John McCumber is the newest member of the (ISC)² family. He joined the team last month and will be our first ever director of cybersecurity advocacy. John is based out of our North America Region office in Alexandria, Virginia and will be supporting the (ISC)² membership by advocating for them and the profession across the U.S. and Canada.
John got his start in infosec in late 1986, when – in the middle of the night – he received a call that the DEC VAX 11/780 he was responsible for was under attack. Someone had figured out the vulnerability for the computer and it was being targeted by “bulletin board hackers.” John figured out what they were doing and how to defend against it on his own, as there were no books or articles to read for reference at the time.
Looking for guidance in the situation, he picked up a government phonebook and called the National Computer Security Center. A subcomponent of the National Security Agency, they were also unfamiliar with the problem, but took John onboard and he began working in the new industry of “Compusec.”
With more than 25 years of experience in the field, John will take his knowledge and understanding of cybersecurity operations, technology design and strategic consulting and put it to work for the (ISC)² membership and profession at large. John will be meeting with federal and state legislators, as well as local government entities, to advance not only the cybersecurity profession, but also the professional.
John feels the biggest challenge facing infosec pros today is dynamic change. The day-to-day job has gone from risk avoidance to perimeter defense – to now dynamic risk management. Nowadays, the “perimeter” is every single endpoint, including people.
When he’s not advocating for members, building and managing relationships with organizations or empowering infosec pros, you can find John on two wheels – his Harley to be specific.
John is a member of our new Community – so if you’d like to get to ask him questions, join us for an ask me anything chat on Friday, October 20 at 10 a.m. Eastern Time!