Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – March 24, 2014

Too often in information security, the leaders in the industry are only recognized when something terrible happens – their companies are breached and suddenly their names are all over the news. EC-Council Foundation, the non-profit founded by the founders of EC-Council, is looking to reverse this trend and honor the top information security professionals for their positive contributions to the industry. Chief Information Security Officer tends to be a job that the outside world only notices when something bad happens, but EC-Council Foundation would like to bring positive recognition to this often thankless job. At this year’s Global CISO Forum in Atlanta, GA, EC-Council Foundation is once again looking to shine a light on those security professionals whose work isn’t always heralded. Like last year, the 2014 event will honor security visionaries from around the world in the following categories:

• CISO of the Year – This award, available only to Information Security Executives (VP, CISO, etc.), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.
• CIO of the Year – This award, available only to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. Security cannot be achieved without the support of management. This is the information security industry’s chance to recognize the leaders that support the security leaders in achieving greatness. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.
• C|CISO of the Year – This award, available only to EC-Council Certified CISOs (C|CISOs), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One C|CISO who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

The Global CISO Forum runs alongside EC-Council Foundation’s largest security event of the year, Hacker Halted, which draws an audience of white hat, ethical hackers. EC-Council Foundation includes a nod to the executives at their Hacker Halted event as a way of bringing the front-line defenders of security together with the executives who are making security a priority in the boardroom. Eric Lopez, Director of Conferences & Events for EC-Council put it this way “It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the information security industry suffers from a lack of communication. This is not a problem that world of criminal hackers has – they share information far more freely than the security side tends to do. This is EC-Council Foundation trying to bridge that communication gap, not just between peers in the industry, but between executives and analysts, CISOs and network administrators.”

The event will feature high-level, industry-recognized keynote presenters followed by a series of panel discussions designed to go deeper into the issues that keep CISOs awake at night. Also included on the agenda will be a cocktail reception to encourage networking, the Hacker Halted signature party, the CISO Awards Ceremony, breakout groups for writing white papers, training opportunities, and much more.

The annual Global CISO Forum is collocated with EC-Council’s most popular conference, Hacker Halted, now in its eighth year. The Global CISO Forum is limited to C-level executives, VPs, Senior Directors, etc.

To request an invitation, please email amber(dot)williams(at)eccouncil(dot)org.

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Atlanta, Georgia, USA – December 04, 2013

EC-Council’s series of Global CISO Forums has made waves in the information security industry and last year was no exception. For the second consecutive year, EC-Council brought the best information security executives from around the world to discuss the ever-changing threat landscape and ever-widening job responsibilities faced by the Chief Information Security Officers in all industries. The events draw attendees and speakers from around the world, including Hong Kong, Egypt, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Canada, the Philippines, Ghana, Sri Lanka, China, Zambia, Nigeria, the UAE, Switzerland, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Iceland, and all across the United States.

Also making a second appearance at the 2014 event will be the EC-Council CISO Awards – a big hit at the inaugural event this year. Like this year, the 2014 event will honor security visionaries from around the world in the following categories:

• C|CISO of the Year – This award, available only to EC-Council Certified CISOs (C|CISOs), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One C|CISO who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

• CIO of the Year – This award, available only to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. Security cannot be achieved without the support of management. This is the information security industry’s chance to recognize the leaders that support the security leaders in achieving greatness. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

• CISO of the Year – This award, available only to Information Security Executives (VP, CISO, etc.), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

EC-Council includes a nod to the executives at their Hacker Halted event as a way of bringing the front-line defenders of security together with the executives who are making security a priority in the boardroom.

Eric Lopez, Director of Conferences & Events for EC-Council put it this way: “It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the information security industry suffers from a lack of communication. This is not a problem that world of criminal hackers has – they share information far more freely than the security side tends to do. This is us trying to bridge that communication gap, not just between peers in the industry, but between executives and analysts, CISOs and network administrators.”

The event will feature high-level, industry-recognized keynote presenters followed by a series of panel discussions designed to go deeper into the issues that keep CISOs awake at night. Also included on the agenda will be a cocktail reception to encourage networking, the Hacker Halted signature party, the CISO Awards Ceremony, breakout groups for writing white papers, training opportunities, and much more.

The annual Global CISO Forum is collocated with EC-Council’s most popular conference, Hacker Halted, now in its eighth year. The Global CISO Forum is limited to C-level executives, VPs, Senior Directors, etc. In order to request an invitation, please email amber.williams(at)eccouncil(dot)org. https://www.eccouncil.org/ciso/events/atlanta-2014/

Atlanta, Georgia, USA – October 16, 2013

“It was an exciting day for all involved and we are very proud to have the opportunity to recognize such a trailblazing security professional,” says Jay Bavisi, President of EC-Council, of the awards ceremony at the Global CISO Forum.

Ron Baklarz, Chief Information Security Officer of Amtrak, was chosen from a field of nearly 1,000 other certified CISOs for the honor. EC-Council established the CCISO of the Year award to recognize the pioneers of the information security industry. According to Bavisi “It is important to honor the best and brightest of our immense pool of CCISO talent in order to shine a light on the tremendous growth and importance the CCISO has achieved in the less than 2 years it’s been in existence. EC-Council is honored to count all of our CCISOs as our members.”

Baklarz wasn’t the only CCISO to be recognized by EC-Council, however. There were an impressive list of finalists as well, including Mauricio Angee, the CISO of Mercantil Commercebank; Frank Kai Fat Chow, a Senior Manager of Automated Systems (HK) Ltd.; Paul Horn, the CISO of DynCorp International LLC; Mike Loginov, the CISO of Ascot Barclay Cyber Security Group; Ashish Chandra Mishra, the CISO of Tesco Hindustan Service Centre; Rakesh Radhakrishnan CSA of AMGEN; Paul Swarbrick, CISO of NATS, the National Air Traffic Service; and Silas Mohale, the CISO of ASTUTE FSE (PTY) LTD. Finalist traveled from around the world to attend the Forum and awards ceremony to participate in the keynotes, panels, and networking events taking place at the Global CISO Forum.

What set Baklarz apart from the pool of applicants was the impressive number of firsts he’s achieved in his career. Currently the CISO of Amtrak, Baklarz oversees an impressive information security operation. Amtrak is America’s Railroad®, the nation’s intercity passenger rail service and its high-speed rail operator. A record 31.6 million passengers traveled on Amtrak in FY 2013 on more than 300 daily trains – at speeds up to 150 mph (241 kph) – that connect 46 states, the District of Columbia and three Canadian Provinces. During this period, Amtrak earned $2.1 billion in ticket revenue while employing more than 20,000 people.

The complexity and importance of this organization is staggering. Prior to his tenure with Amtrak, Baklarz’s career includes an impressive series of firsts, including being one of the first information security managers in the Naval Nuclear Program, being the first Information security manager at the US House of Representatives, building the first secure operations center at Prudential Insurance, being the first CISO at the American Red Cross, and the first CISO at Amtrak. His career in information security is unparalleled as he’s served in CISO positions in military, government, healthcare, nonprofit, private sector, and transportation organizations. He is truly a leader in information security and among the first-ever certified CISOs through EC-Council.

Story available on PRWeb.com

Atlanta, Georgia USA – October 16, 2013

“It was an exciting day for all involved and we are very proud to have the opportunity to recognize such a dynamic and up-and-coming security professional,” says Jay Bavisi, President of EC-Council, of the awards ceremony at the Global CISO Forum.

Sanath Manatunge, Chief Risk Officer of Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC was chosen from dozens of other top professionals nominated for the honor. EC-Council established the CISO of the Year award to recognize the pioneers of the information security industry. According to Bavisi “Recognizing the best information security executive at our annual Hacker Halted conference felt important to the industry as we all need to work together to secure the world’s organizations – from the front line technical people all the way up to the top of corporations and governments.”

Manatunge wasn’t the only executive to be recognized by EC-Council, however. There were an impressive list of finalists as well, including Justin Dolly, ServiceNow VP & Chief Information Security Officer; Nikesh Dubey, AGC Networks Inc. Senior Cybersecurity Specialist/Security Projects Manager; Edward    Goetz, Exelon Corporation VP & CISO; Muhammad Saleem, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia CISO; Gary Sheehan, ASMGi Chief Security Officer; and Paul Swarbrick; NATS, the UK National Air Traffic Service Chief Information Security Officer and Head of Cyber Security. Finalists traveled from around the world to attend the Forum and awards ceremony to participate in the keynotes, panels, and networking events taking place at the Global CISO Forum.

This global award recognizes Manatunge’s pioneering efforts in introducing a dedicated, independent IT Risk Management Function at Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC in 2012. The Bank was the first local bank to undertake such an initiative which has contributed greatly in strengthening the information security and operational risk management strategy of the Bank. What set Manatunge apart from the pool of applicants was the amount of innovation he’s achieved in his short time at the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC.

The largest private bank in Sri Lanka, Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC is the only Sri Lankan bank to be ranked among the world’s top 1,000 banks for three successive years. Recognized as the ‘Best Bank in Sri Lanka’ for 15 consecutive years by Global Finance Magazine, Commercial Bank has also won multiple awards as the country’s best bank from The Banker, FinanceAsia, Euromoney and Trade Finance magazines.

The Bank is highly reliant on its IT infrastructure and the information it contains for its day-to-day operations as well as for its long-term strategies. Consequently, risk management plays a critical role in protecting the Bank’s information assets, as well as processes from IT-related risk. Manatunge has been able to establish the Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC as a role model to other Banks by setting a higher benchmark in the areas of information security and risk management that will contribute to the financial services industry as a whole. Manatunge was nominated for this recognition by Boshan Dayartne, the CEO of CICRA Holdings.

Story available at PRWeb.com

Atlanta, Georgia USA – October 16, 2013

“It was an exciting day for all involved and we are very proud to have the opportunity to recognize not only the warriors who are fighting the cybersecurity battle day in and day out, but also the managers who set them up for success,” says Jay Bavisi, President of EC-Council, of the awards ceremony at the Global CISO Forum.

Tim Grieveson, Chief Information Officer of G4S Risk Management, was chosen from dozens of nominees for the honor. EC-Council established the CIO of the Year award to recognize those who may not be security practitioners themselves but who support the mission of information security. As Bavisi noted in his address to the Global CISO Forum audience, there is some debate about to whom the CISO position should report and there was an hour-long panel later in the agenda to discuss just that issue, but as it stands now, the most common structure is for the CISO to report to the CIO. According to Bavisi, “… we gave our industry the opportunity to nominate those CIOs that are doing their absolute best to support the security of their organizations as advances in infosec are meaningless in our corporations and governments without upper management support.”

What set Grieveson apart from the pool of applicants was the fact that he is an inspirational ‘Big Corporate’ CIO and IT Transformation Director with over 16 years’ IT experience and over 10 years Information Security experience. He is changing and challenging the way in which technology supports businesses in his role as CIO at G4S Risk Management, which is part of the G4S group, the world’s second largest private employer with some 675,000 staff globally. He is responsible for the direction and strategy of Global ICT and Information Security for the organization. His commitment to security is recognized throughout the industry. Mike Loginov, a Certified CISO with the Ascot Barclay Group, nominated Mr. Grieveson for the honor.

Full story is available at PRWeb.com

Reykjavik, Iceland – July 29, 2013

The 2013 Global CISO Forum Europe will mark the fifth executive-level information security event presented by EC-Council. Presented in partnership with Promennt, an Icelandic-based IT training corporation, the Global CISO Forum (GCF) is EC-Council‘s annual CISO event that brings CISOs from all over the world together to focus on the real information security threats to networks, companies, and nations – and for the first time ever it’s going to be held in Europe! The GCF Europe will be held in conjunction with Hacker Halted, EC-Council’s largest and most popular security event also coming to Europe for the first time, creating a mix of executives and hackers. EC-Council’s CISO Program has over 1,000 participants from across industries and around the world and their previous events have drawn top executives from Hong Kong, Egypt, the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Canada, the Philippines, Ghana, Sri Lanka, China, Zambia, Nigeria, the UAE, Switzerland, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Iceland, and all across the United States. An international crowd with an emphasis on European countries is expected at this year’s event.

The conference agenda includes a mix of keynotes and panel discussions and boasts speakers from around the industry including Joe Voje, CISO of University of Texas Pan American; Justin Dolly, CISO at VMware; Amar Singh, CISO at Large News Organization; Vincent Grimard, CSO at Nelnet; James Treinen; CTO at Laconic Security; among many others. The topics that will be addressed are Winning the Hearts and Minds of End Users: It’s not what you say, but how you say it; User Awareness Programs Lessons Learned – What works and what doesn’t; Vendor Risk Management Essentials – In the cloud or not….vendor risk management starts from the same place; Should your organization have a Threat Intelligence Function?; In the Hot Seat; Security as a brand – How to market your department for effective security awareness; Drinking from the Fire Hose – Big Data in Enterprise Security; and Big Data Applied. The topics are designed to reach CISOs at all levels and in all industries and address the increasingly difficult role that demands business savvy as well as technical know-how.

What: EC-Council’s Global CISO Forum Europe
Where: Reykjavik, Iceland
When: October 7 – 8, 2013
Venue: HARPA Conference Centre

About the EC-Council CISO Program:    
EC-Council’s CISO Program (https://www.eccouncil.org/ciso/) has three components: CISO Events, the Certified CISO (C|CISO), and CISO Resources – a repository for white papers and articles geared toward a CISO crowd. EC-Council’s CISO Events are invitation only and geared specifically for high-level, executive information security professionals. Combining keynotes with panel discussions, the events are opportunities for CISOs from around the world to hash out the trends and challenges of information security among their peers. The C|CISO is a certification recognizing an individual’s cumulative experience and expertise in executive information security management. Overseen by a board of seasoned and distinguished professionals, the C|CISO Program has certified over 700 IS executives from around the world.

Atlanta, GA, USA – July 4, 2013

This year’s Global CISO Forum, the executive-level event running with Hacker Halted, the agenda includes a particularly exciting event: the CISO Awards Luncheon in Atlanta on September 19, 2013. The CISO Awards Luncheon will honor security visionaries from around the world in the following categories:

C|CISO of the Year – This award, available only to EC-Council Certified CISOs (C|CISOs), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One C|CISO who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

CIO of the Year – This award, available only to Chief Information Officers (CIOs) recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. Security cannot be achieved without the support of management. This is the information security industry’s chance to recognize the leaders that support the security leaders in achieving greatness. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

CISO of the Year – This award, available only to Information Security Executives (VP, CISO, etc.), recognizes an individual’s outstanding work in information security. One executive who has contributed to the information security industry, shown tremendous professional growth and achievement, and has promoted strong, innovative security practices will be honored.

EC-Council felt inclined to include a nod to the executives at this year’s Hacker Halted as a way of bringing the front-line defenders of security together with the executives who are making security a priority in the boardroom.

Eric Lopez, Director of Conferences & Events for EC-Council put it this way, “It’s becoming increasingly apparent that the information security industry suffers from a lack of communication. This is not a problem that is shared by criminal hackers– Black Hat Hackers share information far more freely than the White Hat Security side does. The CISO Forum is EC-Council trying to bridge that communication gap, not just between peers in the industry, but between executives and analysts, CISOs and network administrators.”

Professionals are encouraged to apply as well as to nominate their colleagues, and in the case of the CIO of the year, possibly their managers. To apply, interested professionals should enter their information at the Awards website in order to receive the application form.

Full story available for distribution at PRWeb.