CyberCon, which took place May 14-15 in West Des Moines, is presented yearly by the Iowa Communications Alliance (ICA) and serves as a premier cybersecurity event for professionals from across Iowa and the Upper Midwest. Two of this year’s 130+ attendees were from Panora Fiber — Curtis Thornberry, Technology Development Director; and Zach Davis, IT Technician.
Thornberry has long held a leadership role in this event. He explained: “I’ve been involved in planning CyberCon since its inception 10 years ago and have been committee chair three times, including this year. As chair, I work with a committee for months to put together a conference agenda with speakers on technical and non-technical cybersecurity tracks. During the conference, I serve as host/emcee for all the General Session presentations and communicate information to the conference attendees.”
Davis was on the panel of ICA members for “Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in the Industry.” The discussion largely centered around securing organizations against risks introduced by AI and foundational strategies for protecting end users and workstations.
“Given the growing adoption of AI, there were numerous questions to the panel on how to approach AI securely. Topics included policy development, selecting appropriate AI platforms, controlling data exposure, and implementing principles like least privilege,” said Davis.
He continued, “We also addressed the basics of endpoint security for organizations just beginning their security programs. This included best practices such as user awareness training, use of password managers, endpoint protection solutions, and patch management. Emphasis was placed on end user training. Regardless of how many technical controls are in place, a single user action — like clicking a malicious link or entering passwords into malicious sites — can bypass even the strongest defenses.”
Both Thornberry and Davis walked away from CyberCon with valuable information.
Thornberry said, “I always learn something new. I might become aware of a new attack vector that I need to review to make sure our networks are secure, or someone may suggest changes in cyber planning that I want to evaluate for Panora Fiber and our clients.”
Davis found the technical breakout sessions particularly valuable. He said, “I took notes on small configuration settings and process improvements that are easy to overlook but can have a significant impact on security posture. These are items I plan to implement into our existing policies.”
CyberCon is one example of the continuing education that Panora Fiber supports for employees and of the leadership role we play in our industry.
