PORTLAND — The Maine Small Business Security Summit will take place at the University of Southern Maine’s Abromson Community Education Center in Portland on Friday, Oct. 17.

The day-long conference will offer owners of small businesses, entrepreneurs, CEOs and professionals working remotely the opportunity to learn how to protect their company and their customers from data security breaches.

Conference sessions will include “Why Should We Care? A CEO’s Story” presented by Alan Spear, CEO of Coffee By Design, who will describe his perspective on information security, and “Where to Start,” a white board session featuring presenters from three diverse Maine businesses. A lunch-and-learn session will offer the opportunity for discussion with other conference attendees and presenters who will share their experiences.

The final session, “Business Intelligence,” will be presented by USM Professor Glenn Wilson, who will talk about the Maine Cyber Security Cluster and how it benefits the Maine business community.

All attendees will receive a free toolkit, developed by the students in USM’s Cyber Security Club and MCSC.

Registration costs range from $60-80 for professionals, and $20-30 for students.

To register, call 780-5960 or visit the conference website at http://mcsc.usm.maine.edu/itm2014. For more information, contact Lynn Lovewell at 780-4782.