Texas House Committee on Urban Affairs will host cyber security hearing at UTSA

Texas House Committee on Urban Affairs will host cyber security hearing at UTSA

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(Feb. 19, 2016) -- The Texas House Committee on Urban Affairs will hold a public hearing on cyber security Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at 10:00 AM at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), Main Campus in the H-E-B University Center Ballroom.

This committee was directed by the Speaker of the Texas House to identify and address potential gaps in cities’ cyber security policy and ensure that personal information held by cities and other municipal entities is secure. This hearing will provide the committee with valuable information from some of the greatest experts in the industry on how cities can best protect themselves from data breaches and future security threats.

"We cannot wait for an Office of Personnel Management-like breach or a Sony or Target-like hack to affect the inner workings or information held by our cities," said Representative Carol Alvarado, chairwoman of the committee. "We must be proactive in ensuring our cities have the proper resources and tools to protect themselves from a data breach."

This committee previously held an initial hearing on cybersecurity on January 20, 2016, in which the committee heard testimony from various experts from Texas Department of Information Resources, large metropolitan cities, and growing technology companies.

"Our first hearing opened our eyes to how much our cities either lack the needed resources or expertise to address the growing concerns regarding cyber security. Not only are we dealing with breaches that can lead to personal private information being disclosed to the public, but possible threats to our basic infrastructure that could affect a city's power grid, or something so embedded in our daily lives as traffic control and city management systems," Alvarado said.

UTSA has been recognized as the nation’s leader in cybersecurity education and research. The university’s cybersecurity initiatives are housed within the College of Business, the College of Engineering, and the College of Sciences. UTSA is a nationally recognized Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance and Cyber Defense.

"The city of San Antonio and UTSA have shown themselves to be leaders in this area, creating various partnerships across the private and public sector that have put them on a path to creating a blueprint on how a city can work together to protect itself from technological threats," Alvarado said. "This hearing will highlight the advancements both entities have made while also determining what additional improvements or recommendations San Antonio and other cities can follow to help keep our cities safe and running."

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