Target Cybersecurity Official Presenting Seminar About Learning Lessons from Others

Friday, January 11, 2019
Mike Jackson

Mike Jackson has led teams at Target and Best Buy that have implemented cyber defense, detection and response capabilities for the variety of data and information collected by the retail stores.

Decisions made daily in air travel, banking and medicine are helping cybersecurity officials better understand how to protect sensitive high-tech information from possible attack. Some of the valuable lessons from these industries will be the focus of a special seminar Wednesday, Jan. 16, at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Mike Jackson, director of Target Corporation’s security testing services team, will discuss “Learning from Others: Lessons in Cybersecurity” in the GM Room (Room B-111) of Moench Hall, starting at 4:20 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Jackson and his team of security professionals trained white hat hackers to use an attacker’s mindset to ensure the security of applications developed by Target. He previously founded and developed Target’s Red Team, performing threat simulation to improve the cyber defense, detection and response capabilities for the department store retailer. Jackson also implemented Best Buy’s cyber threat intelligence team, which identifies new computer threats and the hackers behind them.

Jackson’s career in information security began by conducting security research and testing, and performing computer forensics and investigations. He earned degrees in computer engineering and electrical engineering from the University of Minnesota.

The seminar is sponsored by the Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering to make members of the Rose-Hulman community and local residents aware about current cybersecurity issues.

People attending the seminar should park on the east side of campus. They can enter Moench Hall through doors near the base of the campus water tower, then go up to the second floor by walking up the stairs or taking an elevator. The GM Room is located in the southwest corner of the second floor hallway, near the stairway and elevator.