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For 23 years, beginning almost 10 years before the Computer Security Act of 1987 was enacted, the National Information Systems Security Conference (NISSC) was a leading global forum on computer and information systems security. Throughout its lifetime, the Conference - known first as the National Computer Security Conference (NCSC) - brought together information systems security and technology professionals from industry, academia, and government. It provoked debate, dialogue, and action on the major information systems security issues of the day. The NISSC educated the IT and IT security communities on major information systems security issues and solutions. The Conference promoted demand for and investment in information systems security products, solutions, and research; and challenged the IT community to provide solutions, research, and applied technology that were usable, interoperable, scalable, and affordable. The Conference program evolved as the IT revolution changed the way government and industry conducted business. Where, in the early years, issues included terminal-to-mainframe security and the insider threat, in recent years the program addressed securing electronic commerce, the Internet and Web security, preventing computer crime, and firewall technology. The Conference grew from a single-track format to offering multiple tracks, including assurance, criteria, and testing; research and development; policy, management, and government issues; electronic commerce; and networking and the Internet. The NISSC offered a wide range of presentations, from papers to panel discussions, tutorials, and half-day workshops. The NISSC - the first national computer security conference to offer a wide range of presentations - became one of many annual conferences as industry sought to satisfy the dramatically increasing need for computer security training and education, as well as networking between computer security professionals from industry, academia, and government. Computer security as a discipline has evolved to such an extent that many conferences are now devoted to very specific aspects of the security discipline, such as the International Common Criteria Conference. This natural evolution since 1977 meant that the sponsors of the NISSC could now move forward with new efforts to meet their mission objectives while ensuring that their customers' needs for broad ranging security conferences could be more than adequately met by other efforts. The last NISSC was conducted in October 2000. The NISSC has been a great success over the years, thanks to the fine work of all involved, including speakers, track chairs, and program committee members. |
