Past Events

Tech Talk Series: Deception & Active Defense for Election Security
This event is now a remote event. Registrants can join online at : https://carahsoft.adobeconnect.com/_a20595625/attivonetworks. The best way to keep up with the tactics that attackers use against us is through automated responses to high-fidelity events, and that is the promise that deception brings to cyber defenders. The talk will cover where deception technologies are today, the future of deception for cyber defense. Event is March 18^th from 10am - 12pm. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 3.23.20 -- EVENT CANCELLE
This event is cancelled. The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in March on the 23^rd. We recently required registration, and it has turned out to be very helpful for planning.

Read more here.

WEBINAR: CMMC Is Coming: Are You Ready?
Now that DOD has released the final version of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) guidelines, all contractors that work directly or indirectly on Department of Defense (DOD) contracts should be preparing to obtain the CMMC. Event is March 17^th at 2pm.. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation Speaker Series with author Andy Greenberg
On March 11th, 2020 at 11:00am at the Maryland Innovation and Security Institute's DreamPort cyber capabilities and mission accelerator facility we will be hosting the first Cyber Conversation Speaker Series with author Andy Greenberg. Read more here.

Splunk Phantom Workshop
Splunk Phantom allows you to execute actions in seconds, not hours by using multiple data sources – either pushed into Splunk or pulled from assets in your environment – to trigger Phantom into action. Gain full visibility into anomalous incidents, threat indicators, vulnerabilities, emails, and more. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 3.9.20
The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in March on the 9^th. We recently required registration, and it has turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

Defense Industrial Base Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CMMC) Conference
On March 5, 2020, DreamPort and Eccalon will host Department of Defense leaders and cyber solution industry experts to provide industry with the latest update on the Cybersecurity Maturity Model (CMMC). Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Robotic Process Automation Lunch & Learn
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has taken center stage as an excellent method of adding efficiency and revolutionizing the workplace. By automating tedious and manual tasks, RPA permits businesses the space to focus on other important future initiatives and developments. Event is March 4^th from 11am - 1pm. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 2.24.20
The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in February on the 24^th. We recently required registration, and it has turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Modern Software Defined Architecture Lunch & Learn
Where an application tries to access a database, that's a perimeter. When a user elevates privilege to perform a sensitive operation, that's also a perimeter. The zero-trust model of security prompts you to question your assumptions of trust every time there's an access event. Event is on February 19^th from 10am - 2pm. Read more here.

RPE: The Rotten Apple in the Bushel
On February 11-13, 2020, we will infect hosts within the RodinCorp network we used in RPE-003 with malware and common attacks which will perpetrate the theft of user credentials. This network will operate as normally designed with users and automated processes constantly logging in and out (of a Windows domain), administrators logging and out of services such as the local firewall and SSH and users logging in and out of applications on the local network. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: MISI Infrastructure - How We Create Fast and Repeatable Cloud Architecture
At MISI, we are constantly spinning up new project environments for rapid prototyping. This talk is about how we do just that; how we use infrastructure as code to automate the deployment, configuration, and management of AWS cloud infrastructure. Event is on February 12^th from 10am - 12pm. Read more here.

End to End Security with the Elastic Stack
Come hear how you can operationalize these tools to achieve your mission. You'll also see the exciting roadmap ahead for building security programs with the Elastic Stack that are designed to reduce the attack surface and evolve to match new challenges as the threat landscape shifts. Event is on February 12^th, 9-3pm. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 2.10.20
The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in February on the 10^th. We recently required registration, and it has turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

The Red Hat Ansible Boot Camp
Ansible Tower will enable you to create playbooks, while building in security. Automation features will save time, empower junior staff, offload senior staff and automate your most tedious tasks! Event is on February 6^th from 3-7pm. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Reducing the Attack Surface & Halting the Kill Chain with Unikernals
In this talk we will go into depth on what unikernels are, what their status is and how those interested can deploy unikernels to google cloud, aws, and others today. Event is on January 30^th from 10am - 12pm. Read more here.

Splunk Boss of the SOC (BOTS)
You're invited to an exciting upcoming Splunk Boss of the SOC (BOTS), a blue team capture the flag-esque competition, taking place on Wednesday, January 29, 2020. Read more here.

USC's Election Cybersecurity Initiative
Join us on Tuesday, January 28th, for a day-long training session, designed to help protect campaigns and elections in this critical election year. Read more here.

OpenC2 Plug Fest
OpenC2 is a recently released suite of OASIS specifications that define a standard language for command and control of cyber defense technologies. DreamPort has graciously offered to host the first OpenC2 Plug Fest on January 27 and 28, 2020. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 1.27.20
The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in January on the 27^th. Historically there was no need to register for C3, but due to special circumstances, we recently required it and it turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

Elasticsearch January Meetup at MISI
Three topics that will be discussed are: collect at scale, monitor your attack surface, and explore anomalies with machine learning. Event is on January 22^nd at 6pm. Read more here.

RPE: The Broken Gear in the Watch
On January 14-16, 2020, we want to test participant's abilities to find and mitigate vulnerabilities in open source embedded device firmware such as switches, routers and firewalls and other devices. During the actual event, participants should be prepared to analyze firmware images. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Rogue Device Attacks & Mitigation
In the session, we will cover the attack deliver methods, attack scenarios, weaknesses of commonly used security tools and ways to mitigate the threat. Event is on January 15^th from 10am - 12pm. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 1.13.20
The next Cyber Conversation & Coffee will be in January on the 13^th. Historically there was no need to register for C3, but due to special circumstances, we recently required it and it turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Using Insights to Support Decision Making, Problem Solving and Innovation
NEW DATE: January 8. The eternal question of "how can we do more with less?" might also be put "how can we do better with what we've got?" We are all faced with wading through content of all kinds – white papers, blogs, digital data, reports and research. Event is on January 8^th from 10am - 12pm. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 12.9.19
Due to the Holidays, there will only be one Cyber Conversation & Coffee in December on the 9^th. Historically there was no need to register for C3, but due to special circumstances, we recently required it and it turned out to be very helpful for planning. Read more here.

OpenC2 / Google Platform Crash Course
Join the OpenC2 team at Dreamport from 10am to 12pm on December 5 for a free workshop that will teach attendees how to use Google Cloud Platform (GCP) for the upcoming OpenC2 Plug Fest. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee 11.18.19
Due to Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving, there will only be one Cyber Conversation & Coffee next month on November 18th. Historically there was no need to register for C3, but due to special circumstances, we recently required it and it turned out to be very helpful for planning. Event is November 18, 2019. Read more here.

OpenC2 Tech Talk
This event will feature a keynote from the NSA's Technical Director of the Cyber Security Directorate. The Tech Talk will include the following: OpenC2 Overview, Live demonstrations of OpenC2 Implementations, Use Cases, Discussion, and Open Source Tool Suite and Current Implementations. Event is November 5, 2019. Learn more.

IMAGINE – A MISI Salon-Style Bespoke Dinner and Fundraising Event
The Maryland Innovation and Security Institute board and our planning committee are planning a very special evening for our guests and sponsors. Musical performance by by Grammy nominated singer, writer and producer Gordon Chambers. Sponsorships and tickets are now available for this very special event. Event is November 1, 2019. Learn more.

AFCEA CMD Lunch and Learn
This event is for small businesses and sponsored by AFCEA CMD. The purpose of the meeting is to inform small DoD businesses about resources that are available to them and offered through the State of MD and include:

• Maryland Defense Cybersecurity Assistance Program
• Maryland Defense Network
• Maryland Defense Technology Commercialization Center (DefTech)
• MIDFA
• Maryland Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MD MEP)

Event is October 23, 2019, 11am - 1pm. Learn More.

Election Integrity 2020 Conference
We'll gather the personnel on the front lines of the Election Integrity 2020 to inform, listen and learn. Expected attendees include members of the National Guard and US CYBER COMMAND, as well as SMEs from industry, academia and other local, state and federal organizations. Event is October 24, 2019, 9am - 3pm. Read more here.

DreamPort First Annual Chili Cook Off
Now is the time to start planning and preparing your 2000-year-old, passed down for generations, TOP SECRET//NFT (No-Fair-Telling) Chili recipe for DreamPort's First Annual Chili Cook-off! Event is October 25, 2019. Read more here.

Cyber Conversation & Coffee (C3)
Our next Cyber Conversation & Coffee event will be October 28^th. USCYBERCOM, NSA, DIA, and DISA will each have representatives from their Office of Small Business Programs attending this special edition of C3. This event is a great opportunity for both government and small business industry partners to cultivate their collaborative working relationship in an informal surrounding. The representatives will be ready to share knowledge on how their agency conducts business, resources small businesses may utilize, and answer individual questions small businesses may have. Usually, there is no need to register, but please do so here for this event. We hope to see you there! Learn more.

AvengerCon IV
the event is planned with an attempt at keeping all members of the organization in mind. This includes both the junior and experienced members, and those in both technical and non-technical job roles, and military, civilian, and contracted personnel. Event is October 17-18, 2019. Learn More.

Pop-Up Cyber Conversation & Coffee
This special pop-up event is to announce the December, January and February RPEs. Also, we plan to announce the next prize challenge! Show up to hear about what is coming up, and enjoy the usual great coffee and conversation! As always, there is no need to register. We hope to see you there! This event is October 7, 7:30-10am!

The Red Hat Ansible Boot Camp
Ansible Tower will enable you to create playbooks, while building in security. Automation features will save time, empower junior staff, offload senior staff and automate your most tedious tasks! Event is September 26, 3 - 7pm. Learn More.

Tech Talk Series: Where do you start with AI and ML? Designing and building Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the ground up!
USCYBERCOM and DreamPort will host a Tech Talk Series: Where do you start with AI and ML? Designing and building Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning from the ground up! Date is September 12^th from 10am - 2pm. Join NVIDIA and NetApp and learn about how to sharpen your IT infrastructure axe, so your organization can tackle your AI/ML tasks in the most efficient manners possible. This DreamPort Tech Talk series is designed to give anyone being tasked with an AI/ML project, from SES to end user, an idea of what needs to happen to create a network that will allow you to build the tools necessary for mission accomplishment. The target audience is anyone interested in AI, from experienced user to someone who is unfamiliar and curious about what all of the buzz is about. Read more here.

Eccalon and DreamPort DoD OSD Cyber Integrity Initiative Lunch and Launch Event
Eccalon and the DreamPort team have been tasked to conduct outreach, training and test and evaluation of cyber solutions that will accelerate Defense Industrial Base (DIB) compliance with the soon to be released DoD cybersecurity standards. Read more here.

Reverse Engineering Showcase
USCYBERCOM and DreamPort will host a Reverse Engineering Showcase July 17, 2019 from 9am - 3pm. The goal is for interested organizations to bring product spec sheets, informative white papers, marketing materials, and at least one knowledgeable technical resource to interact with the working group. DreamPort will provide table, power, and Internet to support you in one of our large rooms in a typical tech show environment. In addition, we will have breakout rooms available for one-on-one discussions. If you have a technology, process, or idea how you or your company can help please register to be at our showcase. Read more here.

USCYBERCOM Small Business Industry Day
On July 16^the, USCYBERCOM is an aggressive advocate for small business contracting and is looking to connect its first ever Small Business Programs Manager with all manner of small businesses interested in doing business with them. Read more here.

The event slides are now available to download!

The Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Bootcamp
The Red Hat OpenShift Bootcamp is all about Containers, DevOps, & Agile Development. Attendees will learn, hands on, how to create, develop, use, deploy, and access containers as DevOps & Agile Development tools. The Red Hat OCP Bootcamp is a BYOD event. This event is on June 27, 2019 from 3pm - 7:30pm at the DreamPort facility in Columbia, MD. Read more here.

Defense Industrial Base Outreach Information Session
USCYBERCOM and DreamPort will host an information session on 28 June 2019 at 1:30pm with all interested parties to discuss specific requirements as well as other topics raised by questions and comments received in advance. The information session will be at DreamPort. Interested parties are encouraged to submit written responses to any or all of the REQUIREMENTS listed here. Further details will be provided at the 28 June 2019 industry presentation. This event is June 28 at 1:30pm. Read more here.

RPE-006: The Defense at Pemberton Mill
We'll be looking for solutions that monitor a fictitious network for vulnerabilities and detect attacks in progress. We want participants to bring solutions for monitoring both information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) networks both in live (with network taps) and offline (PCAP) mode. This event is June 18 - 21. Registration is now full. Read more here.

Securing Critical ICS Infrastructure & Solutions and Tips for Complying with DoD Cyber Regulations Panel
Join experts from the National Security Agency, USCYBERCOM and the Department of Defense along with CTOs, CISOs from industry and major solution providers for a panel discussion on the state of ICS/SCADA/IoT cybersecurity resiliency. On June 20, the Maryland Innovation and Security Institute, DreamPort and its board of directors invites you to a panel on the state of ICS/SCADA/IoT cybersecurity resiliency. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: How DevOps and Automation Can Accelerate Warfighting Readiness
"Speed is life," not only in warfighting operations, but in IT Defensive and Offensive Cyber Operations that are geared to increase battlefield lethality in an increasingly contested battlespace. Achieving speed, innovation, and risk management with traditional processes cannot keep up with our adversaries and meet the needs of today's networked warfighter. NetApp is an IT enabler and accelerator for DevOps for the entire Federal Government including the DoD and IC. On June 19 from 10am - 2pm, come hear NetApp's own DevOps journey and lessons learned and see how NetApp has equipped large enterprises to change fast and manage risk, with its deep integration with DevOps tools. In this interactive demonstration and discussion, NetApp will guide conversation towards a DevSecOps vision that can be realized immediately with capabilities that are available today to Defense Department developers. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: The Perimeter has been Shattered: Cybersecurity in the Age of Mobility
Georgia Weidman will talk about the modern threat landscape, the security controls currently available on the market (such as mobile threat defense and mobile application management), and provide real world examples and demonstrations of how they fall short under simulated attacks. Practical ways to improve security around mobile and IoT will also be discussed. Event is June 13, 1 - 3pm. Learn More

Splunk Discovery
Keeping up with the speed of business while avoiding costly cybersecurity incidents is critical to an organization's success. But managing security operations can all too often feel like a never-ending battle. From defending the enterprise before the enemy strikes to staying up to date with the tactics and techniques of your most formidable adversaries — all this and more can make managing security operations an increasingly difficult task. Streamline your security practice so you can respond to incidents at machine speed, minimize risk and improve incident response in no time flat. Event is June 6, 8:30am - 12pm. Read more here.

The Red Hat Ansible Boot Camp
Ansible Tower will enable you to create playbooks, while building in security. Automation features will save time, empower junior staff, offload senior staff and automate your most tedious tasks! Event is May 30, 3 - 7pm. Learn More.

RPE-005: The Chameleons and the Snakes
In September 2018 we conducted RPE-001 titled 'The Chameleon and the Snake'. While we were very excited to put on this event, as our first RPE it only focused on Windows tools and techniques for signature measurement and diversity. The online world does not take place on Microsoft Windows alone. Defenders must integrate, support and protect other operating systems and hardware on today's networks and so will we. On May 21 - 23, we are going to conduct a similar RPE where we pit offense versus defense but extend out the possible targets to include Linux and Android. Read more here.

Threat Hunting with Elastic Stack
Join us for some hands-on workshops with Elastic experts. You'll practice using the Elastic Stack to create stunning visualizations, hunting for security threats, and using machine learning features to identify anomalies in your security data. From learning how to write simple queries and create impactful Kibana visualizations to participating in a guided hunt to master threat hunting best practices, you'll leave with new insights into how you can leverage Elastic tools to hone your security practices. This was a BYOD event. It will be held on April 26, 2019 from 8:30am - 4:30pm at the DreamPort facility in Columbia, MD. Read more here.

DreamPort Challenge Problems Panel 2
This is the second of two panels later this month to hear your ideas, solutions to the latest Challenge Problems. Have a solution, a tech talk, demonstration, or an idea? Then please register and bring it to the panel on April 24 from 9-11am! Note: These are a repeat of the same panel, so you only need to register for one.

Tech Talk Series: The Importance of Building Your Zero Trust Program on a Solid Platform
Kevin McPeak is Symantec's Principal Cyber Architect for the US Federal Government will discuss how to apply Zero Trust tenants to address the modern threat landscape. The model advocates a holistic approach to information security and puts special focus on processes and technologies that secure your data, wherever it resides. This event was held on April 18, 2019 from 1 - 3pm at the DreamPort facility in Columbia, MD. Read more here.

DreamPort Challenge Problems Panel 1
This is the first of two panels later this month to hear your ideas, solutions to the latest Challenge Problems. Have a solution, a tech talk, demonstration, or an idea? Then please register and bring it to the panel on April 17 from 9-11am! Note: These are a repeat of the same panel, so you only need to register for one. Read More.

The Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Bootcamp
The Red Hat OpenShift Bootcamp is all about Containers, DevOps, & Agile Development. Attendees will learn, hands on, how to create, develop, use, deploy, and access containers as DevOps & Agile Development tools. The Red Hat OCP Bootcamp is a BYOD event. This event was held on April 11, 2019 from 3pm - 7:30pm at the DreamPort facility in Columbia, MD. Read more here.

The Red Hat DevSecOps Workshop
In this workshop, you learned to build a Secure Software Factory for a Java based website leveraging several containerized tools such as Gogs, Nexus, Jenkins, Sonarqube, and Che hosted on the OpenShift Container Platform. It was held on March 7, 2019 from 3pm – 7:30pm at the DreamPort facility in Columbia, MD. Read more here.

RPE-004: The Needles in the Haystack
How difficult is it to actually find a needle in a haystack? We are going to find out. On February 26-28, DreamPort plans to execute an RPE competition where participants design and implement a solution for automatically identifying the most important assets (needles) on the DreamPort HQ network (haystack) without any prior human knowledge. HQ is the network we used and will continue to use in multiple RPE. Our ideal candidate solution must be able to monitor a network via packet capture (PCAP) only, and automatically identify critical computers or endpoints on the network. Read more here.

RPE-003: The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
The Fables of Aesop by Joseph Jacobs published in 1894 includes the tale of the wolf in sheep's clothing. Just as in this tale, DreamPort is playing the Sheperd trying to spot the wolf in the flock. DreamPort plans to execute an RPE competition where participants design, implement or enhance user activity monitoring (UAM) solutions for detecting live and recent insider threat attacks or unauthorized activities. DreamPort is interested in identifying UAM solutions that employ advanced real-time analysis of multiple data sources for detecting unauthorized activities. Read more here.

The Red Hat Ansible Tower Workshop
Ansible Tower will enable you to create playbooks, while building in security. Automation features will save time, empower junior staff, offload senior staff and automate your most tedious tasks! Ansible Tower will enable you to create playbooks, while building in security. Automation features will save time, empower junior staff, offload senior staff and automate your most tedious tasks! Read more here.

Zero Trust Technology Showcase
On January 28^th, DreamPort hosted the Zero Trust Technology Showcase to discern and pilot how zero trust strategies and technologies can help the US Government protect their networks and data. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: The Case for Quantum, by Tony Lawrence, CEO of VOR Technology
State-of-the-Art cybersecurity is enough to safeguard our Internet treasure against most threats, but not against all threats. Read more here.

Tech Talk Series: Threat Briefing, by Adam Meyers of CrowdStrike
Adam is a founding employee and VP of Intelligence at CrowdStrike Inc., a global provider of security technology and services focused on identifying advanced threats and targeted attacks. Read more here.

DreamPort First Rapid Prototyping Event
"The Chameleon and the Snake" specifically targeted malware signature diversity and signature measurement for Microsoft Windows (x86 and amd64) in a simulated operational environment at a realistic pace. Read more here.

The Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Bootcamp
The Red Hat OpenShift Bootcamp is all about Containers, DevOps, & Agile Development. Attendees learned, hands on, how to create, develop, use, deploy, and access containers as DevOps & Agile Development tools. Read more here.