Topic: Information Security

Seminar Topics

[1 CPE] Taking Ownership of Security and Optimization in the Digital Age

  Presented by Jim Bates • Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group

We as IT practitioners, service providers, manufacturers, managers, executives, and business owners are tasked with leading change––change due to intentional and unintentional events including the internet of things (IoT), digital transformation, intelligent automation, machine learning, robotics, and yes, pesky pandemics that have changed the way we work. These changes introduce new vulnerabilities that expose our data to motivated threat agents. Information security or cybersecurity is everyone’s job. Jim Bates will send out a call to action with some tips on how to get buy-in and lead in this age of digital chaos. We need more than just transformation. We need secure, scalable, and sustainable optimization.

Jim Bates is the Founder, President & CEO of Business Improvement Group, Inc. (BIG) and an Adjunct Professor in several schools at the University of Alaska Anchorage, including the MSPM program. Jim was elected as President-elect to the Project Management Institute Alaska Chapter (PMIAK) for 2018 and as an Executive Adviser for the nationwide Center for Technology. In addition to his many professional certifications, Jim holds master certificates in Business Analysis, Lean Six Sigma, and Project Management from Villanova University.

Jim is an experienced executive and consultant who is passionate about leading business transformation and offering innovative, high-value solutions to everyday business challenges. He has a proven ability to successfully analyze an organization’s critical business requirements, identify deficiencies and potential opportunities, and align and integrate technology.

He strives to help companies develop innovative and cost-effective solutions for enhancing competitiveness, increasing revenues, and improving customer service offerings. Jim is also an engaging, experienced public speaker and instructor. He frequently offers courses in Six Sigma, ITSM/ITIL, HIPAA compliance, leadership training, project management, and more.

[1 CPE] Breaking the Ransomware Attack Chain

  Presented by Guardicore, now part of Akamai

Despite consistent increases in security spending, ransomware remains an ever-growing threat to businesses. Surprisingly, the ransomware itself, the malware that does the encryption, is only a part of a larger, equally dangerous, attack chain. Considering the entire chain offers defenders more opportunities to thwart the attack before mass encryption can occur.

In this session, we’ll provide details on how microsegmentation can prevent adversarial techniques that precede and follow the deployment of ransomware itself. By turning our attention to the entire kill chain, a path towards minimizing the likelihood, impact, and recovery time of ransomware becomes clear.

In this session you will learn:

  • Practical steps you can take to disrupt the kill chain before ransomware can be deployed
  • How to leverage AI to map complex environments and expedite the path towards policy enforcement that drastically reduces the impact of ransomware
  • How advancements in host-based segmentation are helping businesses achieve an infrastructure that enables rapid remediation of ransomware events without disrupting business operations

[1 CPE] Ransomware: Who, What, Why & How…

  Presented by Check Point

Over the last 12 months, ransomware attacks surged by 93% with a devastating impact on businesses and industries worldwide. In today’s hybrid IT environment, preventing ransomware attacks seems like an impossible feat. But is it?

In this session, we will cover the latest ransomware trends and how you can protect your organization from falling victim to sophisticated ransomware attacks.

[1 CPE] Immutable Storage: Level-Up Ransomware Readiness

  Presented by Arcserve

IDC advises that a 3-2-1-1 strategy is the new best practice for effectively protecting customers against ransomware. The last 1 is the important piece of the puzzle, where a copy is also stored on immutable storage. The growing risk of compromise to your customers’ data – specifically via ransomware DEMANDS the most up to date and complete solutions arsenal.

[1 CPE] Thinking Upstream: Avoid the Fallout of the Next Log4Shell

  Presented by Tidelift

News of a zero-day vulnerability in the popular open-source project Log4j broke in December, leading many organizations scrambling to figure out the impact on their applications. Nearly every organization developing applications was impacted, and the fallout was so broad that the FTC issued guidance.

Log4Shell comes on the heels of the U.S. White House cybersecurity executive order 14028, an attempt by the United States government to use its purchasing power to create positive changes to the way cybersecurity is addressed around the world.

Recent high-profile breaches like Log4Shell, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack, or the SolarWinds software supply chain attack have shown that our cybersecurity defenses are woefully inadequate. This executive order forces a higher standard of cybersecurity for any organization selling software to the federal government, which in turn makes it the de facto global standard for all software in the future.

Tidelift CEO and co-founder Donald Fischer shares his perspective on how the Log4Shell vulnerability and the cybersecurity executive order impact software supply chain security. He’ll brief attendees on the key issues addressed by the executive order, including software bill of materials (SBOM), supply chain security, and provenance requirements. He’ll outline the gaps that most organizations will need to close to stay in compliance. And he’ll share a proactive approach to addressing open-source software supply chain health and security upstream.

If you want to ensure your organization is fully prepared for the coming changes, you won’t want to miss this session.

[1 CPE] Leveraging Assessment Findings to Harden Your Security Perimeter

  Presented by Fortinet

Are you regularly evaluating your network security?

Performing assessments is a tried-and-true method for improving your security posture, but they can be a daunting task for network security staff who are often short on manpower, expertise, and/or time. Regardless, the benefits of running assessments almost always outweigh any potential drawbacks. Having a security assessment in hand will increase your security situational awareness and significantly impact your organization’s risk preparedness and mitigation.

Join us as we discuss the importance of periodically validating your existing security controls and provide learnings and best practices from our experts.

[1 CPE] Taking Control of Enterprise IoT Security

  Presented by Hillary Baron • Director of Research, Analytics, Cloud Security Alliance

Organizations rely on IoT devices to improve productivity, manage operations more efficiently, boost business opportunities, etc. To perform these functions IoT devices collect large amounts of sensitive data on the organizations, necessitating secure implementations of the entire IoT ecosystem. In this presentation, Hillary Baron, Director of Research – Analytics at CSA will cover:

  • The history and current state of IoT security
  • Leveraging and tailoring CSA’s IoT Controls Matrix
  • Future areas of research to improve IoT security

Hillary Baron is a Director of Research, Analytics for Cloud Security Alliance – a non-profit dedicated to defining and raising awareness about cloud security best practices. As a part of her role, she manages research projects on topics like blockchain/DLT, quantum-safe security, and the Internet of Things. Hillary also leads the ad-hoc survey research, including creating questionnaires, analyzing data, and reporting the findings. Formerly as a program manager, she spearheaded the creation of CSA’s webinar program, CSACloudBytes, and developed it into an award-winning series. Hillary earned a CCSK v4 and a Master’s of Science at the University of Wisconsin – Stout.

[1 CPE] Ransomware Protection Redefined: Protect, Alert, and Recover

  Presented by Veeam

Ransomware is malicious software that infects a computer and restricts access to crucial user data until a ransom is paid to unlock it. Ransomware is designed to spread through your network, exploiting technical and human vulnerabilities and leading to a significant impact on your business. Ransomware attacks were up 93% in 2021 and are no longer a question of if but when. Costs have skyrocketed to nearly two million dollars (US) per incident and have a global economic impact of over 20 billion dollars (US).

Join this session to learn how to ensure your backups are immutable, that you’ll be alerted of any possible ransomware attacks in your virtual environment, and that you’re able to recover those workloads free of any malware.

[1 CPE] Ransomware: Why Does This Keep Happening?

  Presented by Arctic Wolf

Join Coy Thorp, Systems Engineer for Arctic Wolf, as he discusses the history and evolution of ransomware and why it has become so difficult to detect and mitigate. The basic premise is this: organizations spend more today than ever before to address cybersecurity risk, yet breaches are on the rise and there is no end in sight. What can your company do to prepare itself for the attack that is imminently on the horizon?

[1 CPE] How to Successfully Manage Technology Challenges for a Remote Workforce

  Presented by INTERFACE Advisory Council

Your workforce will be dispersed permanently following the pandemic. Companies will no longer have their staff under one roof. Employees are working remotely in your city and throughout the country. This certainly has brought many challenges for IT departments everywhere. This is however the new business reality and adjustments have been made over the last year and a half to deal with the permanent remote workforce.

What are the best programs for basic monitoring of work? Can a VPN be trusted to securely handle your security needs? Is there really any difference between Zoom and Teams? Join the INTERFACE Advisory Council for a discussion about these questions and more. These challenges are nothing new but have quickly become more complex and common. Also, we will address the mix of workers coming back into your office and how that affects physical workspace changes.

Panelists:

Michael Agtunong • Manager, Information Technology, Gather Federal Credit Union
Jeromy Giacosa • Vice President, Information Services, Exagen
Matthew Linzer • Manager, Information Technology, University of California Office of The President