News + Events

“I wanted to tell you how great the [online Cybersecurity & Data Privacy MLS] program has been to me. You have put together wonderful and caring people who are passionate and educated on the law and cybersecurity. Professor Ray and Professor Witten [are] always available for questions, made the material fun, and broke down the harder concepts to be easily understood.” -Aric Kee, online Cybersecurity & Data Privacy MLS student

Next week’s Monday Morning Message will focus on the highlights of our great Commencement weekend, but this morning I want to focus on what may be the most important and timely conference in the nation this week -and it’s our law school’s conference - the 2021 C|M|LAW Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection Virtual Conference on May 20-21, 2021.

In the past few weeks, we had a wake-up call that there is no greater threat to our national security than cyber threats. The recent Colonial Pipeline cyberattack shutting down a critical pipeline that supplies 45 percent of the East Coast’s gasoline was the biggest known cyberattack on U.S. energy infrastructure in history. But it won’t be the last.

Coming on the heels of the SolarWinds cyber attack, it underscores how vulnerable government and industry are to even basic assaults on computer networks. Over the past year, 2,400 ransomware attacks have hit corporate, local and federal offices in extortion plots that lock up victims’ data — or publish it — unless they pay a ransom.

We live in the cyber century.

Our C|M|LAW Center for Cybersecurity and Privacy Protection, launched in 2016, and led by Professor Brian Ray, has quickly established our law school as a national leader in cybersecurity. Our Center’s signature program is our annual conference, which features national, state and local leaders in law, policy, business and technology. This year’s conference, features keynote addresses from Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jon Husted and Tony Sager, Senior Vice President and Chief Evangelist, Center for Internet Security, internationally famous as the “godfather” of security controls. Past conferences have featured Federal Trade Commissioners, members of Congress and other national leaders.

Curriculum. Our Center takes a cutting-edge, interdisciplinary approach to address privacy and cyber-risk management concerns. Over the past six years, our Center has created two new data security and privacy certificate programs and our first completely online program, the interdisciplinary Master of Legal Studies in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy, directed by Julie DiBiasio, Director of Graduate Studies and Professional Development, one of only a handful of programs in the US that integrates coursework from all three critical cybersecurity areas - engineering, business and law.

Our programs offer students real-life experience in settings and includes cutting-edge courses like our Cybersecurity Risk Assessment and Compliance course, where law students and Information Science students work together to perform assessments for local non-profits and the Cybersecurity Practicum—a partnership with the national non-profit Cyber Resilience Institute—that immerses students in a virtual cyber threat-hunting team working together in real time to track and prevent cyberattacks during prominent national and international sporting events, including the Winter Olympics.

In recognition of our leading programs, the International Association of Privacy Professionals recently selected CSU Cleveland-Marshall to join a select group of privacy programs participating in the Westin Scholar Program. Under this program, one student each year will receive a $1,000 award and access to three of the IAPP’s industry leading data privacy certifications.

Community Engagement and Thought Leadership. Our Center has forged an extensive network and key partnerships with business leaders, security professionals, law enforcement and government agencies at the state and national levels. Professor Brian Ray serves on the Northeast Ohio CyberConsortium’s (NEOCC) governance committee, the CyberOhio Advisory Board, and the Ohio Attorney General’s Facial Recognition Task Force. In these roles he has played key roles in several national and state legal and policy initiatives including:

• drafting, with CyberOhio, Ohio’s first data privacy bill currently pending in the Ohio House
• developing privacy principles for digital contact tracing in Ohio
• informally advising with the Future of Privacy Forum Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran’s staff on the COVID-19 Consumer Data Protection Act
• publishing recommendations to reform Ohio’s centralized law enforcement facial recognition system
• drafting, with CyberOhio, the Ohio Data Protection Act
• testifying before the Ohio House on technology-related legislation, and serving as a pro bono expert in evaluating the Ohio Attorney General’s proposed rulemaking for internet platforms.

Please join us May 20-21 for the 2021 C|M|LAW Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection Virtual Conference.

We are at the center of the cyber century.

Stay safe. Stay healthy. Stay Committed to Living Justice.

​Have a great day. Have a great week.