GR-ISSA
An Information Systems Security Association Chapter

About Us

GR-ISSA is a local chapter of the international Information Systems Security Association (or ISSA). GR-ISSA provides local security professionals and practitioners a variety of information security resources ranging from presentations and knowledge sharing to social networking opportunities. This site is dedicated to the Grand Rapids, Michigan chapter of ISSA. GR-ISSA was founded in 2003. For information about the parent international ISSA organization, you are encouraged to visit www.issa.org.

Meetings

Meeting Time

Meetings are held nine months out of the year on the third Friday of the month unless stated otherwise. Meetings are suspended during summer months (June through August) in recognition of vacations etc.

Social Networking 2:30 - 3:00 PM EST
Presentation 3:00 - 4:30 PM EST
Open Discussion 4:30 - 5:00 PM EST

Meeting Location

Chapter meetings are held at Steelcase Global Headquarters in Grand Rapids Michigan. Steelcase Global Headquarters are located on the northeast corner of 44th street and Eastern avenue. Guest parking is available free of charge, accessible from the 44th street entrance closest to Eastern avenue. Attendees are asked to use the main entrance facing 44th street. Upon entering the lobby a receptionist will greet you, please sign in and take a name tag. Chapter meetings are held downstairs in one of the multipurpose rooms near the cafeteria.

Steelcase Global Headquarters
901 44th Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49508

Presentations

Friday February 19, 2010 - "The Global Threat Landscape: What is The Answer?"

Presented by Bob West, Echelon One

The recent stories in the press about the Chinese attacking Google and other major corporations underscores the threats we face as a global community. This presentation will cover the stories in the press, the root cause of the issues, and how they can be addressed. Bob West is responsible for creating and executing Echelon One's corporate strategy. He has over 25 years of experience in corporate and startup environments. Bob is a frequent speaker on the subject of information security and risk, and is on the board of managers for the Jericho Forum, advisory boards for Agilance, the Hispanic Information Technology Executive Council, Security Growth Partners, Trusteer, the University of Detroit Mercy's College of Liberal Arts and Education, the University of Cincinnati's College of Information Technology Advisory Board, and has also been on Securent's advisory board (acquired by Cisco), TriCipher's advisory board, a member of RSA Security's Customer Advisory Council, and the ISS Customer Advisory Council. He is quoted frequently in the press including the BusinessWeek, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Previously, Bob was Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Fifth Third Bank in Cincinnati where he was responsible for the enterprise information security strategy. Prior to joining Fifth Third, Bob worked for Bank One in Columbus where he held several key leadership roles, including Information Security Officer for Bank One's Retail Group. Prior to joining Bank One, Bob was a manager with Ernst & Young's Information Security Services practice in Chicago, and a Senior Systems Officer with Citicorp International in New York and Chicago. Bob received the 2004 Digital ID World Conference award for Balancing Innovation and Reality, and a 2004 InfoWorld 100 Award for implementing cross-company authentication using SAML. Bob graduated from Michigan State University with a Bachelor of Arts in German and then received his Master of Science in Management Information Systems from North Central College.

Past Presentations

Electronic presentation material are available with chapter membership through the chapter archives.

Membership

GR-ISSA Chapter Membership

To become a member of the Grand Rapids ISSA chapter we ask that you be a West Michigan information security student or professional. Membership benefits include access to chapter emails advertising coming events and peer commentary on topics of information security. Benefits also include access to email and presentation archives.

Chapter membership requires a multi-step process as outlined below.

  1. Begin the application process by providing a valid email address and choosing a password for your chapter account. You should receive an email seeking confirmation of your email address.
  2. Follow the instructions provided in the confirmation email. Once confirmed, a moderator will contact you via email.
  3. The moderator will ask for additional information about you such as title, organization and contact information. You will also be asked to agree to the chapter terms shown below. Reply to the moderator to continue the application process.
    1. Professionalism: you agree to follow common standards of email etiquette.
    2. Relevance: you agree to only post messages relevant to the interests of GR-ISSA.
    3. Privacy: you agree to not breach the privacy of list participants (e.g. by not revealing names or forwarding content without the owner's permission).
    4. No advertising: you agree to refrain from advertising any product or service.
  4. The moderator will issue a final email either granting or denying your chapter membership.

Chapter members will be added to the chapter mailing list, [gr-issa-discuss@gr-issa.org].

GR-ISSA Chapter Dues

GR-ISSA does not require dues. GR-ISSA solicits guest speakers that will donate their time and information. GR-ISSA also solicits local organizations that will donate their conference room facilities for a few hours each month to accommodate our monthly meetings. Combined, these donations of time, information and facilities have allowed GR-ISSA to waive all requirements for monthly or yearly chapter dues.

ISSA Membership and Fees

International ISSA membership requires an annual fee paid by either an individual or an organization as appropriate. Although ISSA membership is not required to attend GR-ISSA chapter meetings, we strongly recommend attendees to consider the benefits of ISSA membership. The international site also offers an online option for joining ISSA at any time.

Archives

The GR-ISSA archive contains discussion list (gr-issa-discuss and gr-issa-announce) and past presentation material. All archive access begins with chapter membership. Without chapter membership, you will not have access to the archive and its contents. Consult membership for details.

Archive and discussion list logon information will be synchronized. If your chapter membership is new or passwords where changed, you must wait 24 hours before the account settings take effect on the archive.

Chapter members will have access to the following materials:

  1. email archive for gr-issa-discuss
  2. email archive for gr-issa-announce (deprecated in 2007)
  3. GR-ISSA past presentation materials

Contact

There are a few options available for contacting Grand Rapids ISSA chapter members.

  • [gr-issa-discuss at gr-issa dot org], entire chapter member base.
  • [gr-issa at gr-issa dot org], prominent chapter members and the chapter executive board.
  • [gr-issa-exec at gr-issa dot org], chapter executive board.

Additionally, some executive board members can be contacted directly.

President Paul Melson
Vice President Zach Jansen
Membership Director Lloyd Guyot [lloyd dot guyot at spectrum-health dot org]
Treasurer Doug Rehfeldt
Secretary Rich Worth

 

Last modified: September 17, 2008