The Technology Association of Georgia (TAG) has assembled a new team crack down on backdoors in metro Atlanta’s digital network.
According to Government Technology, Atlanta is home to 25 percent of the world’s global security revenue market, and the state massive amounts of information in its post-secondary schools.
The TAG is forming the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC), based in Atlanta, to push for further legislation of promoting cyber awareness and security. This decision is a movement to protect individuals, companies, and government bodies in the converging age of media and online security, according to NTSC.
Georgia State, as a part of TAG, holds a massive database of personal, financial, and academic information that is potentially vulnerable to cyber threats. Ren Flot, Chief Information Security Officer at Georgia State University, said that TAG’s decision will benefit the university.
“With this membership, all Georgia State students are eligible to participate in TAG. We’re excited to be a member of an organization that is taking a leading role in addressing issues of cyber security,” Flot said.
Flot also also said cyber threats are a very real and growing issue in today’s society.
“Cyber security threats continue to increase as computers become increasingly involved in all aspects of our lives, and anyone can become a target, whether using computers for school, business or social tasks,” he said. “The key is staying one step ahead of security vulnerabilities with protective measures like protecting personal information and avoiding email phishing.”
According to Flot, phishing is when “cyber criminals send fraudulent emails that seem to come from legitimate sources in order to trick recipients into revealing sensitive information”, a phenomenon that Georgia State dealt with as recently as January 28th.
Students received a campus broadcast saying Instructional Innovation and Technology had been alerted to fraudulent emails claiming to be from “University Administrator” or “Mail Service Team.” Students were advised to avoid clicking the link in the body, and delete the email all together.
Luis Ferrer-Labarca, Chief Innovation officer of student organization Panther Hackers, defined hacking by the organization’s standards, rather than the clandestine description seen in spy movies.
“To us, hacking is synonyms with critical thinking and clever problem-solving,” he said.
Ferrer-Labarca also told The Signal why cyber security can pose part of the threat.
“Security in itself is a bit tedious,” he said. “People often don’t want to deal with that.”
When discussing potential legislation in Georgia, Panther Hackers CEO Caleb Lewis, said they have some concerns about censorship.
“Whenever people talk about passing legislation on the internet isn’t good,” he said. “Any kind of law that restricts the internet will be detrimental. You can’t limit the information out there.”
