By Chris Tribbey
When Fred Kaplan takes the stage May 25 in Los Angeles at “Holly-wired: Where IT and Entertainment Meet,” he’ll argue that — for purposes of helping to provide security from cyber attacks — the federal government should put Hollywood in the same category as the country’s financial systems, its water supplies, nuclear infrastructure and power grid, as “critical infrastructure.”
It isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound, and Kaplan knows what he’s talking about: a former Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the “Boston Globe,” he’s currently the “War Stories” columnist for “Slate” and has authored five books centered around national security politics, most recently “Dark Territory: The Secret History of Cyber War.”
Kaplan will cite historical cases to demonstrate how Hollywood has influenced national cyber policy — and how the Hollywood IT Society can now benefit from it. Hollywood has always imagined the future (with several films predicting the birth of cyber warfare). This imagination, combined with the bourgeoning of an IT community, makes us uniquely positioned to forge new strategies and solutions for security.
“Most people are this conference know the risks brought on by cyber attacks, but they may not know how they can best prepare for it,” said Kaplan, whose other books include “The Insurgents: David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War,” “1959: The Year Everything Changed,” Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power,” and “The Wizards of Armageddon.”
Kaplan’s keynote speech at “Holly-wired” highlights a full day of panels and presentations covering the trends, tools and technologies that the industry is using to tell stories, share and analyze data, and automate enterprises. His presentation — with an introduction by Richard Atkinson, chairman of the Content Delivery & Security Association (CDSA) — has the biggest security bent on the day.
“Bad guys are going to get in, if you have something they really want,” Kaplan said. “What you need are better ways to detect the intrusion and faster ways to repel and repair it.”
The May 25 event will be the seventh year the Hollywood IT community gathers for a bi-annual HITS conference with speakers from major studios, technology companies, distributors and more. Entertainment Partners and FilmTrack lead a list of event sponsors that also includes Avanade, Cognizant, Expert System Enterprise, MarkLogic, MediaSilo, Avere, Qumulo, Rovi, SalesForce and Slack.
To register, click here.