Four area technology professionals, one area firm, and two students
were recognized for their contributions to the region’s technology
industry at the Applied Information Management (AIM) Institute’s Annual Technology Celebration Banquet held Tuesday, April 17,
2007, at the Qwest Center Omaha.
Dr.
Gerald Wagner, UNO; Stacie Bender, Bellevue West HS; Kenneth Lawonn,
Alegent; Dr. Mark Roth, SAIC; Jerry Bartlett, TD AMERITRADE; Kandace
Miller, AIM
K-12 Technology Educator of the Year:
Stacie Bender, Teacher, Bellevue West High School Learn More...
Technology Professor of the Year:
Dr.
Gerald Wagner, Distinguished Research Fellow and Gallup Senior
Scientist, University of Nebraska at Omaha - College of
Information Science and Technology, Peter Kiewit Institute Learn More...
Technology Guru of the Year:
Dr. Mark Roth, Senior Scientist, Science Applications International Corporation Learn More...
Technology Chief of the Year:
Kenneth Lawonn, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, Alegent Health Learn More...
Technology Company of the Year:
TD AMERITRADE Learn More...
College Intern of the Year:
Phillip Mues, Mid-Plains Community College - North Platte, Nebraska Learn More...
High School Intern of the Year:
The
award recipients were selected from nominees in the award categories.
Selection was based on the nominees’ contributions, either through
sustained performance or a special notable achievement, to the region’s
worldwide reputation for excellence and innovation in information
technology.
 Dr. Robert E. Sweeney AIM Achiever Scholarship: Isela Lopez with Susan Colvin, Bryan Middle School principal, and Robert Sweeney, AIM president and CEO emeritus Learn More...
Master of Ceremonies: Dan Hunt, President of HCI Holdings and Chairman of the Board for the AIM Institute
 Keynote Speaker:Kevin Mitnick, founder of Mitnick Security Consulting LLC and known as the world's most famous former hacker, addressed the crowd of
525 as the evening’s keynote speaker. Mitnick opened the audience's eyes to the dangers of "social engineering" —
a term coined to describe the use of influence and persuasion to
deceive people into divulging confidential information.
Mitnick
shared
several personal stories from his former life as a hacker of how he was
able to access confidential corporate data through a series of simple
telephone calls to unsuspecting and trusting employees. Mitnick noted,
"An effective and meaningful security program must address the human
factor of information security." He encouraged the audience's business
leaders to build a "human firewall" at their organizations by teaching
their employees that, "It's OK to say NO!"
Mitnick also demonstrated real-time examples of how "the bad guys" can access
vital identity information via the Internet and phone. He concluded by providing a list of concrete steps that individuals and
businesses can follow in order to become more vigilant and to protect
themselves from the shrewd antics of social engineering hackers.
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