Conference to boost New Zealand’s cyber security

Conference to boost New Zealand’s cyber security

26 September 2016

From personal activity trackers to drone pizza deliveries, driverless cars and smart home heating, lighting and power systems: our mundane life is giving way to a virtual control. So how savvy are we about cyber security in this interconnected world?

Addressing what a secure New Zealand will look like in five years’ time is the theme of an international conference on cyber security to be held in Auckland later this year. Unitec Institute of Technology has won a bid to bring the International Privacy, Security & Trust Conference to the Southern Hemisphere for the first time since its inception 14 years ago.

Professor Hossein Sarrafzadeh, Director of Unitec’s High Tech Transdisciplinary Research Network, says the Privacy Security & Trust Conference, which is in partnership with the prestigious IEEE, the world's largest technical professional organisation, will raise business and public awareness on cyber security issues, increase the knowledge base and contribute to the New Zealand economy.

“New Zealand is in a strong position to influence the evolution of cyber security globally,” says Professor Sarrafzadeh. “New Zealand has an asset called ‘trust’, and security has a lot to do with trust. We could be investing and capitalising on that trust to bring more collaborative and economic benefits to the country, particularly around cloud computing.”

Researchers will present their experience in new and emerging cyber security technologies at the conference. This is hoped to help businesses and entrepreneurs identify investment opportunities and make the necessary connections to kick start commercialisation of novel solutions.

Speakers at the conference include IBM’s Sandy Bird, New Zealand’s manager of the National Cyber Policy Office, Paul Ash, Director of Cybersecurity at National ICT Japan, Dr Daisuke Inoue, cryptology expert and honorary academic at the University of Auckland, Dr Peter Gutmann and international researchers covering topics such as operating system security, cloud security and storage, Internet of Things security, as well as specialist sessions on health and the latest tools.

An industry-focussed summit day follows on from the conference and will include a ‘state-of-the-nation’ commentary, latest global security trends, workshops relating to cybersecurity, as well as solutions-focused exchanges about cybersecurity in New Zealand.

http://pst2016.unitec.ac.nz/
http://pst2016.unitec.ac.nz/registration

ENDS

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