About The Speaker
As the State of Arkansas’ Chief Security Officer, Kym Patterson has been involved in a variety of activities including developing security policy for Arkansas’ state agencies and institutions of higher education, providing outreach and education on cyber security issues, facilitating the state’s security working group and overseeing the State Security Office.  During the past two years, Patterson led a project to deploy web-based continuity of operations planning software to all Arkansas’ state agencies.

Patterson is active on the National Association of Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) Security and Privacy Committee which has published many briefs in the areas of information privacy and security and is also an active member of the Multi-State Information Sharing and Information Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) which serves as the focal point of communication for all state chief security officers.  Patterson is a member of the MS-ISAC Operations Working Group that develops communication protocols and escalations procedures during cyber events.  Patterson earned her Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification in 2005 and is the vice-president of the InfraGard Arkansas Members Alliance.

Patterson has a B.A. in Economics from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and worked for the Arkansas Department of Economic Development in various jobs including the head of the research division and the head of the IT division.  Patterson has years of experience in various IT functions including operations and management.