Conference Description
Key Takeaways
- Conference focused on information security challenges specific to Virginia’s higher education, state, and local government sectors
- Covers Zero Trust principles, AI security, adversarial thinking, and governance frameworks for emerging technologies
- Addresses the challenge of balancing security requirements with academic openness and research collaboration
- Two-day in-person format featuring keynotes, hands-on training workshops, and networking opportunities
- Training led by Jake Kouns, with CPE credits available for attendees
About the Event
VASCAN 2026 is an in-person conference hosted by James Madison University that brings together security professionals, technology leaders, and risk management experts from Virginia’s higher education and public sector organizations. The two-day program combines keynote presentations, training workshops, and networking sessions designed to address the distinct security challenges facing research universities and government agencies.
Security Challenges in Research and Academic Environments
Higher education institutions face a unique tension between maintaining open, collaborative research environments and protecting sensitive data and systems. VASCAN addresses this challenge directly, examining how security teams can safeguard research assets while supporting academic freedom and cross-institutional collaboration. The conference explores practical approaches to managing complex partnerships and protecting discovery without impeding innovation.
Key Topics
The conference program covers several interconnected areas of information security practice:
- Zero Trust principles: Implementation strategies for identity and data protection in distributed academic and government networks
- AI security and governance: Frameworks for operationalizing security in AI-enabled and research-intensive environments
- Adversarial thinking: Approaches for red and blue teams to anticipate and counter evolving threats
- Cognitive bias in security decisions: How psychological factors influence risk assessment and security architecture choices
- Risk management: Building risk-informed architectural decisions that support institutional resilience
Who Should Attend
VASCAN is designed for Virginia higher education, state, and local government employees working in security and technology roles. The program serves CISOs, IT security managers, security engineers, risk managers, and auditors, as well as vendor risk teams, product and security engineers, and governance professionals. Non-security executives seeking to understand security’s role in institutional strategy will also find relevant content. Training sessions are hands-on and discussion-based, with CPE credits available for professional development.