Upcoming Events

ISSA Las Vegas Chapter Meeting – April 19, 11:30am

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

January 18, 11:30am

Troy Wilkinson

Title: Zero Trust Architecture

Abstract: Zero Trust is a journey, not a destination.  It’s important to define your mission outcomes while architecting with the business in mind.  Come join us as we define Zero Trust, identify the components of it, and map out the journey together.

Bio
Troy Wilkinson began his career serving others as a Law Enforcement officer. He commanded a Joint Terrorism Task Force, was a lead bomb investigator, and violent crime and homicide detective however his greatest achievement in the field of law enforcement came from his ability and skill investigating and prosecuting child pornography and other electronic crimes.

Wilkinson was recruited by the U.S. State Department to train police officers in Kosovo on cyber investigations and worked in many positions within the Intelligence Community (IC). Working under the George W Bush and Barack Obama presidencies, he was a top U.S. cyber investigator seconded to the United Nations and European Union to lead investigations into political corruption, organized crime, war crimes, financial crimes and terrorism. Together with a team of international investigators, Wilkinson built the first IT forensics lab for the European Union Mission in Kosovo.

After returning home to the U.S, Wilkinson co-founded Axiom Cyber Solutions, with a mission to develop intelligent, automated, and self-healing cyber security platforms to help secure America’s businesses against cybercriminals. He is an international speaker on cyber security focusing on the topics of ransomware, DDoS, cyber-crime trends, and cyber security careers.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

October 12, 11:30am

In cybersecurity, it’s long been understood that you must be smarter than your opponent before you can beat them. But many practitioners are still unaware of certain tools and resources available to put them in a position to do so. Much of the currently available documentation describes how to remediate issues, but none of them discuss finding and preventing the source or reducing risk, thus causing an endless cycle. In this presentation, we introduce a new angle of defense, which we call the MITRE ATT&CK Framework and XDR, that allows direct insights into the thought process of an attacker, a superior solution for threat defense. We describe a treasure trove of information on threat actors, Advanced Persistent Threats, mitigation techniques, and case studies on each of the known major varieties of threat types and show that in most cases, this type of attack has been tried before and how it was executed, what the ramifications were, etc. We expect this new approach to dramatically reduce the volume of alert fatigue practitioners face and increase the effectiveness of their security posture without any loss of efficiency, hence simplifying the process for cybersecurity practitioners.

BIO

Frank Bordonaro has more than 20 years of experience in Information Technology, Information Security, and Healthcare IT.

He is a Solution Engineer at Trend Micro, a leading cybersecurity provider, and currently lives in Phoenix, Arizona with his wife, 2 children, and 2 dogs.

As an SE, Frank is responsible for understanding pain points in scalability and mitigating security risks for complex environments. His job is to make the world a better place for the exchange of digital information.

Prior to joining the Cyber Security field, Frank led a team of Analysts for the largest private hospital operator in the United States’ Arizona market, including 5 hospitals. He is also currently a certified AWS Cloud Practitioner.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Title: AWS Security Reference Architecture: A Well-Structured Foundation

Abstract: The AWS Security Reference Architecture (AWS SRA) is a holistic set of guidelines for deploying the full complement of AWS security services in a multi-account environment. It can be relied upon to help design, implement, and manage AWS security services so that they align with industry accepted practices. The recommendations are built around a single-page architecture that includes AWS security services. In this session, learn about the AWS SRA and how you and your team’s might rely on the AWS SRA to design and secure your cloud hosted workloads. Also learn how they help achieve security objectives, where they can be best deployed and managed in your AWS accounts, and how they interact with other security services.

Bio: Manny Landron is a pragmatic information security leader and advisor with extensive experience building, securing, and monitoring high-value and well-regulated applications and platforms, on-premises and in-cloud. He served as the interim head of information security at Caesars Sportsbook during which he assisted with post acquisition information security activities associated with the Caesar’s acquisition of William Hill including separation from William Hill and integration with Caesars Entertainment; he hired and organized the foundational product and platform security team. Manny also implemented the greenfield operational and application security programs for IAT Insurance Group, a specialty insurance company with over 1500 team members and 2B in underwritten premium and for Citrix ShareFile, a Gartner Magic Quadrant leading content collaboration solution hosted with AWS and Azure. He also performed the requirements analysis and designed the HIPAA audited ShareFile Cloud for Healthcare to satisfy healthcare customer HIPAA security and privacy requirements and the FINRA compliant ShareFile Cloud for Financial Services to satisfy broker-dealer customers subject to SEC Rule 17a-4 requirements. Manny is a graduate of Virginia Tech and holds several security designations including the AWS Certified Security Specialty.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Title: The Implementation Journey of Zero Trust and SASE – Realizing the Benefits 

Abstract: Most organizations have a hybrid implementation of cloud and on-prem services.  With the rapid adoption of business digitalization and expanding remote work force how do we consolidate controls and enhance the security of the systems?

In this hybrid mode enterprises need speed, visibility, security, and reliability without compromise. Enter, the secure access service edge, better known as SASE. Its’ inevitable that SASE implementations and zero trust implementations will provide a more comprehensive security capability to truly support digital transformation. How can your organization best position itself for the transition?

James Christiansen

CSO Vice President, Cloud Security Transformation

James Christiansen is Netskope’s vice president of cloud security transformation and leader of the Global Strategy Office. He is focused on Netskope’s global strategy to drive thought leadership in cloud security transformation.

James brings extensive expertise as a global leader in information security. Prior to joining Netskope, he was vice president CISO at Teradata where he led the global information and physical security teams. Previously, James was CISO for Visa International, General Motors, and Experian Americas. James was vice president of information risk management at Optiv, and chief executive officer for Evantix.

As a sought-after expert speaker on security, James has been featured at numerous prestigious events, including the Business Roundtable, Research Board, American Bar Association, American Banker, the RSA Conference, Secure World, BankInfoSecurity, ISSA, ISACA, HIMSS, Dark Reading, and MIS Training Institute. He has also been featured in The New York Times and quoted as an expert in USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, United States Cybersecurity Magazine, Bloomberg, and Healthcare IT News.

James is a patent inventor and has received three innovation awards in cyber security, GRC, and cloud computing. He is the author of the Internet Survival Series and contributing author of CISO Essentials and CISO Compass, as well as numerous industry papers.

He earned his master’s degree in business administration with a focus on international management and his bachelor’s degree in business management from Westminster College.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Just another day on the internet – today’s threat landscape”

Synopsis: “Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 is one of the world’s leading cyber threat research teams, publishing free, unique, in-depth research into malware, campaigns and threats weekly. As a result of daily immersion in such research, Unit 42 has a detailed, in-depth picture of the actual threat landscape we face. Join us for a dive into today’s threats, and improve your defensive posture through actionable intelligence.”

Simon Conant, Principal Researcher, Unit 42, Palo Alto Networks

Simon Conant is a Principal Researcher in Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42 threat research group.

He draws upon a quarter-century of international experience in the fields of malware & infrastructure analysis, networking, and information security, including several years in the Microsoft Security Response Center. He was involved in founding Microsoft’s CSS Security & Internet Crime Investigation teams, and the International Botnet Task Force.

Subsequently he has worked in threat intelligence and analysis in the financial sector and for a large international law firm. Simon now researches malware, campaigns and actors, with Unit 42, and is a recent recipient of the FBI Director’s award. A native of New Zealand, Simon is based near Seattle WA.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Paul Abruzzo is an experienced cloud architect and Senior Specialist Engineer at AWS. Specializing in Cloud Governance and Cost Optimization, he brings 16 years of experience from the Healthcare, Finance, Cyber Security, and Gaming industries.

ABSTRACT:

In this remote presentation, we’ll be discussing how you can leverage Cloud Cost & Usage data to implement cloud governance mechanisms, reinforce security posture and perform investigative analysis.

Using real-world examples of cloud forensics, we’ll dive deep using AWS Cost & Usage Reports to explore the data science of Cloud consumption metrics and the power of metadata analysis at the resource level.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Vulnerability Management: A Case Study

Come hear firsthand experience of taking a broken Vulnerability Management program and rebuilding it from the ground up using existing tools.

From a 2019 scramble to remediate thousands of vulnerabilities in 30 days to a 2020 audit that was effortless.

What are the key takeaways that made this happen?

What lessons can be applied in your own organization?

Bio:

Pete Elton stands as a cautionary tale of what happens when someone with a technical degree rises through the ranks of leadership.

Having started his journey nobly dedicated to all things UNIX-like, he used to spend his days at a Slackware workstation running X11 Windows, automating in Perl, and deftly stringing multiple commands together with | in bash.

He then unwittingly began a slow, dark, hardly-noticeable descent to where he exists today engrossed in email, Webex meetings, spreadsheets, and PowerPoint presentations.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Title: IoT: Insecurity of Things?
Join us as we discuss security in IoT.  From critical infrastructure to home networks, IoT security has been a challenge since the idea was introduced.  We will go over the common areas in which security is often overlooked and some solutions to help approach IoT security in our lives. This talk is designed to help any listener understand and expand their knowledge surrounding this topic.

About me:
Even though Michel is in charge of business development at insighti, a local IT security firm, her enthusiasm for security and knowledge often spurs her into researching and learning more. Her continual drive to learn and educate those around her enables insighti to fulfill its mission to promote an environment of security within the Las Vegas Valley. 
Michel is currently involved in local non-profits and is on the board of a reptile organization which focuses on pet bearded dragons; she believes that education and involvement are some of the important steps that we can take to help our city become the IT hub that it should be. Michel loves problem solving and challenging herself, whether it’s pushing herself to learn new skills or even the Czech language in her spare time.

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ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

A Public, Private War
The public and private sectors have a complex history of betrayal and mistrust in matters of national security planning, from the disclosures of Edward J. Snowden to Project Maven. The past is prologue, however, and years of in-depth interviews reveal how the two communities can work in closer partnership to counter cyber attacks on the nation. This talk begins by describing the problem and by outlining historical examples of cooperation — including the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) mitigation and the operational cooperation in advance of the 2018 Congressional elections. It looks at how to overcome obstacles to cooperation, from fear of betrayals, to internal employee resistance, to the potential loss of customers and markets. Participants will leave this lecture with a deeper understanding of the evolution of cybersecurity and national security policy planning, and a clear view of how the public and private sector can better work together to defend the country against incoming cyber attacks.

Bio:
Jonathan Reiber is Senior Director for Cybersecurity Strategy and Policy at AttackIQ. In this position he focuses on strategic communications, thought leadership, and content development for the firm. During President Barack Obama’s administration he served as Chief Strategy Officer for Cyber Policy in the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense, where he was the principal author of the 2015 Department of Defense Cyber Strategy and led key initiatives across the cyber policy portfolio. His writing has appeared and been highlighted by Foreign Policy, Lawfare, The Atlantic Monthly, DefenseOne, The San Jose Mercury News, and Literary Hub, among others. An affiliate at UC Berkeley’s Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity, he is the author of two book-length Berkeley monographs, A Public, Private War, and Asian Cybersecurity Futures. He has held writing fellowships at Berkeley, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Thomas J. Watson Foundation, and served as an advisor to the U.S. Cybersecurity Solarium Commission. Prior to serving as CSO for Cyber Policy, he served as Special Assistant and Speechwriter to the United States’ Deputy Secretary of Defense, Dr. Ashton B. Carter, and previously as Special Assistant to the United States’ Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Dr. James N. Miller. He is a graduate of Middlebury College and The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. You can follow him on Twitter at @jonathanreiber

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Matthew Corwin

Director and General Counsel, Truvantis Inc.

Matthew Corwin is an attorney and consultant specializing in privacy and cybersecurity. Well-versed in regulatory compliance, data management, IT infrastructure, security & privacy applications, and automation/AI, he has consulted globally for private and government organizations in the US, EU, APAC, and Latin America. Matthew has also held leadership roles at a number of companies including: Cognizant, where he led the North America unit of the Cognizant global privacy consulting practice; Symantec, where he led the PCI DSS and GDPR programs; and Calpop.com, where he served as Chief Compliance Officer. Other clients have included A+E Networks, Delta Airlines, SAP, Albertsons Companies, Disney Media Networks, Farmers Insurance, Hubspot, Toyota Motors North America, and a number of top law firms.

Abstract:

The California Consumer Privacy Act isn’t the first US or state privacy law, but it may have the biggest potential impact on a wide range of US based businesses that use consumer personal information. It also won’t be the last, as privacy regulation at the state and federal level is just beginning to unfold. A privacy program in this environment must take into account: An understanding of what current requirements are applicable to each business process which involves personal information, and the business reasons for the use of that personal information; how those requirements translate into technical and process changes, and how those changes are best addressed from the application level to the organizational level; future-proofing against changing applications and business needs, additional regulatory requirements, increased customer and partner expectations, and peer competitor strategies. This program must be risk based and designed to achieve an MVP defensible position in the shortest amount of time, without boiling the ocean, and should include a road map for continuous improvement and recurring risk and privacy assessments.

Key takeaways from this presentation will be: how to implement a risk-based operational approach to privacy compliance (including business, legal and technical impacts), how to create a prioritized assessment and implementation plan, and how to ensure a capability to comply with privacy rights requests in a timely and efficient manner as well as demonstrating documented compliance with privacy regulations.

LAS VEGAS ISSA CISSP REVIEW COURSE

The ISSA Las Vegas Chapter is offering its yearly CISSP Review Course.  The dates will be Feb. 22, Feb. 29, Mar. 7, Mar. 14, Mar. 21. Each class will be 9am-5pm.  Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.
All the CISSP Domains will be covered by local Security Experts.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

In-N-Out – That’s What It’s All About

Without the right tools the engagement can be over before it begins, as upfront resistance can prevent you from entering with your tools. Billy Boatright demonstrates and discusses how to use social engineering tactics to get in without any difficulty. While most think outside of the box Billy shows us how to think inside the box and embrace your own handicaps to arm yourself with advanced tactics and unfair advantages. Billy shows us how handicaps and familiar objects can be used to covertly carry your toolbox into an engagement, increasing your success. Rather than dealing with a perceived disadvantage, use it to exploit the world around you.

Bio:

Billy began his social engineering career without even knowing it. He was a bartender on the Las Vegas Strip for the better part of a decade. He won numerous awards from all over the world as a Top-ranked Flair Bartender. He has taken the skills he learned behind the bar to the Information Security world. Billy has been a Judge for the Social Engineering Capture the Flag event at Defcon. He is also the namesake for the BSides Las Vegas Social Engineering Capture the Flag Championship Belt. Billy also volunteers time and expertise to the Las Vegas ISSA Chapter as a Board Member. He is also a member of the BSides Las Vegas Senior Staff.

Billy has multiple degrees and numerous certifications. However, when asked about them he will gladly quote George Moriarty, “The shining trophies on our shelves can never win tomorrow’s game.”

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

What Happens in Vegas: Near Real-Time Vulnerability Visibility

Abstract:

Real-time visibility to vulnerabilities seems a hard puzzle to solve, especially when you have a huge address space of various 7/24 systems. Without it, balancing security remediation against non-stop gaming uptime is a difficult bet to place. The key to watching a continually changing set of hosts in the environment is having a strategy to complete deep scans within tight timelines. In this talk, the approach developed at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas will present a flexible and automated approach to performing efficient vulnerability scans, detecting new hosts, determining when to add more scanning capacity, and reporting change as it happens. Come learn how one “revolving scan” strategy enables an immediate view to when patching efforts “move the needle”.

MICHAEL ST. VINCENT, CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY OFFICER

Michael St. Vincent is Chief Information Security Officer at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas supporting the overall IT governance program for the luxury casino and resort. St. Vincent joined The Cosmopolitan in May 2015, spearheading initiatives such as information security strategy and direction, implementation of security policies and standards, and shaping the use of tools and processes for compliance, while working across the business spectrum to ensure appropriate controls of technology supports.

With more than two decades of experience as a leader within his field, St. Vincent’s expertise comes from developing, implementing, and leading information assurance programs in multiple industries. Having led projects in the Americas, Europe, and Asia, he has an awareness of the limitations and advantages of various cultural settings, risk profiles and management styles.

Recognized as an ISSA Fellow and an InfraGard National Award recipient, his passion for developing security mindsets has included developing local professional associations, collaborating on industry research, and presenting at events as diverse as board meetings, professional conferences and regional security events.

St. Vincent holds an MBA, has been an active Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) since 1998 and maintains additional certifications as CISA, CISM and CRISC. He has served on the SANS GCIA Advisory Board, Microsoft’s CSO Council, various Security Advisory Boards, and several local information security related groups, providing support to encourage a stronger profession. In his personal time, he devotes time to supporting youth development programs locally, nationally and internationally including community service and leadership development activities.

STEVE BONILLA, IT SECURITY ARCHITECT

Steve Bonilla is the Information Technology Security Architect at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, a unique 3,005-room luxury resort and casino in the heart of the Las Vegas Strip. Bonilla joined The Cosmopolitan in September 2016 and is responsible for design, implementation, and administration of all security-related enterprise infrastructure components.

Boasting 16 years of experience in IT and 13 years of experience in the casino gaming industry, Bonilla’s experience stems from his history as Director of IT, Systems and Network Administrator and Adjunct IT Instructor.

An active member in the IT community, Bonilla serves on the board of the Las Vegas chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) as President and is involved with InfraGard and the FBI Citizens Academy Alumni Association.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

With vulnerability management being #3 in the top 20 Critical Controls, building a program would seem like a no brainer. In this presentation we will discuss the issues that many organizations face when implementing and running an effective vulnerability management program and ways to help make the process a bit easier.

Adrian Kelley:

Adrian is the Cyber Security Operations Manager for Sands Corp. with 7+ years of Cyber Security proficiency and 10+ years of expertise in designing, implementing, and troubleshooting infrastructures. His experience prior to Sands Corp. starts with serving his country in the United States Marine Corps were he I supervised and lead over 60 troops and officers alike. Upon receiving an honorable discharge, he worked for the Pentagon then moved to supporting the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).  After that, he gained major ground in the technology field by supporting the Office Defense National Intelligence (ODNI) where he received an “ODNI CRI Certificate of Appreciation”.  He moved on as a Technical Cyber Analyst at the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and settled at Department of Homeland Security for 6 years serving the United States Cyber Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT).  His love for Cyber has been forged with several certifications such as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and a host of GIAC certifications.  He currently has a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems from Strayer University and is currently pursuing his Masters degree. 

Mari Galloway:

Mari is the CEO and a founding board member for the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu (WSC), one of the fastest growing 501c3 non-profit cybersecurity communities dedicated to bringing more women and girls to cyber. WSC provides women with the resources and support required to enter and advance as a cybersecurity professional. Mari began her cyber career with Accenture where she excelled as a Network Engineer. With over 9 years of Information Technology, 8 of which are in cybersecurity, her experience spans network design, risk assessments, vulnerability assessments, incident response and policy development across government and commercial industries. She holds a variety of technical and management certifications (CISSP, GIAC, CCNA, etc) as well as a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems from Columbus State University and a Master of Science in Information Systems from Strayer University. Mari is currently a resident of Las Vegas working to secure the Gaming industry of the south west. She regularly contributes content to security blogs and training companies across the country. Outside of being a geek, Mari enjoys arts, puzzles, and legos! @marigalloway

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Vulnerability Management: Mitigating Risk in the Digital Revolution

Abstract: It is vital for an organization to safeguard against threats and attacks to their critical technical infrastructure, and a consistent and cyclical vulnerability management program is crucial to an effective cybersecurity strategy. However, as today’s threat landscape expands, the identification, prioritization, remediation and mitigation of these risks can prove challenging. Is there a better way to stay ahead of both the hackers and your sometimes-careless coworkers? Ultimately, vulnerability management, both digital and human, is not optional…because every day is an impending zero day.  

Brian Thaxton is the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for Caesars Entertainment, which consists of over 50 global integrated resort properties. Prior to joining Caesars Entertainment in early 2016, Brian was in the cyber security group of Las Vegas Sands Corporation from 2013 through 2016. Throughout his 18 year career in the cyber security field (and 22 years in technology in general) Brian has supported the focus on modern, scalable, and secure IT network & software infrastructure, and application architectures. He has held technology management positions in many Fortune 100 companies, including banking, insurance, and telecommunications.

CISSP Review Course

The ISSA Las Vegas Chapter is offering its yearly CISSP Review Course.  The dates will be February 23, March 2, March 9, March 16, and March 23. Each class will be 9am-5pm.  Breakfast and Lunch will be provided.
All the CISSP Domains will be covered by local Security Experts.

Location

Las Vegas Metro
400 S. Martin Luther King Blvd.
Building A
Las Vegas, NV 89106

To register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/issa-las-vegas-cissp-review-course-feb-23-2019-to-mar-23-2019-tickets-55225023532

Domains:
1. Security and Risk Management
2. Asset Security
3. Security Architecture and Engineering
4. Communication and Network Security
5. Identity and Access Management
6. Security Assessment and Testing
7. Security Operations
8. Software Development Security

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Wednesday January 23, 2019 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PST

Vulnerability Mitigation Techniques for Securing the Enterprise

A primary component in securing and protecting your data and infrastructure, is ensuring technologies at all levels are patched and secured, as part of a Vulnerability Management program.

According to US-CERT, an increasing number of new application vulnerabilities are found each year.  More alarming, a 2018 Frost & Sullivan report shows that the number of reported Zero Day vulnerabilities in 2017 has reached 1,522.  Organizations must take steps to assess their organizational risk and implement a Patch/Vulnerability Management process to secure and protect their data and infrastructure.

A successful Vulnerability Management program will incorporate a repetitive process of proactive network and application scanning, identifying/verifying vulnerabilities and mitigating these risks, even when a vendor patch is not available.  We will discuss some of the different methods organizations can use, in order to ensure they are protecting against vulnerabilities in their environment.  We will also highlight the importance of automated scanning and testing, to ensure connected technologies are able to proactively mitigate and protect your infrastructure.

BIO:

Brian Dixon is a Security Solutions Engineer with Trend Micro and has over 20 years of experience working in IT Infrastructure, Networking, Security and Compliance.  A resident of Las Vegas for over 15 years, Brian has spent many of those years working in the Casino Gaming industry and has recently moved into the Vendor Security arena.  He holds a Bachelor’s degree in IT Security and maintains certifications including CCNA, CISSP, PCI-QSA, TippingPoint IPS and AWS Cloud Practitioner. While he has a strong passion for all things IT, Brian enjoys spending most his free time camping or going to the lake with his two English Springer Spaniels.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Wednesday November 14, 2018 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PST

Incident Response Maturity Modeling, Frameworks, and Areas of Focus

Abstract: At the heart of all security operations, Incident Response is the playbook by which we all handle our security operations and efforts. Please join us in our next ISSA meeting where My-Ngoc Nguyen, Elliot Lewis and Steve Bonilla will lead an interactive discussion with the ISSA members on:

• The various aspects of maturity modeling for Incident Response

• How the Incident Response frameworks of today are evolving

• Primary areas of focus that need to be looked at to keep IR up to date and effective in today’s IT operations.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Tuesday August 7, 2018 from 11:30 AM to 2:00 PM PDT

Join us for our Annual Security Week meeting. 

Elliot Lewis, VP ISSA LV, and President/Chief Architect of Lewis Security Consulting, will be presenting an overview of the cyber-security technology trends that have emerged from RSA Conference 2018 in April, and what to watch for in the cyber-security industry and investigate at Blackhat Conference 2018 in Las Vegas this week.  We will discuss what technologies are emerging, changing positions, and other features that appear to be losing effective over time.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Wednesday July 11, 2018 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PDT

How not to get burned when it’s Cloudy: Best Practices for Network Security in Public Cloud

Abstract:

Application & DevOps owners are rapidly building & migrating new applications using PAAS and IAAS solutions from AWS, Azure, GCP and others.  Public Cloud represents a shared responsibility for security around ones network security controls, IAM, data protection and threat detection & mitigation.  Native cloud controls do exist, but are limited in their scope and vary from cloud to cloud.   Understanding both the capabilities and limitations of the cloud SDN and native controls are critical to navigating your journey & migration in to the cloud.

Come learn best practices on how to utilize the native cloud SDN and security controls and compliment those functions with 3rd party security tools.  Attendees will learn best practices on how to work with AWS, Azure and GCP Cloud Native Networking & Security functions to interoperate with Network Virtual Appliances for insertion & service chaining of additive security controls in the public cloud.

Greg’s bio:

Greg Pepper has been an IT professional for 15+ years with expertise in Security, Networking & Cloud Computing.  Initially working for Sony Online Entertainment, Price Waterhouse Coopers & Organic, Greg has spent the last 15 years working for Cisco & Check Point helping customers to design, plan and implement secure networks throughout the Internet Edge, Campus Backbone, Data Center and Cloud Environments.  Currently a Head of Cloud Security Architects for Check Point, Greg focuses on Software Defined Data Centers working with customers and partners to secure Software defined solutions with in Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, VMware NSX, Cisco ACI and OpenStack.

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Wednesday April 11, 2018 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM PDT

Applying AI & Machine Learning to Solve *Actual* Security Problems

AI holds tremendous promise, but a learning curve exists for many. How have organizations put AI and machine learning to use to more efficiently identify threats?  How have security leaders used AI to improve certain security processes?  What are reasonable ROI expectations for any AI initiative?  This session will focus on real-world AI successes and failures and lessons learned along the way.  Although a ton of hype exists around AI and machine learning but there are promising case studies involving AI and security in the field. My background in application security has exposed me to early AI implementations. I hope to cut through much of the puffery to provide attendees a foundation for understanding AI, where AI can be put to use, and how to measure success of security projects involving AI.

John Dickson

Principal

John Dickson is an internationally recognized security leader, entrepreneur and Principal at Denim Group, Ltd. He has nearly 20 years hands-on experience in intrusion detection, network security and application security in the commercial, public and military sectors. As a Denim Group Principal, he helps executives and Chief Security Officers (CSO’s) of Fortune 500 companies and government organizations launch and expand their critical application security initiatives. His leadership has been instrumental in Denim Group being honored by Inc. Magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the industry for five years in a row.

A former U.S. Air Force officer, Dickson served in the Air Force Information Warfare Center (AFIWC) and was a member of the Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team (AFCERT). Since his transition to the commercial arena, he has played significant client-facing roles with companies such as Trident Data Systems, KPMG and SecureLogix Corporation.

Dickson is a popular speaker on security at industry venues including the RSA Security Conference, the SANS Institute, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) and at other international security conferences. He is a sought-after security expert and regularly contributes to Dark Reading and other security publications. He also regularly contributes to the Denim Group blog where he writes about key security industry issues such as software security and cyber security policy. A Distinguished Fellow of the International Systems Security Association, he has been a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) since 1998.

Dickson is currently the Chairman of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce Cyber Security Committee where economic development, workforce and advocacy issues involving San Antonio’s growing cyber security industry are coordinated. Dickson is also a member of the prestigious Texas Business Leadership Council, the only statewide CEO-based public policy organization that serves as a united voice for the state’s senior executives to participate in the legislative and regulatory process. Most recently, he was the past Chairman of the Texas Lyceum, a leadership group that prepares leaders for the State of Texas and served as Chairman of the North San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. He also served as the local President of the Information Systems Security Association and was an honorary commander of the 67th Cyber Space Wing which organizes, trains and equips cyberspace forces to conduct network defense, attack and exploitation.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, a Master of Science degree from Trinity University and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas in Austin. Dickson resides in San Antonio, Texas where he is married with two children.

ISSA LAS VEGAS CISSP REVIEW COURSE

Save the Dates:

The Las Vegas ISSA Chapter is offering its CISSP Review Course.  The dates will be February 24, March 3, March 10, March 17, and March 24. Each class will be 9-5.  Breakfast and Lunch provided.
All the CISSP Domains will be covered by local Security Experts.
Save the Dates!

Call for CISSP Mentors

The Las Vegas Chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) has begun its call for mentors for the Winter 2018 session of the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) review course.

If you are interested in being a mentor for the group, please reach out to our Education Director at education@lvissa.org with your interest. As a mentor, you may earn CPE credits towards your own certification by presenting to the chapter’s students.

As a mentor, you do not need to be a current member of the Las Vegas ISSA. You do need to be qualified as an expert in your field and in the subject you wish to mentor. Existing CISSPs are preferred, but other qualifications may apply in lieu of the CISSP.

Classes are scheduled for: February 24, 2018, March 3, 2018, March 10, 2018, March 17, 2018, and March 24, 2018.

We are seeking mentors to cover each of the 8 current CISSP domains as illustrated in the attached outline. Below is a brief description of each domain:

ISSA-LV Chapter Meeting

Wednesday January 10, 2018 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PST)

The internet has become the defacto source for doing business, both legitimate and malicious. Whether you’re communicating with colleagues, buying items, or just reading the current news, chances are you’re using the internet. But not every place on the internet is intended to be good. In fact, a section often described as the underbelly of the internet provides marketplaces for criminal actors that ply their trade in illicit wares. This section of the internet has been labeled the darkweb or darknet. Join Hayden Williams as he provides an overview of the darknet and how it’s being used together with social media websites by the criminal element to steal your data.

Hayden Williams is an accomplished security leader with over twenty years of experience in information technology and cyber security in the federal, public, and private sectors. Hayden currently serves as Senior Manager and Team Lead for the Verizon Threat Research Advisory Center (VTRAC). In this role, he leads and conducts cyber forensic investigations, provides incident response assessments/guidance, and assists large corporations with improving their overall cyber security posture. Prior to working for Verizon, Hayden was a Special Agent with the Department of Defense where he investigated Cyber and espionage-related matters that spanned the globe.

ISSA-LV Quarterly Meeting – How enterprise organizations use CSA data to evaluate cloud vendors’ security

Wednesday November 8, 2017 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PST)

How enterprise organizations use CSA data to evaluate cloud vendors’ security

For many years, Jim Reavis has worked in the information security industry as an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, technologist and business strategist. Jim’s innovative thinking about emerging security trends have been published and presented widely throughout the industry and have influenced many. Jim is helping shape the future of information security and related technology industries as co-founder, CEO and driving force of the Cloud Security Alliance. Jim has been named as one of the Top 10 cloud computing leaders by SearchCloudComputing.com.

Jim is the President of Reavis Consulting Group, LLC, where he advises security companies, governments, large enterprises and other organizations on the implications of new trends such as Cloud, Mobility, Internet of Things and how to take advantage of them. Jim founded SecurityPortal, the Internet’s largest website devoted to information security in 1998, and guided it until a successful exit in 2000. Jim has been an advisor on the launch of many industry ventures that have achieved a successful M&A exit or IPO. Jim is widely quoted in the press and has worked with hundreds of corporations on their information security strategy and technology roadmap. Jim has a background in networking technologies, marketing, product management and systems integration. Jim received a B.A. in Business Administration / Computer Science from Western Washington University in 1987 and formerly served on WWU’s alumni board. Jim was recognized as a WWU Distinguished Alumnus in 2015. In 2016, Jim was inducted into the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Hall of Fame.

ISSA-LV Quarterly Meeting – Weaponizing the World

Tuesday, July 25, 2017 from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM (PDT)

Weaponizing the World

In the 21st century, the gadget orientated world around us fills our lives with convenience and wonder. These magical times are filled with awe-inspiring wizardry; however, we very rarely pull back the curtain to see that there is no wizard present, but in fact a wide range of benign tools that can be weaponized. Join Aaron Crawford of the Insider Security Agency as he leads a discussion about the process of weaponizing every-day devices that can be found around the office to aid in his various red team engagements. Having successfully conducted red team engagements on nearly every continent Aaron demonstrates that it is easier to think inside the box for the win. At no other time is this evident than this talk as Aaron unveils an entirely new and unstoppable attack vector.

As a certified security professional with over 20 years of experience in the IT/IS industry, Aaron Crawford eats, sleeps and continually drinks from the security fire hose. This passion for IT and Security lead him to form the Insider Security Agency while also serving as Proficio’s Senior Information Security Engineer. In his spare time, he runs Squirrels In A Barrel, an independent training and learning resource for the Security industry.

His fascination with Social Engineering led him to form the World Championship of Social Engineering. A global Social Engineering capture the flag contest that allows participants to learn and safely practice Social Engineering, within the world’s largest Social Engineering sandbox. Alongside with his work on social engineering Aaron can also be found serving as the founder of the Skeleton Crew scholarship for DefCon.

Professionally known as one of the most proficient and successful Social Engineers, Aaron can be found creating new technologies and techniques to further the field of Social Engineering and speaking about them where ever he can.

Please find slides from the speaker here

ISSA-LV Quarterly meeting – Beating the Resume Robots & The Shifting Cyber Security Education Paradigm

Wednesday, April 12, 2017 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PDT)

Beating the Resume Robots & The Shifting Cyber Security Education Paradigm

It is an exciting time to work in cyber security with so many different cyber career paths to choose from, a variety of cyber security certifications, new cyber talent entering the field, and yet so much opportunity to shift the cyber security recruiting and hiring education paradigm. How do you make sense of it all and build a resume that beats the robots? The presenter spent six (6) long years living inside REDDIT, in the HR / Recruiting forums, writing down every resume tip and explanation of how these resume robots operate to better understand the system. This presentation will examine several unique and innovative ways that you can beat the resume robots, develop better HR partnerships, and build synergy to bridge the cybersecurity resume/talent gap to shift the cybersecurity education paradigm.

1. Introduce my cyber background, cyber mission and current cyber priorities
2. Explain the contextual landscape of the state of Cyber Security resumes and education (the chain reactions that are driving cyber security hiring and education)
3. Dive into the evolution of cyber security combat (the current state of hacker for hire services, nation states and extinction level attacks that are driving cyber security awareness and education)
4. Explain the current state of cyber security recruiting, hiring, resume robots, and Applicant tracking systems (including the state of Human Resources recruiting, applicant tracking systems, resume robots, and how it all works)
5. Dive into the cyber resume robots and cyber education paradigm shift by looking at the current and future state of ‘Experiential layer‘ cyber security awareness and education
6. Open the floor to Q&A

Matt Heff has been stopping cyber criminals since 1998. In January 2016, Heff joined Sands Corp as their Senior Manager of Global Cyber Security – responsible for training, awareness, and developing their world-class cyber security team. This includes the Venetian and Palazzo Resorts in Las Vegas, in addition to properties globally from Macau to Singapore and now Pennsylvania. He trains and develops a variety of Sands cyber security professionals on a variety of subjects including cyber security Operations, Digital Forensics Investigations, Cyber Strategy, Governance & Risk, Vulnerability Management, Penetration Testing, Incident Response, Security Architects and Engineers. In addition, he develops and promotes cyber security awareness for 60,000+ team members worldwide.

Most recently, he spoke on “Counter Intelligence and Insider Threats” at the December 2016 Department of Homeland Security Corporate Security Symposium. In January of 2017, Heff presented at the Winter ICT Conference on “Building Synergy and Partnerships between Academia and Industry” In April 2017, Heff will be presenting at the Las Vegas Camp IT Conference, and he is also scheduled to give the keynote at the 21st Colloquium For Information Systems Security Education in May 2017.

Prior to joining Sands Corp, Heff developed and facilitated cyber security awareness programs as well as corporate learning and development programs for TJ Maxx / Marshalls, Caesars Entertainment, and General Electric. Heff comes from a family of educators & trainers, growing up in a house where the family dinner conversations revolved around the best methods for teaching and educating students and adults. He is passionate about combining academia in partnership with industry to develop programs which ensure the next generation of cybersecurity warriors are combat ready & can successfully defeat the cyber criminals.

ISSA LAS VEGAS CISSP REVIEW COURSE
(Feb 18, 2017 – Mar 18, 2017)

Due to popular demand, The ISSA Las Vegas Chapter is offering a second preparatory course this year for individuals who are planning to take the (ISC)2 CISSP certification exam and for those who just want to learn more about information security. The course will take place every Saturday – February 18th, February 25th, March 4th, March 11th, March 18th.  Registering for the first class will cover all 5 classes.  The purpose of this review course is to review each of the 8 CISSP certification domains and better prepare you to take the CISSP exam. This course is offered at a minimal cost to our chapter members and is subsidized by vendor partners. It is a low cost alternative for those wishing to expand their information security knowledge.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Anyone who has at least one year of experience in an Information Security (InfoSec) department or will be employed in the near future in some type of InfoSec capacity; anyone with a college degree or equivalence; anyone preparing to take the CISSP exam administered by (ISC)2 (www.isc2.org) or anyone who wants to learn more about information security.

COST:
The cost of the entire course is $40 for ISSA members and $70 for non-members.
Payments can be made through Eventbrite and must be paid in full to reserve your seat. There’s a limit of 30 students. Additional requests may be placed on standby in case of an opening. Please register at Eventbrite:

MATERIAL:
Each Participant will be responsible for purchasing his/her own Study Guide. All presentation slides will be provided to the student prior to the class in electronic format. Please print them if you need a hard copy.

Click here for the recommended study guide

ISSA-LV Quarterly meeting – Purposeful Wanderings in a Cyber Career

Wednesday, January 11, 2017 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PST)

Purposeful Wanderings in a Cyber Career

Professionals in any field are wise to consider the stepping stones of career growth. This conversation will explore information security experiences in various cities, organization sizes, and industries. Hear one security leader’s perspective on the maturing profession, and how to become a valued player anywhere. Then join discussion with your peers of how to excel in different environments – locally or anywhere.

ISSA-LV Quarterly meeting – Betting on the Cloud, and Winning

Wednesday, November 9, 2016 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PST)

ISSA LAS VEGAS CISSP REVIEW COURSE
(Sep 17, 2017 – Oct 15, 2016)

Due to popular demand, The ISSA Las Vegas Chapter is offering a second preparatory course this year for individuals who are planning to take the (ISC)2 CISSP certification exam and for those who just want to learn more about information security. The course will take place every Saturday – September 17th, September 24th, October 1st, October 8th, and October 15th.  Registering for the first class will cover all 5 classes.  The purpose of this review course is to review each of the 8 CISSP certification domains and better prepare you to take the CISSP exam. This course is offered at a minimal cost to our chapter members and is subsidized by vendor partners. It is a low cost alternative for those wishing to expand their information security knowledge.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Anyone who has at least one year of experience in an Information Security (InfoSec) department or will be employed in the near future in some type of InfoSec capacity; anyone with a college degree or equivalence; anyone preparing to take the CISSP exam administered by (ISC)2 (www.isc2.org) or anyone who wants to learn more about information security.

COST:
The cost of the entire course is $40 for ISSA members and $70 for non-members.
Payments can be made through Eventbrite and must be paid in full to reserve your seat. There’s a limit of 30 students. Additional requests may be placed on standby in case of an opening. Please register at Eventbrite:

MATERIAL:
Each Participant will be responsible for purchasing his/her own Study Guide. All presentation slides will be provided to the student prior to the class in electronic format. Please print them if you need a hard copy.

Click here for the recommended study guide

ISSA-LV Quarterly meeting – Other soldiers play war games. Why not cyber warriors?

If you are in Las Vegas during Black Hat, you are invited to lunch and hands-on training presented by the ISSA Las Vegas Chapter and the Arizona Cyber Warfare Range (AZCWR).

When:   August 2, 2016 (Black Hat Registration Day)

11:30a-1:00pm – lunch and presentations,

1:00pm-4:00pm –  training

Where:  SWITCH InNEVation Center, 6795 Edmond Street, 3rd Floor, Las Vegas, NV 89118  Innevation, powered by Switch

The Las Vegas Chapter of the Association of IT Professionals has extended its member pricing for the upcoming April 2016 Presentation – “Head in the Cyber sand – Why Small Businesses need Security” to the members of the Las Vegas ISSA Chapter.

Register here

Wednesday, April 27, 2016 from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM (PDT)
Sierra Gold
6515 South Jones Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89118

Please find slides from the speaker here

Find the Verizon Data Breach Digest here

ISSA LV Chapter Quarterly Meeting – Understanding Data Breaches

Wednesday, April 20, 2016 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PDT)

Understanding Data Breaches:  A look at the Verizon Data Breach Digest

Many data breach victims believe they are isolated in dealing with particularly sophisticated tactics and never before seen malware – we’ve seen otherwise. To us, few breaches are unique. Our research suggests that, at any given time, the vast majority of incidents fall into a small number of distinct scenarios and, as such, there’s an enormous amount of commonality in cyberattacks. We’ve leveraged the Vocabulary for Event Recording and Incident Sharing (VERIS) framework and our extensive data breach investigation cases to produce the Data Breach Digest. The Data Breach Digest and its 18 scenarios illustrate how data breaches work and together prescribe a recipe for prevention, mitigation, and response. This presentation will discuss the Data Breach Digest, specifically how the scenarios contained within will help you identify important sources of evidence and ways to quickly investigate, contain and recover.

Hayden Williams is a Senior Security Consultant with Verizon Business Investigative Response Team. In this role, he responds to cyber-related security incidents, conducts on-site incident response capability assessments, and performs forensic activities for the various digital forensic investigations he performs. Prior to working for Verizon, Hayden performed cyber investigations for the Department of Defense as well as held various IT jobs in the public sector. Hayden has over 19 years of IT experience, the last 10 years focused on digital forensic and IT security.

Joint-Association Mixer Event

The Las Vegas Chapter of the Association of IT Professionals has extended its member pricing for the upcoming January 2016 Mixer at Pot Liquor Town Square to the members of the Las Vegas ISSA Chapter.

The event will be held on Wednesday January 27 2017 from 5:30pm – 8:00pm at Pot Liquor CAS at Town Square (Located across from Yard House), 6587 South Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas NV 89119. You may use the following Eventbrite link to register:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/aitp-january-2016-mixer-pot-liquor-town-square-tickets-20353376497

We hope to see you there!

Please find slides from the speaker here

ISSA LV Chapter Quarterly Meeting – Tor

Wednesday, January 20, 2016 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM (PST)

Gaming Laboratories International

7160 Amigo Street

Las Vegas, NV 89119

ISSA LAS VEGAS CISSP REVIEW COURSE

The ISSA Las Vegas Chapter offers an annual preparatory course for individuals who are planning to take the (ISC)2 CISSP certification exam and for those who just want to learn more about information security. The course will take place January 30th, Feburary 6th, Feburary 20th, Feburary 27th, and March 5th.  Registering for the first class will cover all 5 classes.  The purpose of this review course is to review each of the 8 CISSP certification domains and better prepare you to take the CISSP exam. This course is offered at a minimal cost to our chapter members and is subsidized by vendor partners. It is a low cost alternative for those wishing to expand their information security knowledge.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?
Anyone who has at least one year of experience in an Information Security (InfoSec) department or will be employed in the near future in some type of InfoSec capacity; anyone with a college degree or equivalence; anyone preparing to take the CISSP exam administered by (ISC)2 (www.isc2.org) or anyone who wants to learn more about information security.

COST:
The anticipated cost of the entire course is $40 for ISSA members and $70 for non-members.
Payments can be made through Eventbrite and must be paid in full to reserve your seat. There’s a limit of 30 students. Additional requests may be placed on standby in case of an opening.

MATERIAL:
Each Participant will be responsible for purchasing his/her own Study Guide. All presentation slides will be provided to the student prior to the class in electronic format. Please print them if you need a hard copy.  The Board also recommends CISSP (ISC)2 Certified Information Systems Security Professional Official Study Guide 7th Edition

ISSA LV Chapter Appreciation Luncheon

Wednesday, December 16, 2015 from 11:30 AM to 1:00 PM

Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse
360 East Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89169

In appreciation of your dedication to the Information Security practice and your membership in the ISSA Las Vegas Chapter, we would like to invite you to our Annual Appreciation Holiday Luncheon.

Please find slides from the speaker here

ISSA LV Chapter Quarterly Meeting – How to make a pen tester’s work hard.

Wednesday October 7th, 2015 from 11:30 AM-1:15 PM

Gaming Laboratories International

7160 Amigo St.

Las Vegas, NV 89119