South Carolina Treasurer Curtis Loftis kicked off a gathering today of state and local government leaders, higher education administrators and bankers to discuss cyber security threats to the public and private sectors.

Treasurer Loftis – who lives in West Columbia – delivered opening remarks at the Cyber Security Summit along with co-sponsors Dr. Harris Pastides, president of the University of South Carolina, and Phil Smith, head of Government and Institutional Banking at Wells Fargo.

“Protecting the personal information and money of our state’s citizens must be our highest priority,” said Treasurer Loftis. “One of the things that I want to do is help make the people of South Carolina feel safer and more secure.”

The summit, held at USC’s MyAlumni Center in Columbia, was designed to build awareness of local and global cyber security threats and share information on how organizations can mitigate their cyber risk. The event featured presentations from experts at USC’s SC Cyber initiative and global security company Palo Alto Networks as well as information from attorneys who specialize in cyber security issues.

“A year ago we launched SC Cyber and formed essential public and private partnerships,” said Dr. Pastides. “Our goal was and is to advance our state’s reputation as a place where cyber security is understood, practiced and advanced.”

Treasurer Loftis added, “I appreciate that Dr. Pastides joined me in sponsoring the Cyber Security Summit to bring more attention to this important issue.”

The Cyber Security Summit was co-sponsored by the State Treasurer’s Office, SC Cyber, Wells Fargo and Palo Alto Networks. Presenters included Thomas Scott, executive director of SC Cyber; General Les Eisner, deputy director of the Office of Economic Engagement at USC; Rick Howard, chief security officer at Palo Alto Networks; Chris Swecker, attorney and former assistant director at the Federal Bureau of Investigation and David Furr, partner at Gray, Layton, Kersh, Solomon, Furr & Smith, P.A.