NAC-ISSA September 2025 lunch with Scott Ross

Join NAC-ISSA with speaker Scott Ross for our September 2025 Chapter lunch. He will be speaking on Securing the Bioeconomy.

Wiz had a schedule conflict and is unable to provide a speaker for the chapter lunch. We hope they will be able to join us at a future event.

Thank you to Scott Ross of the Hudson Alpha Institute for stepping on short notice.

Securing the Bioeconomy

As the bioeconomy grows, encompassing biotechnology research, agricultural innovation, pharmaceuticals, and healthcare integration, it faces an expanding array of cybersecurity threats. These risks go beyond traditional IT concerns, targeting sensitive human data, genomic information, intellectual property, and complex supply chains critical to food security and global health.

This session will examine the unique cybersecurity challenges within the bioeconomy. Topics will include threats to human privacy, vulnerabilities in biotechnology development pipelines, risks to agricultural and bio-manufacturing supply chains, and the protection of large-scale genomic datasets.

The presentation will also highlight emerging approaches to biocybersecurity, featuring work done in collaboration with NIST NCCoE and UAH CCRE to develop specialized cybersecurity frameworks and threat models. These efforts include the creation of Indicators-of-Behavior (IoB) to detect and mitigate attacks on research institutions, bio-pharma operations, and biotechnology campuses integrating with healthcare systems.

Scott Ross is a leading technology and cybersecurity expert in Alabama. Growing up in Huntsville, he developed early computer skills and began working in the field as a teen. After earning a Bachelor of Information Systems Management from Auburn University, he returned to Huntsville in 2010. His career started in the defense industry with the Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) and Army Material Command (AMC), where he quickly became a key advisor. In 2012, Scott transitioned to Parsons Corporation, leading IT Operations and Cybersecurity teams across various sectors. By 2019, he became the Director of IT at the HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology, addressing cybersecurity challenges in genomics. He received the 2021 InspireCIO Orbie award for Alabama CIO of the Year for Nonprofit/Public Sector Finalists. Scott holds a CISSP certification and is a principal investigator on genomic data cybersecurity research with UAH CCRE and NIST NCCOE. Additionally, he actively promotes STEM education and serves on the Alabama CIO Advisory Board and the Alabama STEM Foundation’s Board of Directors.