The Convention for Cyber Spies

Wesley Brown

August 23, 2015

Defense contractors to showcase cyber technology at TechNet Augusta

After a year that saw destructive cyberattacks on major U.S. companies, top defense and aerospace contractors will showcase new technology being developed to bolster America’s national security during a three-day conference in Augusta next week.

Among the new cybersecurity solutions being demonstrated at the third-annual TechNet Augusta conference include a wide range of “spectrum analyzers” designed and manufactured in the U.S. by AVCOM.

According to a news release, representatives from the Virginia-based company will be on hand to show how its analyzers, with software from the Atlanta-based firm, Crystal Solutions, can monitor wireless signals and data transmitted through smart phones and mobile devices to detect security threats.

The Army announced earlier this year it will grow Fort Gordon’s cyberdefense workforce by 1,000 more jobs for a new total of 4,700 government, civilian and contractor positions by the time its Cyber Command completes its move to the local post by 2019.

One of those contractors is MacAulay-Brown Inc., a national security company based in Ohio that in June 2014 became the first defense contractor associated with the Army Cyber Command at Fort Gordon to open an office in Augusta.

MacB, as the company is commonly called, will demonstrate two products at TechNet Augusta – its signals collection and visualization tool, and its cyber-embedded, reverse-engineering software.

The collection and visualization tool is an integrated, low-profile robotic antenna positioning platform that surveys and monitors automated signals. The cyber-embedded, reverse-engineering software allows for the rapid analysis of collected data to track changes over time and suggest areas most susceptible to vulnerabilities.

Maria Garcia, TechNet registration coordinator, said this week that 2,200 military and industry leaders – 1,500 attendees and 700 exhibitors – are expected at the Augusta Convention Center next week to discuss cyber security issues and share ideas to meet emerging threats.

The conference, sponsored by the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association International, will include an exhibition hall with more than 130 presenters and panel discussions on network security and expansion, cyberspace operations and infrastructure, and emerging technology and threats.

Featured speakers this year include Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, head of the Army Cyber Command; Maj. Gen. Stephen Fogarty, the chief of Fort Gordon’s Cyber Center of Excellence; and Bill Crumm, former National Security Agency director of signals intelligence.