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.

Full story is available for download at PRWeb.com

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – February 13, 2014

The Rocket City TakeDownCon hosted by EC-Council partner Dynetics, Inc. will deliver a comprehensive analysis of Cyber Security through EC-Council’s industry-leading training and thought-provoking keynotes in two focused tracks. Delegates will spend Day 1 on the Attack, learning how even the most protected systems can be breached. Day 2 will be dedicated to Defense and delegates will learn how to defend information and networks from nefarious and persistent attacks deployed by cutting edge hackers.

 Keynote speaker Kellman Meghu, the head of security engineering for Checkpoint Software Technologies, will present “How Not To Do Security” which he says, “will use the Star Wars theme to examine how businesses continually fail at some of the most basic security controls. This presentation seeks to do a postmortem on a galactic empire security posture, so that we can learn from their mistakes and hopefully ensure we are not missing key elements in our own security policy.”

Live, instructor-led training in the industry-leading EC-Council suite of certifications, including their flagship Certified Ethical Hacker, Certified Hacking Forensics Instructor, Computer Security Analyst, and Licensed Penetration Tester will also be available at the Conference. Other advanced hacking courses will be offered in areas such as Advanced Mobile Hacking and Forensics, Advanced Network Defense, and Securing Windows Infrastructure.

To learn more about The Rocket City TakeDownCon and to register for the event visit: https://www.takedowncon.com/2014/rocketcity.

About Dynetics:
Dynetics delivers the “Power of Solutions” to government and commercial customers in the areas of intelligence, missiles, aviation, cyber and space. Based in Huntsville, Ala., with offices throughout the United States, Dynetics is a mid-tier company that provides complete lifecycle analysis, engineering and hardware solutions to support customer missions.

For more information visit: https://www.dynetics.com

Full story available at PRWeb.com

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/

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – November 11, 2013

The 2013 Global CyberLympics computer network defense competition ended with a bang as the top 8 teams from around the world traveled to Atlanta to battle it out for the title of the Global CyberLympics World Champion at the Hacker Halted conference.

Atlanta, Georgia USA – November 5, 2013

EC-Council is proud to support CTEF’s initiatives to advance Cyber Security Education in the Florida School Systems and presented the foundation with a check in the amount of $39,800 to support their programs. CTEF approached EC-Council after learning of EC-Council iLabs’ fully automated Cyber Range platform. The iLabs solution not only protects students from unlawful activity over the network or Internet, it also protects the school network by providing a safe environment to test tools and get hands-on experience with a range of cyber attacks, tools, malware, and viruses.

At EC-Council’s national conference, Hacker Halted, EC-Council presented a check to CTEF for $39,800 representing a full 6 months access for 200 students in the Cyber Programs run by CTEF.

Said Steven Graham, Vice President of EC-Council, “We recognize the work Paul and CTEF are doing in the school systems in Florida and realize the next generation workforce will come from these STEM programs. Paul has been an innovator in this field and we are proud to be able to support such an ambitious program. With our technology, we can provide these STEM students the same tools industry professionals have their hands on in a completely safe, controlled environment. We hope the use of these labs and exercises will elevate the hands-on element of CTEF curriculum and enhance the overall program with a more real-world approach to cyber security.”

EC-Council iLabs allows students to dynamically access a host of Virtual Machines preconfigured with vulnerabilities, exploits, tools, and scripts from anywhere with an internet connection. The simple web portal enables students to launch an entire range of target machines and access them remotely with one click. It is the most cost effective, easy to use, live range lab solution available. For more information on iLabs contact steve.graham(at)eccouncil(dot)org or visit https://www.eccouncil.org/ilabs.

CTEF, in turn, has partnered with 9 Florida middle and high schools, including programs offered through Girls Inc. © and Boys and Girls Club of NE Florida. Middle school Cyber Warrior students learn cyber security, safety, and ethics. High school Cyber Warrior students concentrate on cryptography, ethical white-hat hacking, and decryption. High school students are challenged to strategize and collaborate in team competitions like the Cyber Patriot, a high school cyber defense competition created by the Air Force, and a Capture The Flag cyber challenge sponsored by MITRE for high school and college cyber teams.

About CTEF:
Career Technical Education Foundation, Inc. (CTEF) is a not-for-profit 501 (c)(3) educational foundation created to work with and influence local educational systems through community and industry partnerships. CTEF is recognized nationally as a leader in building collaborative and supportive relationships between education, business and industry. CTEF’s engineering program has been recognized as a top 10 national Project Lead the Way model school, designated a Center of Excellence by Pinellas County Schools, and selected nationally as one of 15 PRIME (Partnership Response in Manufacturing Education) STEM career academies in the U.S. CTEF has implemented cyber security, engineering, and biomedical programs. In March 2013, the founder and president of CTEF, J. Paul Wahnish, was recognized nationally in the cyber security arena as Information Systems Security Educator-of-the-Year by Federal Information Systems Security Educators’ Association (FISSEA). Visit https://www.careertechedfoundation.org for additional information.

Full story is 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 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

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – September 18, 2013

Two Middle East ethical hackers from Help AG, a regional information security consulting company, have qualified to participate in the World Finals of the Global CyberLympics, an EC-Council Foundation initiative supported by the United Nation’s International Telecommunications Union (ITU)

Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA – September 16, 2013

Global CyberLympics is an international online ethical hacking, computer network defense game. Currently in its third year, Global CyberLympics is excited to announce the 2013 global results thus far. The 2013 competition consisted of more than 6,400 players spanning 70 different countries. This year’s Global CyberLympics competition featured a banking theme, where the participants had to solve a series of challenges as if they were hired as independent IT security contractors to figure out who hacked a bank’s network.