With nearly 500 guests representing 35 countries, this year’s International Conference on Cyber Security (ICCS), hosted by Fordham and the FBI, got underway on Aug. 5. On arrival at the Lincoln Center campus, guests were greeted by a welcome sign plastered with a sold out sticker.
Though the registration area filled quickly with conference visitors, there were plenty of Fordham security experts on hand as well. Kevin J. Kelly, FCRH ’84, was among a handful of students who were the first to major in computer science during the early 1980s. He studied under ICCS co-organizer D. Frank Hsu, Ph.D., the Clavius Distinguished Professor of Science and professor of computer and information science.
Kelly went on to work for the NYPD and for Citibank. He teaches computer and information science as an adjunct professor at Fordham and points out the importance of the academy joining the cyber security conversation.
“It’s a whole new paradigm and the University plays an important role in training future security experts,” he said.
“Having something of this scale here at Fordham is major,” said Cody Brown, FCLC ’13, another alumnus who is assisting Hsu at the conference. “There are other conferences like this, but the stature of this is second to none.”
Junior Katy Venizlos, a communications major at Fordham College Rose Hill, is one of several student volunteers working ICCS. Though her major slightly veers from the security interests of the attendees, she too understood the importance of the venture.
“It’s good for Fordham to integrate education with the government and it’s a great opportunity for the students,” she said.
Asked if she was a little awed by the sheer number of G-men and women filing into the building, she shrugged.
“My dad is in the FBI, so I’m used to it.”
