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🍊 Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2026 Lakeland, Florida

Polk County Security Summit

A half-day gathering for the IT and security leaders shaping Polk County's next decade — where the AI-era threat landscape gets real, and the leaders facing it compare notes.

Reserve your free seat → View the agenda
Date
Fri, Oct 9, 202610:00 AM – 2:00 PM ET
Venue
Catapult LakelandThe Assembly · Downtown
Admission
FreeStudents & IT leaders
Format
In personTalks · demos · lunch
Why we're gathering

AI changed the threat model. This is where Polk County's leaders catch up — together.

Today's threats generate flawless phishing lures, automate ransomware, and use everyday system tools and AI scripts to slip past signature-based defenses. The Polk County Security Summit brings CIOs, CISOs, and their teams into one room for a focused morning of practical intelligence — no fluff, no hard sell, just the conversations that matter for Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

🍊

AI-powered threats

How AI-generated phishing lures, AI-based ransomware, and defense-evading tradecraft actually work — and what holds up against them.

🎯

Live demos

Autonomous penetration testing and incident response for AI workflows — shown live, not on slides.

⚙️

Governing AI

Emerging policy and governance for enabling AI innovation while managing real security risk.

🤝

Peer roundtables

Real relationships with the leaders running security at Polk County's banks, hospitals, campuses, and governments.

On the table

Topics we're building the day around 🍊 To be confirmed

The Polk County CIO ThinkTank surfaced more than a four-hour morning can hold, so we're picking the best of these. Final sessions, speakers, format, and running order are still being set — expect a mix of short talks and a live demo or two, with one panel discussion.

01

AI-powered threats & evading modern defenses

AI-generated phishing lures and AI-based ransomware — plus the tradecraft behind them: credential theft, trusted system tools, and AI scripts that slip past AV and signature-based products, with social engineering used to strip technical controls.

Panel · proposed
02

Autonomous pentesting & incident response for AI workflows

Live demonstrations: how autonomous penetration testing differs from a traditional vulnerability assessment, and emerging tooling for responding when AI-driven systems are the target.

Demo · proposed
03

Governing AI

Emerging policies and practices for enabling AI innovation while managing risk and security — and keeping the humans in the loop.

04

Lessons from building & orchestrating AI agents

What real-world teams have learned putting AI agents into production, from the practitioners doing it.

🍊 Entire agenda is to be confirmed — topics drawn from the Polk County CIO ThinkTank's planning input. The morning runs 10:00 AM–2:00 PM ET with lunch provided.

Who should attend

Built for the people accountable for security — and the students who'll inherit it

Admission
Free tickets

for students and IT leaders across Polk County and Central Florida.

  • Full-time and part-time students (with valid .edu or student ID)
  • IT & security leaders — CIO, CISO, Director, and VP roles
  • Lunch, coffee, and materials included
Claim your free seat →

You'll fit right in if you're a…

CIOCISOVP of IT Director of IT / SecurityNetwork & Security Engineer IT ManagerGRC / Compliance Deputy / Public Sector ITStudent in CS / Cyber / IT

Drawn from Polk County's banks, hospitals, universities, logistics, manufacturing, and county & city government — anchored by the Polk County CIO ThinkTank and open to the wider Central Florida community.

Reserve your seat

Register free

Students and IT leaders attend at no cost. Grab your ticket below — it takes about 30 seconds.

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Presented by

Made possible by three teams who work where business, technology, and security meet

Strategic IT leadership, cybersecurity operations, and the human side of security — three firms that help organizations run smarter and safer, together underwriting a day of open, no-cost learning.

Interested in sponsoring or speaking? Get in touch →

Where

Catapult Lakeland — The Assembly

Catapult Lakeland

502 E. Main St, Lakeland, FL 33801

Held in The Assembly, Catapult's largest gathering space in the heart of downtown Lakeland — an innovation hub built for founders, technologists, and the community that supports them. Free and paid parking is available nearby throughout downtown.

Open in Google Maps →
📍
Downtown Lakeland
502 E. Main St · 33801

Seats are limited. The room is not.

The Polk County Security Summit is intentionally intimate — reserve your free seat before it fills.

Register on Luma →