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ISC2 New Jersey Chapter Newsletter is a monthly curated publication sharing achievements of our members, interesting topics, and relevant links. |
| | | | | Welcome to the ISC2 New Jersey Chapter's October 2024 Issue!
Our goal is to provide the cybersecurity community with monthly New Jersey Chapter news, upcoming events and initiatives, as well as timely and relevant articles from our dedicated member volunteers.
This issue celebrates the four-year anniversary of the newsletter. To date, we have published 52 issues and grown to almost 3,000 subscribers! We have revamped our newsletter and moved to a new platform with Mailchimp. We hope you enjoy the new format and content.
This effort would not have been possible without our dedicated newsletter committee members: Tran Cheung, Sharon Kelley, Aaron Kraus, Patricia Guroff, Khurt Williams, and Sravanthi Kolli.
We invite you to send any comments or suggestions to communications@isc2chapternj.org.
Co-editors in chief of Issue #52: Aaron Kraus and Tran Cheung |
| | | | Message from the President: Ken FishkinThis month we accomplished so many things, it’s hard to believe that it was all done by volunteers! Not only did we win the ISC2 Chapter Recognition Award for North America AND the Outstanding Partner Award for the Center for Cyber Safety and Education, but launched our first Capture the Flag event, our NJ Cyber Guardians Internship Program and our new Newsletter and Mentorship tools!
November will (hopefully) be much calmer, as we all need a well deserved rest! |
| | This month we welcomed 29 new members, including members from Bahamas, Maryland, Virginia, Brooklyn, and California! The chapter continues to expand its reach to security practitioners across the country and around the world.
Great to meet you all and glad you joined us!
Candy Ferguson (Bahamas), Fatema Basrai, Arthur Mendes , Sriharsha Katragunta, Mehmet Alacatag, Janet Tuohy, Takala Crook, Ryan Mulhollem, Nana Kwesi Sekyi Okusu, Zia Islam, Kluivert Francis, Damian Zalewski, Karl Zettl, Kelvin Dhliwayo, Nicolas Zaster , Hassan Bilal, Kimberly Thornton (Maryland), Mahmoud Ezat, Michael Scocco , Mihir Kansagra , Ryan Bosia (California), Matthew Kelly, Bob Broders , Keith Collins, Dheeraj Maram , Cid Dominique , Geraldine Okon (Brooklyn), Adam Marcus (Virginia) and AJ Anand. |
| | | | Chapter News & Current Events |
| | Congratulations to Our New High School Sub-chapter in Ohio
Matthew Wall from Lakota West High School in Ohio is actively recruiting members at his high school and has been very successful so far! Also, he is teaching his fellow classmates how to protect themselves from the latest cyber threats.
These student chapter members are very passionate about cybersecurity and we can’t wait to see what they’ll do next! |
| | | | | HackNJIT 2024 RecapWhat a fun day we had as judges at HackNJIT, this November! It was fierce competition with over 200 students from various schools.
In only 36 hours, the students had to develop highly innovative, creative and functional projects. The winning team developed a device and app to help people improve their posture. Can’t wait to do it again next year!
Thank you judges, Matt Lang, Sheshananda Reddy Kandula, Smit Nayak, Fuad Hamidli and our photographer of the day, Pradeep Nerupati. |
| | | October 2024 Monthly Meeting RecapThank you Gaurav Singh and Cochi Ho for both giving phenomenal talks at our last ISC2 New Jersey Chapter meeting! Gaurav Singh, Senior Manager of SAP cybersecurity at Under Armour discussed the dangers of not treating your SAP environment with adequate security controls. Secure Your Financial and Supply Chain Enterprise Applications: recording; presentation
Cochi Ho, former FBI Special Agent enlighted us with his stories on techniques that criminals used to secretly communicate via the Internet. For example, using an email server's draft folder as a dead drop was fascinating. Terrorist Communications and Tactics: recording |
| | | | The NJ Cyber Guardians program is designed to help small nonprofits understand their cybersecurity gaps, while providing interns with skills in leadership, communications, and professionalism, along with theoretical and practical cybersecurity skills. |
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| | To promote the program, we had a highly attended networking and educational event last Wednesday, that was hosted by committee member, Tom Brennan of Proactive Risk.
The other main component of this event was listening to Christopher Kay CISSP, CPP, the NJ State Cybersecurity Coordinator at CISA, discuss CISA's goals and mission, and the free services and cybersecurity tools that they offer. |
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| Special thanks to everyone on the NJ Cyber Guardians Committee for their dedication in turning this idea into a reality: Tom Brennan, Alexandra Velez, SSCP, Tran Cheung, MBA, CISSP, CCSP, CISA, PMP, Van Munoz, Sharon Kelley, Leon Ferri, MBA, CISSP, Arthur Hedge and Christopher Kay CISSP, CPP.
Thank you Holly Schneider Brown, Alisha Wenc and the Center for Cyber Safety and Education for all their support! Extra special thanks to Alexandra Velez, SSCP for these amazing photos, editing the videos and for live streaming the entire event!
To learn more about CISA and the NJ Cyber Guardians program, click below to watch the whole event: |
| | | | Capture the Flag for Novices RecapThe ISC2 New Jersey Chapter successfully pulled off its first Capture the Flag for Novices event at Saint Peter's University!
Over 70 students (from various schools) and professionals spent their Sunday learning how a hacker’s mind works, by competing in small teams to complete a series of puzzles that leveraged tools that hackers and cybersecurity professionals use on a regular basis.
Thank you Pradeep Nerupati (0xD), Pavan Nallamothu and Go Charan Kilaru for creating such fun and educational challenges!
This event will definitely become a recurring activity for our chapter!
Back in April, we started planning this event and it was thrilling to see it come to fruition. |
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| Thanks & Recognition This was our first live-streamed event, thanks to Alexandra Velez, SSCP, who diligently captured all the highlights using our new Instagram account.
Thank you, Suman Kalia and Saint Peter's University for providing us with their main ballroom to hold this event.
We’d like to thank a ton of people who made this event happen, especially our sponsor Krishna Chintakayala and his army of volunteers from Forge Alumnus Services Pvt Ltd and Forge Technologies Inc.
Commitee members: John Linkowsky, CISSP, Yavuz Birol Guner, Rajesh Adepu, Marie Ivanov, MBA, CISA, CRISC, CDPSE, Sheshananda Reddy Kandula, Yash Kothiya, Suman Kalia, Go Charan Kilaru, Nishanth K M., Pradeep Nerupati (0xD) and Pavan Nallamothu
And all the volunteers who assisted the teams throughout the day, while they pushed through their 40+ challenges. |
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| | | Senior Awareness Training RecapRaising Awareness: Senior Scam and Fraud Prevention at YMCA - Scotch Plains This past Friday, 11/1/2024, ISC2 New Jersey Chapter members, Anicee Monfleury, Fatema Basrai, CFEand Sammy Cordero, presented a crucial session on Senior Scam and Fraud Awareness at YMCA - Scotch Plains. We had a fantastic turnout of seniors, who were highly engaged and asked many questions throughout the presentation.
We covered key topics like the Grandparent Scam, Romance Scam, and Government Scam. Spreading awareness about these types of scams is a cause we’re all passionate about, and events like this remind us of the importance of education in safeguarding our communities. |
| Upcoming EventsAll times are EST |
| | Cyber Pathways - 10/28/2024 - 11/14/2024We are continuing our Cyber Pathways program. This initiative aims to help students and career transitioners who are looking to break into the cybersecurity industry and learn more about the various roles and opportunities within it.
Join on ISC2 NJ Chapter Discord (and send Ken an email at president@isc2chapternj.org to get the link if you’re not already there)! |
| | | ISC2 New Jersey CMMC Round-TableTo protect American intellectual property and national security, the Department of Defense (DoD) developed the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) program. CMMC requires covered defense contractors and subcontractors to implement security protections set forth in NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-171 for sensitive unclassified DoD information.
We invite you to join us for a brief overview of the CMMC rule, a presentation “What the CMMC Rule means for Organizations and External Service Providers”, insights on how to implement it, and networking opportunity for other professionals working on CMMC challenges! |
| Date: Wednesday, November 6, 2024 Time: 5 pm - 6 pm Location: Virtual |
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| | MS Copilot WorkshopOur beloved trainer, Jay Ferron has offered our chapter another free workshop. Join us for a free virtual event to learn about MS Copilot, an AI-powered assistant integrated into Microsoft Office applications. Popular tools and platforms are increasingly integrating AI capabilities, so it’s important to stay ahead of these changes and ensure you’re ready for the workplace of tomorrow! |
| Date: Tuesday, November 12, 2024 Time: 8 pm - 9 pm Location: Virtual |
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| | | New Member Welcome Meeting - Virtual OnlyAre you a new or nearly new NJ Chapter member? If so, join one of our upcoming orientation (welcome) meetings, where you can learn about all the chapter benefits and ask questions about membership.
Our membership co-chairs, Sharon and Sam run this virtual welcome meeting on the third Thursday of each month. Register for our next welcome meeting on . The meeting will last approximately 20 minutes and will be recorded and sent to new members who weren't able to join. |
| Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024 Time: 5 pm (new revised time!) Location: Virtual |
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| | | Public Speaking Workshop Date: Thursday, November 14, 2024 Time: 7 pm - 8 pm Location: Virtual |
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| | | Monthly Meeting - November 2024 For our November Monthly Meeting, we'll hear from Jeff Tomkiewicz, an Offensive Security Engineer for a Fortune 40 on Fortifying Active Directory:Combatting Misconfigurations and Shekar Gadekar, CEO at Quality Edge topic is TBD |
| Date: Thursday, November 21, 2024 Time: 6 pm - 8 pm Location: Virtual |
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| | | InfraGard NJ - Year End Symposium Date: Friday, November 22, 2024 Time: 10 am - 3 pm Location: Kean University Cost: $77 |
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| | | 3rd Annual SECON International Conference Date: Wednesday, December 4, 2024 Time: 10 am - 3 pm Location: Virtual |
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| | | SECON International needs your help!We need a few more volunteers to help either facilitate our upcoming SECON International event or help edit our conference website (no programming skills needed). Please sign up if you can donate a few hours of your time. |
| | | | | Save the Date - December Monthly Meeting - 12/19/2024
Date: Thursday, December 19, 2024 Time: 6 pm - 8 pm Location: Virtual
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| | | | | | Member Survey Request for John Checco’s Dissertation
John C. Checco (Chair/Co-Founder of the NY Metro Joint Cyber Security Conference) is a Doctoral Candidate in Cybersecurity from Marymount University and is seeking assistance from our members to help him. See below for his request.
TOPIC: THREAT INTELLIGENCE USAGE FOR CYBER OPERATIONS If your work involves security operations and/or security decision management using cyber threat intelligence, we need you!
For my dissertation, I am conducting research on the usability of threat intelligence in cybersecurity operations and decision-making. Fictional scenarios will be presented to participants where they will use a provided cyber threat intelligence report to react and respond to each situation using a survey containing both ranking as well as open-ended questions. Please support this effort either by directly participating in the survey, asking your SOC / security teams to participate, or sharing this invitation with your peers and colleagues.
Survey Link: Doctoral Dissertation Survey: USABILITY OF THREAT INTELLIGENCE IN CYBER OPS |
| | | | | JuMP October Update: Exciting Launch and Progress
Dear Members,
We're thrilled to announce that our mentorship platform, Qooper, will launch this month, marking a significant milestone for our program. This achievement is thanks to the dedication of our volunteers who have worked tirelessly to ensure a smooth rollout. Various cooperative groups, from recent graduates to seasoned professionals, will benefit from the platform’s robust features and improved connectivity. The committee has maintained steady progress and dedication, ensuring our mentorship activities remain on track. Thank you for your continued support and enthusiasm—your involvement drives our success.
Warm regards, Matthew Lang and The Mentorship Committee Contact Us: For any questions, comments, or suggestions, please reach out to us at mentoring@isc2chapternj.org.
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| | | | Join our ISC2 NJ Chapter Discord Server!We now have roughly 550 members on our Discord Server!
We are looking for volunteers to help make Discord a better and fun place. Please reach out to Bryon Singh at bryon@isc2chapternj.org with ideas or ping him on Discord!
By adding a Discord server to the mix of our communication tools, we now have real-time collaboration between our members 24/7. Looking for a job or for some advice on bettering yourself on the job? Find it here!
Our Discord Server is a dynamic hub for job seekers, offering firsthand job opportunities in various IT and Cyber positions from chapter members. It's also a resource for members seeking internships, aiming to enhance their skill sets, or wanting to share resumes for reviews and feedback (including interview skills assistance). In addition to our website and newsletter, we announce upcoming events through Discord Server notifications. You'll receive regular reminders, so you won’t miss out on our engaging events! Moreover, our mentorship program is hosted on Discord, facilitating interaction with mentors during your cohort.
For those members that want to communicate on a variety of topics between meetings using Discord, just send Ken an email at president@isc2chapternj.org to get the link.
The members of the Discord Committee are Bryon Singh, Tran Cheung, Giovanni Mercado, John Linkowsky , Krishna Nekkalapudi, Matthew Lang, Michael LeBlanc, Nikunj Shah, Brett Smith and Saurabh Sagdeo. |
| | | Unencrypted Chatter PodcastOur latest ISC2 New Jersey Chapter Podcast has just been released! We interviewed our super volunteer, Jay Ferron who just won the ISC2 Volunteer Service Award at Security Congress 2024. Aaron Kraus and Ken Fishkin met up with him there and was able to capture this amazing interview about his career.
You can now listen to our podcast "Unencrypted Chatter" on Spotify, Apple and Amazon. You can also watch our episodes on YouTube! |
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| | | Cyber Nexus
The Cyber Nexus Initiative aims to enhance ISC2 NJ Chapter as a thought leader in cybersecurity by inviting, reviewing, and publishing cutting-edge articles and blogs on its website. The initiative will help disseminate valuable insights, promote academic and professional discourse, and contribute to the overall advancement of cybersecurity knowledge. The initiative also offers a platform for ISC2 NJ chapter members to share their cybersecurity expertise, who may not be comfortable with public speaking. More details to follow to participate! |
| | | | | Going For Your Certified in Cybersecurity Certification? ISC2 New Jersey Chapter is proud to be actively involved in the ISC2 1MCC Partner Program! We provide a pathway for potential candidates from our thriving network and help support individuals through training, exam pass and to becoming a CC holder.
To help you on your journey to achieve the CC, register for it. After registering, we'll be able to see your progress and be able to provide guidance and encouragement if you need it. |
| | | NYU Program and ISC2 New Jersey ChapterThe ISC2 New Jersey Chapter and the New York University Tandon School of Engineering have formed a partnership to further educational and credentialing opportunities for students and the cybersecurity community.
In addition to participating in NYU Tandon events, lectures, career fairs, and other professional development activities, ISC2 will offer students a full membership for $10, giving them access to a network of local industry leaders. As part of the agreement, ISC2 members can sign up for The NYU Center for Cybersecurity (CCS) mailing list to stay current with research and events featuring leading faculty and industry partners at cyber.nyu.edu.
To learn more about this program, click below. |
| | | | ISC2 New Jersey Chapter 2024-2025 Board of Directors
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