I spoke on a Docent Institute webinar last night co-hosted by Iowa Illinois IEEE Section – R4 and IEEE Computer Society (Iowa-Illinois Chapter). The title of the talk is, “Navigating Cybersecurity and Systemic Risk in a Rapidly Advancing Technological Landscape”where I discussed #cybersecurity and #systemic_risk. Thanks to Binto George & Michael Umakor, who were co-hosts. Check out the video! You may find the video and slides here:

• VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LzpsoYEKpzE
• SLIDES: https://docent.org/resources/Systemic.Risk.Johnson2-IEEE-12.18.24.pdf

I was honored to be invited to give a presentation on November 14th in Rockford, IL for the Rock River Valley Section. The turnout was 30+ members and non-members. Click the image above for the PDF.

ABSTRACT

In our globally interconnected world, the rapid advancement and intersection of technologies present both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. This presentation will explore the ethical misuse, systemic risk, and cascading failures that arise as technology evolves faster than regulation and current cybersecurity measures. Key topics include the threat landscape of adversarial AI, the potential for quantum computing to crack encryption and expose secrets, and the unintended consequences of technological progress. Attendees will gain insights into the challenges and strategies for defending against these emerging threats in the coming years and decades.

Docent Institute is hosting a private CISO Dinner & Charity Fundraiser for Docent Institute for Greater Chicago Area security leaders on November 18th, 2024 at The Casino, near the Hancock Building, from 6-9pm. There will be appetizers, fine dining and open bar with special bourbon tasting from NetThunder. [This event has SOLD OUT]

To donate to Docent Institute, go to https://buy.stripe.com/eVa5kH0Dp2OD5O0fYY.
Donations may be tax deductible. Learn more about Docent @ DOCENT.ORG

Photos from the 2023 Chicago Security Speakeasy @ The Casino

[Article by juliawise on Lesswrong.com]

I think of us in some kind of twilight world as transformative AI looks more likely: things are about to change, and I don’t know if it’s about to get a lot darker or a lot brighter.

Increasingly this makes me wonder how I should be raising my kids differently.

What might the world look like

Most of my imaginings about my children’s lives have them in pretty normal futures, where they go to college and have jobs and do normal human stuff, but with better phones.

It’s hard for me to imagine the other versions:

• A lot of us are killed or incapacitated by AI
• More war, pandemics, and general chaos
• Post-scarcity utopia, possibly with people living as uploads 
• Some other weird outcome I haven’t imagined

Even in the world where change is slower, more like the speed of the industrial revolution, I feel a bit like we’re preparing children to be good blacksmiths or shoemakers in 1750 when the factory is coming. The families around us are still very much focused on the track of do well in school > get into a good college > have a career > have a nice life. It seems really likely that chain will change a lot sometime in my children’s lifetimes.

When?

Of course it would have been premature in 1750 to not teach your child blacksmithing or shoemaking, because the factory and the steam engine  took a while to replace older forms of work. And history is full of millenialist groups who wrongly believed the world was about to end or radically change.

I don’t want to be a crackpot who fails to prepare my children for the fairly normal future ahead of them because I wrongly believe something weird is about to happen. I may be entirely wrong, or I may be wrong about the timing.

[Read more at: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/cyqrvE3dk5apg54Sk/raising-children-on-the-eve-of-ai]

https://www.onshore.com/managed-security-services/onsecurity-building-the-cybersecurity-community-of-tomorrow/

John Johnson joins onSecurity to discuss CornCon, the cybersecurity convention he founded in Davenport, Iowa. CornCon’s growth is in large part due to it filling a growing demand for regional cybersecurity events, as well as the event’s focus on young professionals, students, and children, with programming designed to support and welcome the cybersecurity industry leaders of tomorrow.

CornCon “Quad Cities Cybersecurity Conference” is returning in person on September 30 & October 1, 2022. To be held at RiverCenter convention center in downtown Davenport, Iowa, this year’s conference will include a Thursday CISO summit (TBD), two days full of great speakers, tutorials, villages and expo, as well has K12 activities on both Friday and Saturday. More details can be found on the conference website: https://corncon.net. (note that early bird pricing has been extended to July 15th)

Systemic risk is about the risk that exists between the parts of any complex system. This includes third-party vulnerabilities. Being able to understand if any third party introduces critical levels of systemic risk to the entire system through concentration risk is also a critical systemic cyber risk challenge.