![\"FIU-Geopolitical-Summit_feature\"](\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FIU-Geopolitical-Summit_feature.jpg\")
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What do business, secured data and international relations have in common? Just about everything these days.<\/p>\n
The importance of those links will shine on March 8 at FIU\u2019s Geopolitical Summit. The one-day event, titled \u201cThe Dark Side of the Web,\u201d is sponsored by FIU\u2019s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), with the support of the College of Business. It will be held at the Graham Center Ballrooms. Panels will focus on civil liberties, national security, and emerging cyber threats to enterprise security.<\/p>\n
Among those leading the conference is College of Business Senior Lecturer David Wernick, whose background includes both business and international relations.<\/p>\n Wernick, who will moderate one of the panels, pointed to a news event to illustrate the growing nexus between technology, business and geopolitical forces.<\/p>\n The 2014 Sony Corp. hacking scandal saw the entertainment giant\u2019s emails and financial information spill into the open. North Korea is widely believed to have launched the attack after the release of the satirical movie \u201cThe Interview,\u201d which skewered North Korea leader Kim Jong-un.<\/p>\n \u201cWe thought it was a very interesting issue at the center of business and international affairs that showed the vulnerability of private companies to hostile cyber attacks from rogue nations,\u201d said Wernick, who teaches international business and strategy classes.<\/p>\n Data hacking fears grow as overseas gangs and criminally minded computer savants daily bombard systems. Simultaneously, data flows unceasingly into company and government computers. As smart appliances \u2013 cars, watches and fitness devices \u2013 collect more information, data security becomes a worrisome central element for businesses and governments.<\/p>\n \u201cA growing number of private sector and government jobs will be related to cyber security; it is a growth area,\u201d Wernick said, citing risk management and legal aspects of computer and data security. \u201cBad guys are very enterprising and resourceful and have sophisticated tools and schemes for hacking into systems and accessing proprietary data including credit card information and medical records. Retailers, banks, hospitals, and universities are clearly in the crosshairs and have to up their game.\u201d<\/p>\n The issue also impacts entrepreneurs and start-ups that are increasingly conceived from the get-go as \u201cborn global,\u201d or transnational.<\/p>\n From the inside out.<\/em><\/p>\n Wernick has a unique overview. He grew up in Massachusetts where political consciousness was part of family lore \u2013 his father\u2019s high school classmate was Gov. Michael Dukakis.<\/p>\n After earning his bachelor\u2019s in political science at Tulane University, Wernick lived for six months in Costa Rica. A scholarship to FIU\u2019s Masters in International Studies program brought him to South Florida. Particularly attractive was the university\u2019s Latin America focus. Later in New York he worked for groups including the Council of the Americas. Wernick and his family returned to Florida in 2000. A job with the Ackerman Group, a risk analysis firm, sent him across the Americas.<\/p>\n By 2011, he had earned a Ph.D. in business administration from FIU.<\/p>\n This year\u2019s Geopolitical Summit reflects how closely intertwined practical business concerns and political and development interests can be \u2013 especially pertinent at FIU with its Latin American focus.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of the emphasis for the conference is to focus on Latin America, and where they fit into cyber security,\u201d Wernick said. \u201cLatin governments and companies, generally speaking, are not at the same level of preparedness as their U.S. counterparts and urgently need to enhance their cyber resilience. I think this dialogue has particular relevance for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Summit offers broad perspective on international security. <\/em><\/p>\n Panelists and guest speakers at the Geopolitical Summit include former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy James Miller; NPR security correspondent Dina Temple-Raston; and Robert Knake of the Council on Foreign Relations, among others.<\/p>\n Also participating are FIU faculty including Brian Fonseca,\u00a0director of the Jack D. Gordon Institute\u00a0for Public Policy and Citizenship Studies, Shlomi Dinar,\u00a0associate dean of SIPA, and College of Law Professor Hannibal Travis.<\/p>\n The March 8<\/span><\/span> conference runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.<\/span><\/span> in the School of International and Public Affairs Board Auditorium, SIPA 125 on the Modesto A. Maidique Campus, 11200 SW 8th Street Miami, FL 33199. For more information go to Geopolitical Summit | The Dark Side of the Web: Challenges to Security, Prosperity and Privacy<\/a> or call \u00a0305.348.7266<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What do business, secured data and international relations have in common? Just about everything these days. The importance of those links will shine on March 8 at FIU\u2019s Geopolitical Summit. The one-day event, titled \u201cThe Dark Side of the Web,\u201d is sponsored by FIU\u2019s Steven J. Green School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":26424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[585,625,3974],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26423"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26423"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26430,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26423\/revisions\/26430"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26423"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26423"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"David](\"https:\/\/biznews.fiu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/wernick.jpg\")