Mark your calendars–it’s time to register for the 13th annual National Cyber Summit, to be held September 20-22 at the Von Braun Center.

The National Cyber Summit is the nation’s most innovative cyber security-technology event, offering unique educational, collaborative, and workforce development opportunities for both rising leaders and industry visionaries.

The event will be hosted by the North Alabama Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (NAC-ISSA), Cyber Huntsville Corporation, Auburn University Research, and the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

Diamond level sponsors include All Points LLC, COLSA Corporation, Deltek, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Intuitive, and PeopleTec, while Platinum level sponsors include Dynetics, Gray Analytics, Noblis, and Quantum Research International.

“Today, cyber security is one of the most important priorities for the federal government and advancements in zero trust, multi-factor authentication, cloud security, and more are opening new opportunities for organizations to better secure their assets and the nation,” said Judy Darwin, Vice President of the National Cyber Summit.

“NCS attendees will hear from leaders from across government and industry as they discuss cyber threats, intelligence, the future of cyber security, protecting critical infrastructure, and so much more,” Darwin continued.

According to Darwin, this year’s event has more corporate partners than ever before, with over 136 exhibitors this year and over 1,300 people already registered.

“We came out of the pandemic last year and we were so excited just to have the cyber conference, but this year it’s so much more than that. People are ready to get out, they’re ready to learn, and they’re ready to know what the newest threats are and understand how the capabilities that are there can help them protect and harden their systems,” she said.

Cyber Huntsville president Jamie Miller noted that this is the pre-eminent activity of the organization, which every year brings together thought leaders from across the cyber community in government, academia, and industry to talk about the latest challenges to cyber security.

“Some of the things we’re doing here in Huntsville are world class, they’re being done nowhere else. We’re dealing with weapons systems cybersecurity, protecting the rocket launch for Artemis, working with NASA, various commercial companies, the banking industry…really world-class stuff,” Miller said, adding that in his role he’s constantly blown away by the things Cyber Huntsville’s partner organizations are able to accomplish here in Huntsville.

“It’s a really special event for us to be able to celebrate all those organizations and partnerships, to have world-class speakers come talk about the latest challenges and how we’re mitigating risk to our country…I encourage everyone to come.”

NAC-ISSA President and Cyber Huntsville VP of Education/Workforce Development Nisheeth Agrawal then announced the re-opening of the National Cyber Summit.

“Hard to believe 13 years have gone by–it started as a local conference and here we are. We’re [now] a national conference and someone just asked us earlier ‘why wouldn’t everybody want to be here?’”

Agrawal noted that the event has grown to over 3,000 attendees. The North Alabama Chapter of ISSA, which he said has 450 members, has been involved with this conference since its inception.

“People will be bringing their ideas, their innovations, and things they can talk about and share with each other to secure our national security and our assets. Like Jamie said, it’s going to protect us,” Agrawal explained.

“That’s what we’re here for–if you haven’t registered, please register. Come join us–we’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

Huntsville city Mayor Tommy Battle helps prep the city of the 13th National Cyber Summit

The National Cyber Summit has recently begun to attract international visitors, with one coming from as far away as Finland last year. “We started thinking we might be the International Cyber Summit now, and especially once Space Command comes in we’ll be the Intergalactic Cyber Summit at that point,” Mayor Battle joked.

Battle recalled the beginnings of the event just after his election as mayor in 2008, when a group of about 40 people sat around a table in a small room in Dynetics and started discussing their interest in network and computer security.

“This initial gathering of local volunteers evolved into what became Cyber Huntsville, and the Cyber Huntsville initiative has a commitment that has helped position Huntsville front and center on the global stage in cyber security,” Battle stated.

“We’re here today preparing to welcome several thousand participants to the 13th National Cyber Summit. Thought leaders and vendors will share the most advanced technologies in the world of cyber security.”

“Momentum for this event is thanks to the smart people living and working in Huntsville with intelligence and passion for identifying and developing solutions for the nation’s most serious cybersecurity issues,” Battle continued. “This commitment and passion is what drives our community to come together in the face of adversity and what makes the annual conference so special.”

According to Miller, the event is open to the public and offers something for everyone regardless of knowledge level.

“If you just want to learn about how to better protect yourself online, there’s plenty of speakers who can tell you general safety rules for social media presence, how you handle your personal identifiable information…it’s accessible to everyone,” he said.