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The first annual Commonwealth of Virginia Security Conference held April 3 - 4 in Richmond attracted more than 200 participants from state and local government, higher education and the business community.

The theme of "Information Security: Enabling the Business," focused on issues such as balancing security risks and business needs, effective security metrics, regulatory compliance, information security governance, major business trends with security implications and more.

In addition to the expert presentations for and by those who manage, audit or assess information security in their organizations, the conference program featured keynote addresses by two nationally known speakers. Dr. Don Ross of the National Institute of Standards and Technology presented on "TACIT Security: Institutionalizing Cyber Protection for Critical Assets" on April 3 and Justin Somaini, Chief Trust Officer at Box, spoke on the "New Security Model and Transformation in the Enterprise" on April 4.

Secretary of Technology, Karen Jackson and Chief Information Officer Sam Nixon gave luncheon remarks. Secretary Jackson provided an overview of the exciting technology strategy for Virginia in the upcoming years. CIO Nixon spoke about the Virginia Information Technologies Agency's (VITA) mission to combat security threats. He stressed "security is THE issue of the day and security is everyone's responsibility..."

Conference participants had the opportunity to expand their professional networks, learn about security products and services, and earn continuing professional education credits. Attendees included information security officers, information security analysts and engineers, CIOs, IT auditors and privacy and risk officers.

The conference was hosted by the Virginia state government Information Security (IS) Council, the Secretary of Technology and VITA. More information on the IS Council can be found here: COV IS Council.