(ISC)2 Looks to Further Cybersecurity with Charitable Foundation, Chapter Program
- By Brent Dirks
- Sep 29, 2011
While the first (ISC)² Security Congress and ASIS wrapped up last week in Orlando, Fla., (ISC)² announced two additional initiatives to further cybersecurity across the globe: -- a charitable foundation and chapter program.
(ISC)², the world's largest not-for-profit information security professional body with more than 70,000 members, announced both initiatives on Sept. 20.
Dedicated to building the next generation of cybersecurity professionals, the foundation will offer scholarships for high school all the way to post-graduate students. The organization will also encourage community service and engagement that will have a long-term effect on communities by supporting online security education programs for children, parents and teachers. The foundation's third core area will be research.
"There is an immediate need from the public to better understand information security safety issues, and unfortunately, to date, there have only been a few avenues they can turn to for valuable, trusted information," said W. Hord Tipton, executive director of (ISC)². "We created the (ISC)² Foundation not only to deepen the impact of our social responsibility programs but to also pay our success forward by creating an entity that is dedicated to giving back to the community. With the foundation, we will keep more children safe from online predators, send more promising young people to school, and conduct more research that leads to public policy initiatives in support of our industry."
Switzerland, Germany, South Korea and the United States will host the congress's first chapter programs. The program is designed to support members who might not be able to regularly attend conferences or who are in areas where (ISC)² doesn't have events or a presence.
"Our members have long requested chapters. We are pleased that we now have the infrastructure and capability to offer a chapter program and to support burgeoning information security communities around the world," Tipton said. "We see tremendous value in facilitating the collaboration of knowledge with fellow (ISC)2 credential holders and other information security professionals within local areas so that chapter members can gain a sense of fellowship with colleagues and, subsequently, continue to move the profession forward."
(ISC)² will also offer events, educational opportunities and materials for its chapters.
More information on starting a chapter or on the chapter program can be found at http://www.isc2.org/chapters.
I thought the Security Congress was a success and enjoyed attending some of the education sessions. My colleague, Christina Miralla, and I will be recapping some of what we learned at the event in the coming weeks on the Network-Centric Security and Security Products websites.
About the Author
Brent Dirks is senior e-news/Web editor for Security Products and Network-Centric Security magazines.