A Friday Longwood University press release noted that four leading cyber security experts were set to convene on Longwood’s campus Tuesday to discuss the biggest challenges facing the global information technology (IT) community and what citizens can do to secure their private data from being harvested by cybercriminals.

Officials cited in the release that “Cyber Security in the Internet of Things Era” was the theme of Tuesday’s Cyber Security Summit, sponsored by Longwood’s College of Business and Economics and organized by the Center for Cyber Security.

Dr. Darrell Carpenter, director of the Center for Cyber Security at Longwood, said in the release, “This is an important and unique opportunity for Longwood to host these leaders in the cyber security field. The scope and volume of emerging threats is substantial. Staying up to date on technology and training are imperative to stay constantly updated. When it comes to IT security, our businesses, organizations and government agencies remain outmatched by hackers, who are becoming bolder and more and more sophisticated.”

According to the release, guests set to appear on the panel included the following:

• General James Cartwright, a retired four-star Marine Corps general and former vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During his tenure as the nation’s second-highest military officer, he led a major expansion of the military’s cyber security capabilities and infrastructure. He is widely recognized for his technical acumen and vision of future national security concepts.

• Rhonda Vetere, chief information officer, Infrastructure at Santander Bank. A passionate leader in technology and change agent for digital transformation, she has worked in global executive positions at Estée Lauder, AIG, HP Enterprise Services, Barclays, JPMorgan Chase and others.

• Nino Milanese, president of a fraud consultant firm. He has more than 25 years of business process experience in financial fraud detection, identification of improper payments and audit trail development. After 9/11 he played a key role in supporting FBI investigations.

• Dave Stafford, chief information officer at PSCU, the largest credit union service organization in the U.S. He directs the planning, implementation and operation of enterprise IT systems and last year was honored by the Tampa Business Journal as CIO of the Year.

The panel, free and open to the public, was set to be moderated by Carpenter and Dr. Robert Marmorstein, Longwood associate professor of computer science, the release stated.

Officials concluded the release by noting that Longwood previously hosted a Cyber Security Summit in 2016 in the lead-up to hosting the Vice Presidential Debate.