“Cybersecurity threats to Milwaukee-area businesses have never been bigger or more dangerous,” warns Paul T. Riedl, Jr., CEO of River Run Computers, Inc. “Malware has been monetized. It is now a business, an economy that is run on Bitcoins. As a result, there are 400,000 new pieces of ransomware released in the world every day. Today, if you make money and you can pay ransom, you’re a target,” he warns.
That was one of the key take-aways from River Run’s participation in Cyphercon 2.0, Milwaukee’s two-year-old hacker conference. It was attended by security professionals, hackers and other attendees who wanted to learn about this fast-evolving field. In addition to listening to informative cybersecurity presentations, attendees were also able to try their hands at wireless network hacking, lock picking, safe cracking, and car hacking in the different “villages” (themed areas) within the conference. It also provided future security and network engineers a place to develop their STEM abilities at the co-located Haks4Kidz conference.
River Run sponsored this year’s Cyphercon 2.0 conference. Riedl says doing so supports the development of cybersecurity tools and talents locally, educates the local marketplace about this growing field and provides professional development for the company’s technical staff.
"An event like this helps us understand the breadth and depth of the threats our clients face as well as a vast array of tools and tips to counteract them. In short, it helps us to better serve our clients and keep them up and running, and secure," he emphasizes.
Cyphercon 2.0 was significantly larger than last year’s event, indicating a strong interest in the vital topics of cybersecurity threats and solutions. Riedl calls this fast-growing conference a perfect fit with River Run’s goal of educating and informing its clients about cybersecurity issues:
"All of us at River Run are really happy to be one of the presenting sponsors and that we have been able to help bring Cyphercon 2.0 to Milwaukee. It was a great event and we learned an immense amount while making connections with some great new partners and their tools. I am excited that so many of our team members were able to attend. We look forward to bringing our clients new and better ways to fulfill our mission: to Keep You Up and Running, and Secure."
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