A decade-long battle with the Federal Government over a false notification of a cybersecurity leak gave Michael Daugherty a lifetime worth of experience in cybersecurity and federal law. One result of this experience is the launch of a national series of Cyber Culture Summits, created to educate corporate America in the legal ramifications of cyber-attacks. This week in Atlanta, the first of these events took place presented through the Cyber Education Foundation, the non-profit organization founded by Daugherty to bring together business executives who have significant cybersecurity-related stories to tell.
Founder
Cyber Education Foundation
Daugherty’s message to corporate America is: Your organization is going to get attacked. It’s not “if”, but “when”. The only question is, how will your organization handle it? Your organization, not your CISO or security department. I say that because the world has changed and cybersecurity is not one person’s job. Cybersecurity must be the corporate culture.
In 2008, Daugherty’s small business was destroyed by the Federal Trade Commission based on false pretenses. Ten years later, a judge ruled that the FTC acted in bad faith on bad information, and ruled in favor of Daugherty’s business, LabMD.
On January 22, 2019, presenters, attendees, and sponsors gathered for the inaugural Cyber Culture event at Atlanta Tech Village. Daughtery brought together a team of cybersecurity and legal experts, including Doug Meal of Orrick, who was recently called “the greatest cybersecurity attorney in the US”. Meal represented Daugherty and LabMD in winning the case against the FTC.
“We are going to share everything we learned over the last ten years so we can change the way businesses approach the security of their data and — more importantly — their customers’ data,” said Daugherty.
Other key issues discussed were the capabilities of Atlanta and other cities to make major events such as the Super Bowl secure. The 2018 cyber attack on the City of Atlanta has many experts concerned.
Cyber Security Experts Discuss Cyber Culture
The focus of the Cyber Education Foundation is to help educate corporate America on the benefits of creating a business culture of cybersecurity. Drawing on his experience with with his own company along with information gleaned from others with cybersecurity expertise, Daugherty aims to highlight how a shift in company culture towards cybersecurity can spare organizations from lost time and money after such an attack.
In addition to Daugherty and Meal, experts at the event included:
- Kate Kuehn, CEO, USA, Senseon
- John D. Johnson, PhD, CEO & Founder, Aligned Security
- Richard H L Marshall, Esq., Chairman of the Board, Cinturion
- Niki Vonderwell, Management Coach, Vonderwell Management Consulting
Aflac was a Gold Sponsor for the event. Silver sponsors were Senseon, Orrick, Zscaler, and CDIO.
Marshall delivered opening remarks at the event. He is Former Associate General Counsel, NSA; former Director of Global Cyber Security Management, DHS; and Deputy Director, Critical Infrastructures Assurance Office, Dept. of Commerce.
Daugherty then presented a talk on “The State of the Regulatory State: Murky Laws, Expectations, and Standards.” This was followed by a keynote address by Meal on legal considerations. A panel discussion and a roundtable workshop rounded out the day.
Along with other news outlets, The Atlanta-Journal Constitution visited the event as part of its Super Bowl LIII security coverage . Click here to see a video clip from AJC.
