Regional Security Conference

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark., April 21, 2003 — The Arkansas InfraGard Chapter, which is sponsored by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Information Technology Research Institute of the University of Arkansas are sponsoring a regional security conference on May 17-18 at the University of Arkansas Center for Continuing Education.

InfraGard members and company leaders from Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma and Missouri will attend this premiere security conference, which is also open to professionals from established companies or government organizations.

The registration fee is $275 for members and $300 for non-members for those registered by Saturday, May 13. Registration fee covers two days of seminars, lunch both days and a reception. Participants may register online at: http://itri.uark.edu/events/infragard.

The Center for Continuing Education of the University of Arkansas is located at 2 E. Center St., on the Square in downtown Fayetteville.

The keynote speaker for May 17 is David A. Thomas, chief of counterterrorism-counterintelligence and criminal computer intrusion investigations. The closing keynote address for that day will be led by Jim Olson and Meredith Olson and is titled “A Different Kind of Marriage — 31 Years Together in the CIA.”

The conference closing keynote address will be conducted by James Lee Witt, the former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency during the Clinton presidency. Witt is now the chairman and chief executive officer of James Lee Witt Associates LLC, which provides disaster recovery and mitigation management services to state and local governments, educational institutions, the international community and corporations.

The two-day agenda is filled with security information of importance to most organizations, both commercial and government organizations. The two tracks include information technology and physical security. Session titles include Bots, Encryption, Electronic Security Systems Integration, Vulnerability Assessments, Leading Practices in Emergency Management, Violence in the Workplace, Business Intelligence and Threat Assessment for the Global Travel, RFID (radio frequency identification), The Global Fundamental Islamic Terror, and Arming the Road Warrior.

The National InfraGard Program began as a pilot project in 1996, when the Cleveland FBI Field Office asked local computer professionals to assist the FBI in determining how to better protect critical information systems in the public and private sectors. From this new partnership, the first InfraGard Chapter was formed to address both cyber and physical threats. The FBI, in conjunction with representatives from the private industry, the academic community, and the public sector, further developed the "InfraGard" initiative to expand direct contacts with the private sector infrastructure owners and operators and to share information about cyber intrusions, exploited vulnerabilities, and infrastructure threats.

The initiative, encouraging the exchange of information by government and private sector members, has continued to expand through the formation of additional InfraGard chapters, within the jurisdiction of each FBI field office. There are now 72 active chapters of InfraGard, with over 7,900 members across the nation. The Arkansas chapter was formed in 2000 and now has 194 members from multiple academic, commercial and government organizations.

The research institute was established as the Information Technology Research Center in the Walton College in 1999 from a portion of the endowment created by the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation’s 1998 gift of $50 million. In 2005, the ITRC became the Information Technology Research Institute and opened the RFID Research Center. The institute’s goal is to engage the business community in such activities as research projects, roundtables, workshops, conferences and a variety of student-oriented events.

For more information on the InfraGard conference, check the Web at http://itrc.uark.edu or call (479) 575-4261.