Overview:
Critical infrastructures are those physical and cyber-based systems essential to the minimum operations of the economy and government. They include telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, transportation, water systems and emergency services. Due to advances in information technology (IT) and the necessity of improved efficiency, these infrastructures have become increasingly automated and interdependent. Most modern commercial infrastructures are composed of a collection of interconnected networks and serve different purposes and have different owners. Critical information is passed between these component networks to coordinate necessary functions. The complexity and interdependency of this critical information flow introduces vulnerabilities into the entire critical infrastructure.

These vulnerabilities may be exploited by groups of people with political, economic, or other motives. There is a real possibility that our critical infrastructures can be targeted by terrorists, resulting in wide spread serious consequences.

Critical infrastructure protection is not only the concern of information security professionals. Most of the serious system compromises involve end users. Many software developers are not sufficiently alert to software development techniques that may introduce vulnerabilities to systems. The purpose of this event is to educate IT professionals, in both public as well as the private sectors, about the importance of Information Security and Privacy and their relationship to Critical Infrastructure Protection. It also will offer a network opportunities for IT professionals in the greater Charlotte Metropolitan area.

Intended audience:
IT managers, information security professionals, software developers, and IT students.

Check or money order made payable to: UNC Charlotte

Attention:
Linda G. Allen
UNC Charlotte
College of Information Technology
9201 University City Blvd.
Charlotte NC 28223