker was Peter Sherlock, CEO of CyberTrust Massachusetts. The topic of his presentation was “Who's Next? How a Stronger Ecosystem is the First Line of Defense.”
His talk focused on the current cyber workforce challenges; the efforts to enable and activate new pathways for the talent pipeline; and the innovative cybersecurity approaches for municipalities across the Commonwealth.
CyberTrust Massachusetts will have a tremendous impact in our Western and Central Massachusetts regions through its partnership with the Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (CCE), managed by Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) and the City of Springfield, MA, located at Springfield Union Station.
The CCE at Union Station is a state-of-the-art facility where CyberTrust Massachusetts will offer to the region and the Commonwealth access to a globally recognized cyber range at very low cost, a Security Operations Center (SOC) for our municipalities, paid internships for cyber students at the SOC, Capture the Flag experiences for the regions middle and high school students, a forum for the region's employers to gather (Union Station) to address common problems, hold live fire testing of their SOC teams, and conduct a wide range of training on prevailing threats.
States Anthony Ciak, Director of Technical Staffing at FIT Staffing: “Cyber security threats are mounting and evolving quickly and there isn’t enough talent to meet market demands. The investments being made in the Western Massachusetts region by this collaborative initiative are an impactful way to train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals and to also protect organizations in the area from emerging attacks.”
The 6,000-square-foot Cybersecurity Center of Excellence at Union Station targeted opening is early 2024.
Several students participated in the Summit. Bay Path’s own Tania Hart G'24, a
student in the MS in Cybersecurity, shared her thoughts on the day: “As a graduate
student soon to be entering the rapidly evolving field of Cybersecurity, the 11th
annual Cybersecurity Summit on campus was a great opportunity to meet some of
the local leaders in the Massachusetts cyberspace and, particularly, to listen to
their responses to questions and thoughts at the end of the presentation. I am very
excited about the potential of the Cyber Range Center at Union Station in
Springfield, MA, and how it will help students and the community alike. I am so
happy I attended the 2023 Summit. Thank you, Bay Path University."
Stay tuned for information on next year’s Summit.
Please visit the MS in Cybersecurity program page to learn about curriculum, faculty, program options, and more!