Panel Accepted for Black Hat

I'm excited that our panel on software vulnerabilities has been selected for Black Hat 2011, so I will be attending the executive forum and briefings, and staying around for Def Con on the weekend. It will be a long week, but should be exciting. The briefings are listed on the Black Hat website, and they all look great!

Cyber Security Strategies Summit

(GSMI) Cyber Security Strategies Summit

Date: May 10-12, 2011

Location: Kellogg Conference Hotel, Washington, D.C.

I will be speaking on enterprise metrics, the afternoon of May 11th. Early registration ends March 4th.

SC Virtual Symposium "Insider Threat"

[This is the first time I've been the subject of spam, blocked by my own spam filters! ;-)]

SC Virtual Symposium: Managing data against insider threats

Date: Thursday, January 21st
Time: 1 - 5pm ET
Location: your computer

Earn CPE credits for attending*

Click on the link below to register for FREE:
http://sc.haymarketcomm.net/r/?ZXU=1063432&ZXD=57476866

With layoffs rampant, corporate leaders are increasingly concerned that employees may steal data to sell to cybercriminals. Insiders are a risk and companies must protect their critical assets against them. We learn from experts how it's done.

Preparing for Black Hat 2009

The Black Hat USA 2009 conference begins in less than two weeks. I'm excited, but have a lot of preparation to do! I will be on a panel on Tuesday, and the executive briefings and then I am on a panel Wednesday morning.

I'm planning on a long week, and since I'm staying the weekend, I'll have time to relax and enjoy myself. There are lots of interesting topics for Black Hat and DEFCON. If you're going to be there, drop me a line!

Security & Privacy - In the Cloud

I am posting the slides from my Cloud Computing talk today. A slide show that you can view, and if you want my full deck you just have to email me or Tweet, with your version of PowerPoint or format choice.

I finished up the slides, and added the Larry Ellison audio last night at midnight, so I got to bed after 1am and then got about three hours of sleep before driving the 3 hours to Springfield (IL). This was for the Infragard conference on data protection (see below). We had about 160 people turn out, from all industry sectors. Including: police, federal, agriculture, banking, schools and colleges... Our keynote speaker was excellent (John Bace, of Gartner). We wrapped up around 4pm and I just got back from the return drive. I'm heading off for a nap, and may comment more later. For now, my eyes are bugging out from writing these slides up in one marathon session yesterday. I thought my talk went well, I hope you find the slides somewhat useful.

Click here for the slides. [2.8Mb - 2007 compatible]

Teaching in 2009

Is it common for security professionals to have their (corporate) day job, and teach/write/speak in their spare time? I have my teaching schedule pretty well laid out for 2009. I will be teaching astronomy (16-week, 4 credit) in the Spring and Fall semesters for Scott Community College, and shorter Summer semester courses for SCC and St. Ambrose. The St. Ambrose course is 8 nights over 8 weeks, starting at the beginning of May, for 3 credits.

In addition, I am in discussions with a company in India to design two graduate security courses for an online university. The titles are, "Information Security Challenges and Solutions (3 sem. cr.)" and "Information Security Governance (3 sem. cr.)". If the timeline and price is agreeable, I may start on those yet this month.

Besides teaching, I will be giving an hour talk at the "Springfield Infragard Conference" on March 13th, in Springfield, Illinois on the topic of "Security, Privacy and Cloud Computing". (Yet to be written.) So, I should be kept pretty busy through the summer at least, which is a consolation since my company has decided to cut back on travel this year, and I won't be attending the 2009 RSA Conference in San Francisco. That's an excellent conference, and I will miss it, but I do plan on attending Black Hat Briefings in Las Vegas, in early August. I will be on a pre-conference panel, and I'll pay my own way if I have to.

Security Goals for 2009

I was caught off-guard today by the announcement that the RSA Conference submission deadline is coming up in a week! I need to decide if I will submit any of the successful (interesting? timely?) projects I have worked on in the past year for consideration. I would love to present at the April 2009 conference in San Francisco. I was sick this past year, and kind of bounced around dosed up on Nyquil all week!

Besides this great conference, I was involved in the Black Hat 2008 conference in Las Vegas this past summer. It was good to serve on a panel for the executive briefings. So, if I can't get a paper submitted (my employer isn't always keen on discussing projects publicly), maybe I will be able to serve on a committee or panel. I was on the RSA Conference organizing committee this past year, and it was a great experience.

I finish my year as chariman of the IA-IL IEEE Section in January, and become past-chair. I still remain active in the Quad Cities Engineering and Science Council, and I am working on bringing in a speaker for the local Putnam Museum in November. I am also working on starting a "Computer Society" chapter for IEEE locally. If all works out, I will have a meeting in November at St. Ambrose University to kick that off!

For the coming year, I am serving as treasurer for the FBI Infragard board (Springfield Chapter). I am also the education chair for the IEEE for Region 4 (midwest). I think these things will keep me pretty busy. I have enjoyed my involvement with IEEE the past several years, as a board member, and it was great to spend a week in Quebec City in September for our Sections Congress. In addition to computer security, it is a great opportunity to promote general science and engineering, and critical thinking skills with K-12 and all members of the local community.

That's my update. I will try to use this space as my "professional" blog, and keep it updated with events I am participating in, and my commentary on topics related to computer security.