Houston April 2016 Luncheon

"Cyber Threats and Energy Production"

Computer based attacks used to be primarily the concern of the financial and retail sector but recent events have shown us the error of that assumption.  Power production and utility companies have been targeted recently by numerous state sponsored and criminal groups for a variety of reasons.  Recognizing these threats and learning how to defend one’s network are critical to maintaining the infrastructure of the United States. This presentation will detail some of these attacks and how security can be implemented.

Our speaker James Morrison is a Computer Scientist with the Federal Bureau of Investigation assigned to the Houston Division. He serves as a local technical expert to the Special Agents and Task Force Officers assigned to the Houston Area Cyber Crimes Task Force. He assists in computer intrusion investigations and reverse engineers software to determine source and purpose of the malignant code. He has worked in the IT field for more than 27 years, including 18 years with the FBI.

Prior to working with the FBI, Morrison was an engineer with Lockheed Martin at Kirtland AFB, NM and a UNIX/database administrator with the US Air Force at Falcon AFB (now Shriver AFB), CO and Clark AB, Republic of the Philippines. Morrison holds a BS in Computer Engineering degree from Colorado Tech University, a MA in US History from the University of New Mexico, and a MBA from the University of Phoenix as well as other professional certifications.