Ben NormanCenturyLink will partner with Arizona State University to host a cybersecurity summit on October 11th. The event will feature cybersecurity experts from various industries who will inform businesses of all sizes about cybersecurity threats and how to prevent them.
The event will take place at ASU’s Law School in downtown Phoenix on Thursday, October 11th from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and will feature panelists from CenturyLink, Snell & Wilmer, and Cyxtera, who all specialize in security and cybersecurity. The event is free to the general public but is geared toward business leaders.
As companies incorporate more technology into their daily operations and utilize data to make decisions, cybersecurity threats become an increasing danger. Chris Denzin, CenturyLink Vice President of Consumer Operations and Sales, reports that unfortunately, cyber breaches have only grown in recent years. “Cybersecurity is getting worse as every year goes by,” explains Denzin. “In the first half of the year, the U.S. has had 668 data breaches and 22.5 million exposed records — over half a million American customers have been impacted.”
Denzin notes that companies like CenturyLink work closely with law enforcement to prevent and limit the damage of cyber attacks. However, because of the sheer amount of internet traffic and data exchanges, businesses still face a serious threat.
“There are many kinds of cybersecurity threats,” Denzin states. “There are customer data attacks, denial of service attacks – which can cripple an organization’s ability to run as a business – crypto[currency] hacks, data hostages, and command-and-control centers called botnets within organizations.” Denzin explains that CenturyLink removes 40 command-and-control centers — infectious computers that take over other computers — monthly and monitors thousands more.
The wide variety of attacks can affect businesses of all sizes; in fact, according to the National Cyber Security Alliance, half of all cyber-attacks affect small businesses. These cyber-attacks can affect small-businesses’ frameworks for months. “Small businesses are actually at a greater risk than larger companies because they might not have as many advancements in their security,” Denzin emphasizes. “All businesses should take measures to protect their data, not just large corporations.”
While technology brings many opportunities, it also attracts threats. CenturyLink aims to help businesses small and large stop those threats in their tracks. Their cybersecurity summit later this month will share valuable information to help Arizona businesses safeguard their operations.
To learn more about the event, click here.
Noemi Santaella
Joseph Kavetsky
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