Pace Professor James Gabberty talks to the press about the importance of cyber security

Prof. Gabberty, a professor of information systems at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, has a busy month speaking to several news outlets about cyber security and ways to prevent cyber-attacks.

Prof. Gabberty, a professor of information systems at the Seidenberg School of Computer Science and Information Systems, has a busy month speaking to several news outlets about cyber security and ways to prevent cyber-attacks.

He wrote an entry for the Congress blog, entitled The Hill, entitled “US must do better in preparing professionals to help fight cyber attacks” in which he warned about the rise of attacks against US business by foreign agents. He addressed the critical shortage of IT experts qualified to address the security issues and reminded readers that so much of the US military and business assets are dependent on keeping crucial streams of data safe. He also gave some practical tips on avoiding being the victim of a malware attack – such as not picking up suspicious USBs which are often strewn in company parking lots for unsuspecting employees.

He was then quoted in the Money section of the US News talking about the importance of strong passwords for online accounts. His advice was that “… the passwords to get into your PC, your laptop, and your tablet should be different. He also recommends changing passwords about every 90 days. ‘The reason is simple,’ Gabberty says. ‘Once inside your machine, key loggers—which may be lurking inside your computers right now—read every keystroke, reporting back to some ‘mother ship’ or central server information about you, your passwords, the sites you visit, and so on.”

He was also quoted in the CIO Journal blog of the Wall Street Journal about the current state of the nation and it’s vulnerabilities to outside cyber-attacks saying ‘More than 25% of Chinese exports go to the U.S. each year, so it’s unlikely that China would perpetrate an attack that would take down pieces of critical infrastructure”

Finally Prof. Gabberty was quoted in an article about President Obama’s Cyber Defense Plan in the TribLive saying “They [foreign hackers] know we’re doing a lot of chest pounding and that we’re frustrated at the lack of willingness by our own corporations to lock themselves down,” adding “It’s pretty embarrassing that the technology these guys are using is not sophisticated. It’s not rocket science.”

Prof. Gabberty is a phenomenal example of a Pace professor that actively pursues his interests outside of the classroom and is able to provide real life examples for our students. We look forward to hearing more of his insights in the field in future articles.

Skip to toolbar