“Returning to the Law School for its 10th Cybersecurity & Privacy Conference, I could only marvel at the depth and breadth of not only the conference program but also the academic programs you have developed and offer in this burgeoning interdisciplinary field. . . . Over and over while at the conference, general counsels, privacy attorneys and staff, chief information officers, chief information security officers, and current law students buttonholed me to applaud the program and what it has been giving to them…CSU Law has stressed public service and leadership as foundational values in its programs and as character/professional traits for its graduates. Your Cyber academic programs and annual conferences fulfill those goals masterfully, and are garnering wide, well-deserved acclaim, well beyond Northeast Ohio.” - Candice Hoke, Co-Founder, CSU Law Center for Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection and CSU Law Professor Emeritus
At CSU Law, we are charting new paths in legal education.
One great example is our 10th Annual Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection Conference, held April 10-11, 2025, which was a tremendous success thanks to the leadership of Associate Dean/Professor Brian Ray, the Director and Co-Founder of our Center for Cybersecurity & Privacy Protection. Our Center is one of only a few law-related centers dedicated to the critical issues of cybersecurity and privacy. Our interdisciplinary programs integrate legal, technical and business aspects of cybersecurity.
With over 220 attendees and more than 40 expert speakers across 13 panels, this year’s event set new records and reaffirmed its reputation as one of the nation’s most substantive cybersecurity conferences.
Over the past ten years the Conference has become one of the leading law-related cybersecurity events in the country. Each conference features national, state and regional cybersecurity and privacy leaders. Previous conferences have included keynotes by two Members of Congress, three Federal Trade Commissioners, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, and senior leaders from every federal agency and multiple states responsible for cybersecurity policy and enforcement.
The 2025 Conference included:
- Kirk Herath, Ohio’s Cybersecurity Strategic Advisor and CSU Law Adjunct Professor
- Travis LeBlanc, Privacy and Civil Liberties Board Member
- Douglas Geho, FTC Bureau of Enforcement Deputy Director
- Holly Drake, Ohio’s Chief Information Security Officer
- Alexander White, Bermuda’s Privacy Commissioner
A special session celebrated the conference’s decade-long journey and saw the return of our former colleague, Professor Emeritus Candice Hoke, the Center’s co-founder and original visionary. We also announced the S. Candice Hoke Cybersecurity Leadership Award that will honor a student who has demonstrated the same kind of dedication and leadership in the field as Candice.
The conference and our rich set of education programs, including our JD Certificate in Cybersecurity & Data Privacy and the online Master of Legal Studies in Cybersecurity & Data Privacy have garnered multiple national awards:
- Bloomberg Law recognized our Cybersecurity & Data Privacy program as one of the most innovative law school programs in 2022.
- The Gula Tech Foundation awarded our program third place in the 2022 Cybersecurity Prize competition for the impact we have had on preparing current and future organizational leaders to recognize and address cyber risks.
- The International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) selected CSU Law as one of thirty-three academic institutions across the world to participate in the Westin Privacy Scholar Award Program providing one student each year with a cash prize and access to three certifications.
- The IAPP’s 2022 international survey of academic privacy programs listed the JD Cybersecurity & Data Privacy Certificate as one of only five such programs offered by a U.S. law school.
- SC Magazine named Center Director Brian Ray one of three cybersecurity educators of the year in 2017.
I want to thank the 10th Annual Conference sponsors for their generous support:
- Platinum Sponsors: AgileBlue, Centric, and CyberOhio
- Gold Sponsors: UB Greensfelder, Benesch Law, McDonald Hopkins LLC, and VIRTUS Cybersecurity
- Sponsors: Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP; BlueBridge Networks; Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP; Porter Wright Morris & Arthur LLP; EDSI - Enterprise Data Solutions, Inc.; and the Northeast Ohio CyberConsortium
Have a great day. Have a great week.
The views and opinions expressed in my Monday Morning Message are solely my own and do not reflect the views and opinions of the law school or the university.
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My best,
Lee