There are currently more than a billion personal computers and more than four billion mobile phones in the world.

Some experts believe that most mobile phones will soon be as powerful as mini computers and, along with the efficiencies they bring to the workforce and our daily lives, so too do they bring safety and security issues unlike anything experts have seen before.

Highlighting cyber security

That was the topic of discussion that brought more than 100 technology and security experts to campus to participate in "Securing the Perimeter: A Public-Private Sector Discussion on Cyber Secruity."

Jointly hosted by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, panelists included:

• Peter Fonash, acting director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Security Division
• Mark Culp, of the Federal Bureau of Investigation
• Karen Hewitt, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California
• San Diego Police Chief William Lansdowne
• Professor Eric Frost from SDSU's College of Sciences
• SDSU President Stephen L. Weber.

Developing a technology workforce

Fonash discussed the federal government's new Project 12, which is a comprehensive national cyber initiative that includes a large focus on education, both for users of internet technologies, and the workforce that develops and protects it.

"We need to increase our overall technology workforce," Fonash said, citing that for every 1,000 technology engineers the United States produces, China produces 200,000. "It's a great time for students who want to go into cyber security, because the problem is not going away."

Fighting cyber crime

In early August 2008, federal prosecutors cracked one of the largest cyber crime operations ever committed, charging nearly a dozen people from five different countries with identity theft and credit card fraud. It's now just as easy to steal a person's credit card information from overseas as it is to go through their trashcan.

"People think we have all these advanced technologies," Lansdowne said, explaining the San Diego Police Department's research methods. "We use People Finder. For $29.99, I can find out everything about you."