EASTON, MD (March 29, 2021) – To help address the ever-increasing threat of cyberattacks against the U.S. food industry, the second Cyberag Symposium on April 14 will bring together experts from the agriculture and cybersecurity sectors to discuss and discover solutions to security problems. Registration is free and the symposium will be held virtually.
“Advancements in American agriculture technology have broad security implications for the country, making data security a top concern,” said Mike Thielke, executive director of the Eastern Shore Entrepreneur Center (ESEC), organizer of the symposium. “This second symposium will further build awareness about how data protection can be leveraged to protect the agriculture and aquaculture sectors.”
While the agricultural industry has historically had little demand for cybersecurity, new innovation and advancements have left the sector in dire need of safeguarding from exploitation and hacking from outside influences. According to a recent survey by Farm Journal Pulse, less than 20% of farmers feel confident in their data security.
The symposium also provides the opportunity for members of the cybersecurity community to become aware of the problems facing the agricultural community. This will provide access to new markets for cyber firms to offer their existing solutions as well as for developing novel solutions for ongoing and newly-developed problems in the agriculture-aquaculture world.
This second symposium will feature speakers from Skyward Apps (Columbia, Maryland), Rantizo (Iowa City, Iowa), AgLaunch (Memphis, Tennessee), Corteva’s Granular Division (San Francisco, California), and the FBI (Washington, DC). The symposium is sponsored by Rantizo; the Maryland Department of Commerce; MidAtlantic Farm Credit; the Maryland Farm Bureau; Cybersecurity Association of Maryland, Inc. (CAMI); and F3Tech, an ESEC initiative.
Registration is now open at cyberag.org.
REGISTRATION
A session from the first CyberAg Symposium – Data Security from an Agriculture Perspective, which was held last December – can be viewed at cyberag.org by clicking on the video on the right side of the page. The ongoing conversation can be joined through social media at #cyberag.
About ESEC: The Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center (ESEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, based in Easton on Maryland’s Eastern Shore, with a mission to educate and support entrepreneurs. Its initiatives include F3 Tech, a program that focuses bringing technology solutions to the Farm, Fish, and Food industries.
