CANTON — In recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, SUNY Canton's Cybersecurity Department will host a free weekly online speaker series throughout October.

Faculty experts will discuss topics related to navigating the internet safely, artificial intelligence security and quantum computing each Thursday from noon from 1 p.m.

The keynote speaker will be former CIA senior intelligence officer and author Peter Warmka, who will discuss the effectiveness of various methods of cybersecurity training in modern organizations at noon Oct. 31. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Kambiz Ghazinour, Ph.D., chair of the college's Cybersecurity Department. This event requires registration.

Warmka is the author of the nonfiction books "Confessions of a CIA Spy: The Art of Human Hacking" and "Why Are You Messing with Me? A Senior Survival Guide on Fraud, Privacy, and Security."

Following his retirement after 20 years of public service, Warmka founded the Orlando-based firm Counterintelligence Institute. His mission is to assist city, state, and federal government entities, non-profits, academic institutions, private companies and individuals in safeguarding their sensitive proprietary and personal data.

Other speakers and topics:

SUNY Canton Assistant Professor Mehdi Ghayoumi, Ph.D., will discuss the growing influence of large language models and artificial intelligence in various industries at noon Oct. 17.

SUNY Canton Visiting Assistant Professor Betis Baheri will discuss the basics of quantum computing and quantum search algorithms at noon Oct. 24. He will also discuss the theory of "quantum privacy," which uses quantum algorithms to hide or retrieve information securely.

All events are open to the public and will be held virtually. More information, registration details and login instructions can be found at https://www.canton.edu/hacking/.