Information Security South Africa Annual Conference – What you need to know

The Information Security South Africa Annual Conference (ISSA2019) – held under the auspices of the  University of Johannesburg Academy for Computer Science and Software Engineering, the University of South Africa School of Computing and the University of Pretoria School of  Information Technology – takes place on 14 and 15 August.

According to the organisers, the conference has “grown each year in various ways.” Delegate and presenter numbers have increased, as did interest from the Industry and sponsorship.

“What sets the ISSA conference apart is that it is not intended to generate a profit for an organisation, and it does not encourage marketing of products and services through presentations. Instead, the proceeds from registration fees are reinvested to ensure that the conference grows each year.”

Information Security South Africa Annual Conference 2019 (ISSA2019)

Focus and theme for 2019

The focus of the this year’s conference include all aspects of information security, especially in light of the ongoing concerns pertaining to identity theft, phishing scams and the spate of spyware currently doing the rounds. The organisers explain:

“What we are now finding is that security mechanisms have become so good and are generally implemented by companies wanting to adhere to good corporate governance, so attackers are now looking to the weak link in the chain, namely the individual user. It is far easier to attack them than attempt to penetrate sophisticated corporate systems.”

In short, the purpose of the ISSA 2019 is “provide information security practitioners the opportunity to share their knowledge and research. These topics include promoting network opportunities as well as supporting the development of a professional information security community.

Sponsers and speakers

Further to that, the conference will provide an opportunity for delegates to share and learn from each other “in the quest for safer information systems” while assisting self-development.

This year, the IEEE South Africa Section SMC Chapter supports the organisers – Unisa, University of Johannesburg and the University of Pretoria, while invited speakers will discuss international trends and methodologies.

Speakers in the past include Dr Alf Zugenmaier from DoCoMo Labs in Germany, as well as Professor Dennis Longley from the Queensland University of Technology, Professor TC Ting from the University of Connecticut and Professor Joachim Biskup from the Technische Universität Dortmund in Germany.

“We trust that the annual ISSA conference will continue to be recognised as an platform for professionals from industry as well as researchers to share their knowledge, experience and research results in the field of information security on a South African, but also on an international level.”

Conference Co-Organisers – Hein Venter, Marijke Coetzee, Marianne Loock and Mariki Eloff