NEbraskaCERT Conference (formerly CERT Conference) has its roots in a military Information Assurance conference hosted annually by US Strategic Command. After President Clinton signed Presidential Decision Directive (PDD) 63 directing cooperation/sharing with the civilian community, the Omaha Cyber Security Forum (May 1999) brought about 75 civilians together with about 25 military personnel to share information at Offutt Air Force Base.

A parallel effort involving CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University, Omaha Software Process Improvement Network (SPIN), the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association (AFCEA), the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute, and the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce had decided to conduct CERT Conference 1999 in Omaha.

The two efforts combined and in September 1999 over 100 attendees gathered to discuss Information Assurance issues. Several tutorials provided technical details, a multitude of general sessions provided a wide range of topics, and about six vendor booths and associated presentations were well received. In fact, 95% of reviews called for an expanded offering in the future.

October 2000 saw over 200 attendees flock to The Peter Kiewit Institutes's Scott Conference Center. A lack of space forced the decision to exclude vendors from having a display but several still provided support for specific events. Several tutorials were presented and, again, general sessions provided a good cross section of topics aimed at managers and technicians. The addition of an academic track brought attention to new technologies and concepts.

The third annual event, CERT Conference 2001, also had over 200 attendees, with participants from Israel, Mexico, Canada, and all over the U.S. Held at the Holiday Inn in Omaha, this CERT Conference 2001 featured ISC(2) security professional testing, tutorials, tracks, and a vendor display. Keynotes included Jim Christy, Jake Schaffner, Kimberly Young, Fred Cohen, Winn Schwartau, and Fred Cohen.

The fourth conference topped 200 attendees again as CERT Conference 2002 returned to the Peter Kiewit Institutes's Scott Conference Center in support of the area's academic endeavors. Although we did not feature vendor displays, we had many companies sponsoring activities and promotions throughout the conference. On Monday, August 5 we had over 35 people take the CISSP exam from ISC(2). Tuesday through Thursday we featured two technical, one management, and one academic track. On Friday, we offered several half- and full-day tutorials on a wide range of security issues, such as Firewall implementation, System Hardening, Intrusions, Business Continuity Planning, and Security A-Z Management Reviews. Keynotes were Ryan Russell of SecurityFocus Inc., Rob Rosenberger of VMyths.com, and Joel Scambrey of Hacking Exposed fame.

Our Fifth Annual conference in 2003 topped 225 attendees at the Scott Conference Center. SAIC was our Principal Sponsor and we had many companies sponsoring activities and promotions throughout the conference. On Monday, August 4th, we had over 40 people take the CISSP exam from ISC(2). Tuesday through Thursday we featured two technical, one management, and one general track. A new addition this year was the NSA IAM certification training offered on Friday and Saturday. Our name change to NEbraskaCERT Conference was well received by the attendees. In celebration of our 5 year anniversary we had keynotes focusing on the melding of commercial and governmental Information Assurance issues. These included Jim Christy of the Defense Cyber Crime Center, Ray Semko of Interagency OPSEC support, and of course a presentation of technical information by the CERT/CC.

Our 6th Annual Conference in 2004 saw us offer new features to our participants. In Addition to the CISSP/SSCP exam we were able to continue to offer NSA IAM training. We brought several dynamic keynoters Mitch Dembin from Microsoft and Bill Cheswick of LuMeta to the conference in 2004 and succeeded in bringing another great conference to the Midwestern United States. In 2004 we concentrated on the topic of practical security with less of an emphasis on the theoretical and more on the technologies and practices of what was available in 2004.

Our 7th Annual Conference in 2005 saw us extend on 2004's theme of practical security with the theme of "Security as Reality". We once again offered the opportunity to sit for any of the ISC^2 exams as well as offering NSA IEM training. Our keynoters reflected our theme by concentrating on the use of process in addition to technology to secure information assets.

Our 8th Annual Conference in 2006 saw us use the theme of "Security is Here". The ISC^2 exams and the NSA IAM training were offered again. We were able to get an excellent set of keynoters and speakers for this year's conference. We also were able to reach out to other security organizations in the area to enhance our relationships with an eye towards potential future collaborations.

Our 9th Annual Conference in 2007 saw us use the theme of "Security Now!". The ISC^2 exams and the NSA IAM and NSA IEM training were offered again. We were able to get an excellent set of keynoters and speakers for this year's conference. We also were able to reach out to other security organizations in the area to enhance our relationships with an eye towards potential future collaborations. We adjusted the length of the conference to one day. In all 2007 was a growing year for NEbraskaCERT and a chance to readjust our conference and how we want to serve the community.

Our 10th Annual Conference in 2008 saw us use the theme of "Security is Here!". The ISC^2 exams and the NSA IAM training were offered again. We were able to get an excellent keynoter in Crispin Cowan and great speakers for this year's conference.

Our 11th Annual Confernece in 2009 saw us make some hard decisions. With a lot of discussion we have decided to make the 2009 Conference the Final NEbraskaCERT conference for the forseeable future, at least in its current form. We brought the NEbraskaCERT conference back to two days for its final outing. The amazing thing about this conference was the number of new attendees. NEbraskaCERT will be continuing to serve the community with our other efforts such as the NEbraskaCERT Cyber Security Forums and the training we provide. We were able to put together a get set of keynoters and speakers for the final NEbraskaCERT conference. Overall it went out with a bang!!!

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