(ISC)² Blog

Center Day at Congress

(ISC)²’s biggest and best Security Congress yet – with three days of more than 175 sessions and 200 speakers – kicks off in less than three months! Act now - Early Bird registration is still open and workshops and pre-conference trainings are filling up. This year’s conference will be held at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort and will feature workshops, career resources, awards, an escape room and so much more. Our Center for Cyber Safety and Education will once again host its annual volunteer orientation and other special programming. Find out what Center Day at (ISC)² Security... Read more →

Why Certified Cloud Security Professionals are in Higher Demand Than Ever

A new report from Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 threat intelligence team titled “Cloudy With a Chance of Entropy” reports that there are at least 34 million vulnerabilities across some of the largest cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Google Compute Engine and Microsoft Azure. Notably, the threats were not found to be the result of cloud providers themselves, but rather the applications customers deploy on cloud infrastructure. As the report states, “cloud service providers maintained their sterling reputation for platform security . . . however, consumers of infrastructure- and platform-as-a-service (IaaS and PaaS) cloud offerings continue to struggle with... Read more →

2019 Security Congress – The Agenda is Live!

You’ve been curious. You’ve waited patiently. And now you’ll know exactly which sessions you can look forward to at our ninth annual Security Congress in Orlando! The full agenda for this conference is now online for you to browse and you won’t want to miss this year’s event. Security Congress will advance a global perspective and vision as our premier conference for thousands of cybersecurity professionals from all over the world. With 18 tracks, 175 sessions and more than 200 speakers, this will be the biggest program ever. Featured sessions include: A panel discussion on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: How... Read more →

Cybersecurity Awards for Leading Professionals

Nominations are now open for the 2019 Information Security Leadership Awards Americas. The awards will be presented during a ceremony at (ISC)² Security Congress on Wednesday, October 30 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando and will be open to All-Access pass attendees. As this is the first global event in (ISC)² history, it is expected to be the largest Security Congress ever, with as many as 4,000 attendees. The ISLA Americas nominations are open to (ISC)² members and non-members alike who are working in North, South and Central America. The deadline to submit all nominations... Read more →

Investing in the Next Generation of Cybersecurity Leaders

by Dr. Mansur Hasib, CISSP, PMP, CPHIMS Program Chair, Cybersecurity Technology, The Graduate School, University of Maryland University College In order for any discipline to advance and grow, each generation of established thought leaders must mentor and invest in the next generation. The new generation can infuse new ideas, varied approaches, and innovative new ways to explain and present material. This is exactly what happened in a dramatic way at the 2019 Secure Summit DC hosted by (ISC)² . John McCumber and Susan Lausch of (ISC)² invited me to organize a contingent of 30 graduate cybersecurity students and recent graduates... Read more →

(ISC)² Secure Summit EMEA in Review

On April 16, at the World Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands, (ISC)2 COO Wesley Simpson provided closing remarks to summarize some of the key sessions from the two-day Secure Summit EMEA event as it was wrapping up. To give you a window into the kinds of topics addressed during the Summit, what follows is an excerpt from his address. [Edited for length] Now, to close out the 2019 (ISC)² Secure Summit EMEA, let’s take a few minutes to look back at what we can take away from this year’s event. I’ve had a chance to speak with many of... Read more →

(ISC)² in 2019 – Events and Exhibits Not to Miss

With more than 140,000 members around the world, (ISC)² has, quite literally, a lot of ground to cover to get face to face with our members. There are a number of opportunities to meet with the team coming up this year, starting just next week at Secure Summit EMEA in The Hague. Secure Summit EMEA will take place April 15-16 and is themed Enrich. Enable. Excel. The two-day event will feature the best minds in cybersecurity from across Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Keynote speakers include Felicity Aston, Dr. Dennis Broeders, Joseph Carson, Dr. Jessica Barker and Lorna Trayan.... Read more →

The Top 10 EMEA Webcasts of the Last 12 Months

Today’s IT security landscape is tough terrain to navigate at the best of times. Cybersecurity professionals need all the guidance, insight and education they can get to help them stay on top of arguably the most challenging points where business and technology collide. As always, (ISC)2 is your partner on this journey, providing resources such as our series of webcasts to keep you up-to-date on the latest trends, issues, tactics and threats in cybersecurity. Want to know where to start? Here are the top 10 EMEA webcasts from the last year: Machine Learning in Infosec: Debunking Buzz and Demystifying Use... Read more →

Security Congress 2019: Call for Speakers is Open!

Call for speakers for the (ISC)² Security Congress 2019 is now open! The ninth annual cybersecurity conference will be held in Orlando, Fla., from October 28-30 at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort. We’re planning for the largest Congress yet with more than 4,000 attendees and 150 speakers. This year’s conference will be the largest ever as Security Congress has become a truly international event, with more attendees and sessions than ever before, aimed at a global audience. Security Congress will take place over three days with more than 100 educational and thought-provoking sessions to help security leaders... Read more →

Thank You for Another Exciting Year

By David Shearer, CISSP, (ISC)² CEO The (ISC)² team would like to extend our gratitude to you for being an (ISC)² member. Thank you for all you do each day to help us achieve our vision of inspiring a safe and secure cyber world. We are excited by the progress and development made in 2018 as the global (ISC)² team continues their commitment to delivering value to you. I’m happy to share some of the teams’ accomplishments with you, including: Multi-Factor Authentication Now Available I’m thrilled to share that we have added Multi-Factor Authentication as an additional layer of security... Read more →

Honoring the Fellows of (ISC)²

(ISC)² recently honored two additions to the distinguished group of Fellows of (ISC)². This recognition is designated upon elite cybersecurity professionals who have made outstanding contributions over the course of their careers to the profession and industry at large. John McCumber, director of cybersecurity advocacy in North America for (ISC)², is a past Fellow and presented the honor to two outstanding and deserving individuals this year at Security Congress in New Orleans during the Information Security Leadership Awards ceremony. The first Fellow honored was Dr. Ronald Ross. His area of focus has been systems security engineering and risk management. He... Read more →

Highlights From Security Congress 2018 – And What to Look Forward To

New Orleans jazz band welcomes attendees to the city and declares (ISC)2 Security Congress 2018 open By David Shearer, CISSP, (ISC)² CEO When I made the decision two years ago to transform the annual (ISC)2 Security Congress into an independent event, I knew it would be a huge undertaking for our team, but I also understood the passion of our member base and that we had enough interest to support this evolution. After returning from the 2018 Congress held in New Orleans just a few weeks ago (from October 8-10) I am reaffirmed that it was the right move. Our... Read more →

#ISC2Congress Recap

This year’s (ISC)² Security Congress event took place at the New Orleans Marriott in Louisiana October 8-10, 2018, with nearly 2,000 cybersecurity professionals in attendance to share best practices, learn new skills and explore solutions to top challenges facing the profession. With keynote addresses from Congressman Cedric Richmond, Jane McGonigal, Theresa Payton and Dr. Jessica Barker, Security Congress featured more than 100 educational breakout sessions on a dozen security tracks, including cloud security; critical infrastructure; cybercrime; governance, regulation and compliance; incident response and forensics; identity access management; privacy; professional development; research; software assurance and application security; and cyber threats. Top... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: Blockchain - The Future of Cybersecurity?

The future of cybersecurity was the subject of lively discussion during a session on blockchain’s potential to revolutionize how data is protected. The session was part of the 2018 (ISC)2 Security Congress, taking place this week in New Orleans. The Blockchain session’s presenters, Nitin Uttreja and Ashish Dwivedi, who are both cybersecurity engineers for CA Technologies, argued that blockchain provides effective, reliable ways to secure cloud storage and the Internet of Things (IoT), and to manage identities and passwords. But not everyone in attendance was buying it. Questions arose as to whether networks still have to be secured in conjunction... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: Should You Get Cyber Insurance?

About three thirds (76%) of companies currently have cyber insurance, but less than a third of them (32%) get policies that cover all risks, according to two representatives from insurer RLI Corp. who spoke during this week’s (ISC)2 Security Congress 2018 in New Orleans. While having a cyber policy is always a good idea, there is a fair amount of complexity that makes it difficult to determine how much coverage you need. Often third parties such as cloud providers are involved, creating coverage nuances that companies must be aware of when taking out a policy. Beyond that, companies often don’t... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: Theresa Payton - Stop Blaming the User

Stop saying humans are the weakest link in security. That was the main message delivered by former White House CIO Theresa Payton during her keynote at (ISC)2’s Congress 2018, taking place this week in New Orleans. “The technology is the weakest link. The human is at risk. We have to change how we think about this in our industry,” said Payton, who is now president and CEO of Fortalice Solutions, and stars in the CBS show “Hunted.” Even though cybersecurity teams implement various measures, follow rules and frameworks, and complete compliance checklists, breaches still occur, she said. That’s because technology... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: Crossing a Border? Assume You’ll Be Searched

Privacy is one of the greatest challenges of the digital age. Who has the right to access an individual’s personal data and when? That’s the question at the heart of a series of court cases regarding search and seizure of mobile phones at U.S. border crossings. Currently border agents are allowed to access and search metadata, including the origin, time and date of phone calls, without a search warrant. However, true data typically requires a warrant, according to Scott M. Giordano, vice president of data protection at Spirion, a data management software provider. He addressed the topic to a packed... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: The Challenge of Securing Industrial Environments

Securing critical industrial infrastructure systems in manufacturing, distribution and product-handling environments is a major challenge. The main reason we haven’t seen a spectacular attack on one these systems is because it’s hard to pull off. But organizations in oil and gas, chemicals, utilities and a whole host of other industries need to take steps to protect their critical infrastructure, lest they fall victim to an attack by a nation-state, hacktivists or even insiders, according to a panel of security experts who spoke during the (ISC)2 Congress 2018, taking place this week in New Orleans. The panel was moderated by James... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2CONGRESS: How to Stop Phishing: Patch the Users

Since humans are the number one target for cyber attacks, organizations need to implement strategies that teach users how to identify and avoid risks. Security awareness may well be the most important role of cybersecurity teams. That was the message delivered by Theresa Frommel, acting deputy CISO for the State of Missouri, at a breakout session of the (ISC)2’s Congress 2018, taking place this week in New Orleans. Repeating a suggestion from an attendee at her session, Frommel said it makes sense that users need to be “patched,” much like software systems have to be patched regularly to remove security... Read more →

LIVE FROM #ISC2Congress: Making Cybersecurity Cool to Close the Skills Gap

The cybersecurity workforce skills gap is hampering the nation’s ability to combat cyber threats that target our way of life, economy and national security interests, according to U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA), who serves on the House Committee on Homeland Security. Delivering the first keynote at the 2018 (ISC)2 Security Congress, taking place this week in New Orleans, the Congressman said more work is needed at the federal, state and local levels, as well as in the private sector, to address the problem of cybersecurity and the skills gap. “We need a robust cybersecurity workforce,” Richmond said, citing a government... Read more →