May 2012 Newsletter

Message From the President

Dear Members,

We have had a busy few weeks with Infosec 2012 and have also been planning our events for the rest of the year.  Next week on May 10th we see our annual applications security event take place at Bletchley Park and I hope to see many of you there.  This is the first event we’ve done in conjunction with OWASP and we are looking to consolidate future events, especially in the regions, to bring together security communities in the regions – South West, East Midlands, Northern England and Scotland.  If you live outside of London and wanted to establish a local ISSA-UK Chapter or community, please do get in touch as we do have funds and support available to do this.

If you are an (ISC)2 member, you might also note that (ISC)2 are setting up local chapters.  We are working together as best we can to bring these events together under the same roof and also are talking to other industry associations to develop strong regional security communities.

As always, we love hearing from our members at events.  If you would like to come and talk at one of our meetings, perhaps about the job you do, how you face daily security challenges or discuss research you are involved in, then do contact us.

We have now got the security academy off the ground and are planning our first Security Leadership masterclass on May 22nd in London.  We aim to bring high quality training that is academically recognised to our members, focussing on soft-skills and helping aspiring CISOs achieve their leadership goals.

The HMS President agenda is almost ready to go and do watch out for the line-up in our next newsletter, as this is our most popular event, then of course the Olympics hit London and needless to say, there won’t be any ISSA-UK events in London a few weeks either side.

For those that made it to our open evening last week, thank you for coming along and it was nice to see you and we look forward to seeing you again very soon!

Best wishes,

Tim Holman
ISSA UK President

In this month’s Newsletter…

ISSA-UK / OWASP Web Application Security Training Day
10th May, Bletchley Park, Milton Keynes

The Mansion, Bletchley Park

ISSA-UK and OWASP are partnering for the first time to bring you a joint application security training conference.

This unique event will attact attendees from both ISSA-UK’s information security membership base, and OWASP’s web application specialists, bringing new thoughts and perspectives to both groups.

Join us for a full day of application security education, tools and methodologies at the historic Bletchley Park.   After the day’s talks are over, please join us for a tour of the famous WWII codebreaking facility!  The event is free for both ISSA and OWASP members. Agenda & Registration: Eventbrite

Regional Event – Avoidance Evasion, Compliance
15th May, Bristol

The event will focus on Governance, Regulation and Compliance, inline with our planned ISSA-5173 missiles for this year.

Over the last few years and very recently it seems, all companies have been hit by Regulatory requirements, such as PCI DSS, DPA and ensuring sufficient protection against those that still breach the Computer Misuse Act, more often than not, from within the organisation itself.

Companies that we work with either seem to Avoid regulatory requirements, ignore them and Evade, or choose to Comply, and the title of the event, “Avoidance, Evasion, Compliance” has stuck with us for quite a while, as reflects the knee-jerk approach that most companies, particular smaller ones, would take if faced with looming regulatory or compliance requirements.

Agenda & Registration:  Eventbrite

ISSA Security Leadership Academy
22nd May, London

Our ISSA Security Leadership Academy will kick off  on 22nd May at Grant Thornton, London with  four Business Skills Workshops for IT and Security Professionals with the intention of developing these first steps through to an Executive MBA for CISO’s and Security Leaders, delegates will receive a University certified ISSA Security Leadership Academy Certificate on successful completion of the programme:

They will cover the following topics:

1. Presenting Security (Credibly) to ‘C’ Level Executives  Communication & presentation skills for security leaders

2. Managing Teams and Group Dynamics – working effectively with technical and non technical staff

3. The Situational Leader in Security – Adaptability, choosing the right leadership style for the task in hand.

4. The Psychology of Enterprise Wide Security  – Developing a more mature security culture and awakening the organisation.

Full agenda & registration:  Eventbrite

International Board Election
Voting  Information 

The election of the International Board will be held online between June 1 and 30. Members will elect the President and five directors to lead the association for the next two years.

All members should visit www.issa.org to review and update their profiles by May 1. Memberships scheduled to lapse need to be renewed by May 31.

Unique voter credentials for the election will be sent to active General, CISO Executive, Lifetime and assigned Corporate, and Government Organizational members in good standing who have a current email address in their membership profiles.

Questions regarding membership status or the election should be directed to member@issa.org.

Senior, Fellow & Distinguished Fellow Nominations

Applications for Senior Member and your nominations for Fellow and Distinguished Fellow are now open again. The Fellow Program recognises sustained membership, volunteer leadership, and contributions to the profession. If you qualify then please submit an application as not only only are you gaining personal recognition but you’re also demonstrating the strength of the UK chapter.

Application forms are available on the International website and then should be sent to Andrew Cunnington, VP, Member Development for endorsement:  (andrew.cunnington@issa-uk.org)