Conversations on the AFA conference floor.

We were able to spend some time on the exhibit floor, talking with exhibitors and conference participants. While the exhibits were, as one observer noted, "heavy-industry heavy" with airframe manufacturers, flight service providers, and major system integrators dominating the floor, there was also a manifest interest in cyber security.

Joe Billingsley was there, with the Military Cyber Professionals Association (MCPA). This group is dedicated to the support and advancement of cyber security as a military profession and an operational discipline. The MCPA is interested, Billingsley said, in bringing value by connecting people in the community. They publish two journals, "Cyber" (a magazine) and the peer-reviewed scholarly publication "Military Cyber Affairs." Both publications, along with a full description of the MCPA, can be found on the association's website.

We also spoke with Mike Ainsworth of Skyhigh Networks. The company is relatively new to the Department of Defense market (although long familiar with the Intelligence Community). He described Skyhigh's tools for managing the issues around shadow IT. Many organizations find it difficult to achieve any reliable insight into the unauthorized assets insiders introduce into their enterprise. Skyhigh's service resolves this ambiguity and gives organizations visibility into what's actually on their networks, and in particular displaying what cloud assets users are accessing.