Pursuing a new business services growth opportunity, Canada’s Rogers Communications this week introduced a cybersecurity offering in partnership with Trustwave.

Rogers said it cybersecurity platform, called leapfrog and slated for commercial launch in early 2016, will help Canadian businesses rapidly detect security breaches, something that can sometimes take up to two months for some businesses due to a clack of tools and resources.

Rogers said its cybersecurity offering is designed to scale, from  SMBs to large enterprises, and will offer real-time monitoring of client business network infrastructures, access to a team of security analysts, and a portfolio of diagnostic tools that scan for possible weaknesses.

"Cybersecurity is the number one concern for Canadian businesses of all sizes, and many lack the resources, time and expertise to manage the reality of cyber threats today" said Nitin Kawale, president of Rogers’s Enterprise Business Unit. "We are introducing solutions to our customers of all sizes, with local and global operations, that are backed by one of the world's cybersecurity leaders, Trustwave. These solutions are offered as a service to give our customers peace of mind knowing their networks and data are secured."

"In 2016, security spend in Canada will exceed $2 billion for the first time as organizations rally to defend themselves against cyber threats," added  David Senf, VP, infrastructure solutions group at IDC Canada. "Only a mere 6% of security spend comes from Canadian small businesses yet they employ 50% of all Canadian workers. This key segment of more than 1 million businesses has been underserved by the security market to date. IDC sees a strong shift among Canadian organizations towards managed security services, as they try to fill their increasing skills and knowledge gap."

Cybersecurity has become a key are of focus for the cable industry. A day of keynotes and sessions dedicated to cybersecurity was set aside for a symposium held prior to the 2015 SCTE Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans. There,  keynoter John N. Stewart, the senior vice president and chief security and trust officer at Cisco Systems, said  that cybersecurity threats are a big, if not the biggest, risk posed to cable’s internal and external activities. He also said cybersecurity represents a potentially lucrative opportunity for MSOs as business and residential customers seek answers on how to come to grips with their unique security-related issues.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers said it has lined up top execs from Cox Communications, Liberty Global, CableLabs, Bright House Networks and Comcast for the October 14 Cable-Tec Expo opening general session in New Orleans.

For the session, Cox president Pat Esser will moderate a panel that will touch on topics ranging from broadband network investment, energy management, the connected home and business services. He’ll be joined by:  Balan Nair, executive vice president and chief technology officer, Liberty Global (and the event’s program chair);  Nomi Bergman, president, Bright House Networks;  Phil McKinney, president and CEO,  CableLabs; and John Schanz, executive vice president and chief network officer, Comcast.

The session is set to start at 8:30 a.m. at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center in New Orleans. 

The event will kick off Tuesday, Oct. 13 with a symposium on Cybersecurity featuring keynoter John N. Stewart, senior vice president and chief security and trust officer for Cisco Systems.

Cable-Tec Expo is slated for Oct. 13-16.

Less than a month after Cisco Systems named Chuck Robbins as its next CEO, two company presidents are on their way out the door as the tech giant looks to simplify its operational structure.

Robbins announced on the company’s corporate blog Monday that Cisco’s presidents – Rob Lloyd and Gary Moore – will be leaving Cisco at the end of the company’s fiscal year, retaining their current rules until July 25.

And that's not all, apparently. Re/code reported Monday that Padmasree Warrior, Cisco's chief technology and strategy officer, will be leaving the company sometime this summer and has been weighing new job opportunities. Warrior joined Cisco in 2008, and previously served as EVP and CTO at Motorola. Update: “Per Chuck’s blog of earlier today, he plans to announce his full leadership team within two weeks. We won’t be commenting on rumors on who might be part of that team or not in the interim," Cisco spokeswoman Robyn Blum said in a statement. 

“Going forward, we will move to a flatter leadership team designed for the speed, innovation and execution that is required of us over the next decade,” Robbins wrote, thanking the execs for their “tremendous leadership.”

"Looking ahead, I will announce my next generation organizational structure and my leadership team within two weeks. This simplified structure will allow us to move with speed to accelerate our innovation and help our customers transform in the digital age," he added. 

A 21-year vet of Cisco, Lloyd has been serving as president of sales and development and leading Cisco’s Internet of Everything business. He was a keynoter at the SCTE Cable-Tec Expo last September, in Denver.

Moore was Cisco’s first president and COO, and joined the company in 2001. Cisco Services has seen annual revenues rise from $3 billion to $10 billion during his tenure, Robbins pointed out.

Lloyd and Moore bid their farewells in the form of complimentary blog posts on Monday.

Lloyd said he decided to leave Cisco “to begin the next chapter in my career,” recalling that he joined as president and general manager of Cisco Canada in 1994, inheriting a team of 40.  

“I feel that Cisco is very well positioned to lead yet again in the world of Software Defined Networking and Network Function Virtualization as we begin to monetize our vast software assets in new and exciting ways,” Lloyd wrote.

“Cisco’s future is very bright and with Chuck’s leadership, you will seize the opportunities ahead," Moore added in his post.

Cisco named company vet Robbins as the next CEO of Cisco on May 4. He’ll come into that role full-time on July 26, succeeding long-time company leader John Chambers, who will become Cisco’s executive chairman and remain chairman of Cisco’s board.

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers (SCTE) and CableLabs have tapped two renowned cyber-threats experts to keynote the Cybersecurity Symposium, a full-day event set for October 13, in tandem with the Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans.

John N. Stewart, SVP, chief security and trust officer at Cisco Systems; and Chris Roberts, founder and CTO of  One World Labs, will keynote the all-day event, which will address ways in which cable system operators can protect their networks and their customers from cyber-attacks.

Roberts made national headlines last month when he was removed from a United Airlines flight following comments he posted on Twitter claiming he knew how to hack United’s onboard systems. One World is security intelligence firm based in Denver that identifies risks before they’re exploited.

At Cisco, Stewart leads efforts to protecting the company’s public and private customer.

“As last year’s string of high-profile breaches showed, none of our businesses are immune from cyber-attacks,” Mark Dzuban, president and CEO of SCTE and its global brand, the International Society of Broadband Experts (ISBE), said in a statement. “The lessons we can learn from John N. Stewart, Chris Roberts and our symposium experts will help us to anticipate, prevent and respond to cyber threats that could jeopardize our services and our customers’ networks in the future.”

The Cybersecurity Symposium is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM CT at the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center on Oct. 13.

SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2015 is scheduled for Oct. 13-16. 

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has opened registration for the fifth annual SCTE IP Challenge, which will crown a winner on October 13 at the Cable-Tec Expo in New Orleans. 

Before things get that far, SCTE will run two “virtual qualifying rounds” – on May 10-16 and June 7-13— where contestants will be grilled on questions spanning six IP-related categories: Routing, Network Theory, CMTS DOCSIS, Internet Protocol, Configuration, and Multimedia over IP.

The top eight scorers who are SCTE members and work for a cable MSO will be eligible to move on to the live semifinals and final at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2015, where they will compete against one another  and last year’s IP Challenge winner, Jamie Griffin of Full Channel, under a Jeopardy-style question format. The semifinals and final will take place before a live audience at the show on October 13 from 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m. 

The eight semifinalists will also receive complimentary registrations to this year's Cable-Tec Expo, set for October 13-16. The winner will receive a full-conference pass to Cisco Live 2016 and a full-conference pass to next year’s Cable-Tec Expo, where he or she will defend the IP Challenge title.

“As cable network operators evolve their network infrastructures, a firm grounding in IP is essential for engineering professionals,” said Tim Carnes, director, systems engineering, Cisco, the sponsor of the IP Challenge.

“Building awareness of the value of IP expertise involves a wide range of vehicles, including training, certification and events like the SCTE IP Challenge,” added Steve Harris, senior director, advanced network technologies program development for SCTE and creator of the SCTE IP Challenge.  “We’re grateful to Cisco for their tremendous support, which has helped to nurture this event into one of the highlight activities at SCTE Cable-Tec Expo.”

The Society of Cable Telecommunications Engineers has set a May 22 deadline for award nominations tied to SCTE Cable-Tec Expo 2015, set for Oct. 13-16 in New Orleans.

SCTE is seeking nominations for the following:

- SCTE Member of the Year Award

-SCTE Hall of Fame

-SCTE Excellence in Standards Award

-SCTE Safety Awards

The awards will be presented at Expo, with Member of the Year and Hall of Fame honors to be presented during the show’s annual awards luncheon on Wednesday, Oct. 14. SCTE-Tuck Executive Leadership Program speaker Punam Keller will deliver the luncheon’s keynote address.

SCTE said it expects to open registrations for Cable-Tec Expo later this month.