Government Information Security Podcast

Identity fraud crimes expanded at a 12% rate in 2009. What can we expect to see in 2010?

Javelin Strategy & Research is out with its latest Identity Fraud Study. For insight on the study results and what they mean to organizations across industry, James Van Dyke of Javelin discusses:

Van Dyke is founder and president of Javelin Strategy & Research. Javelin is the leading provider of independent, quantitative and qualitative research for payments, multi-channel financial services, security and fraud initiatives. Javelin's clients include the largest financial institutions, card issuers and technology vendors in the industry.

How do you set the right tone? That's the topic of the new book from former CISO Jennifer Bayuk: "Enterprise Security for the Executive: Setting the Tone from the Top."

In an interview about her book, Bayuk discusses:

Bayuk is an independent consultant on topics of information confidentiality, integrity and availability. She is engaged in a wide variety of industries with projects ranging from oversight policy and metrics to technical architecture and requirements. She has a wide variety of experience in virtually every aspect of the Information Security. She was a Chief Information Security Officer, a Security Architect, a Manager of Information Systems Internal Audit, a Big 4 Security Principal Consultant and Auditor, and a Security Software Engineer. Bayuk frequently publishes on information security and audit topics. She has lectured for organizations that include ISACA, NIST, and CSI. She is certified in Information Systems Audit (CISA), Information Security Management (CISM), Information Systems Security (CISSP), and IT Governance (CGEIT). She has Masters Degrees in Computer Science and Philosophy.

Education, skills, experience - what exactly does it take to make it in an information security career today?

Srinivas Mukkamala, an educator and practitioner, offers unique insight on:

Mukkamala, one of CAaNES' owners and its interim-Director of Operations, is a senior research scientist with ICASA (Institute for Complex Additive Systems Analysis, a statutory research division of New Mexico Tech performing work on information technology, information assurance, and analysis and protection of critical infrastructures as complex interdependent systems) and Adjunct Faculty of the Computer Science Department of New Mexico Tech. He leads a team of information assurance (IA) "first responders" who are deployed at the request of various government agencies and financial institutions around the state of New Mexico to perform vulnerability analysis, information system security audits, network analysis and forensic incident analysis. He has a patent pending on Intelligent Agents for Distributed Intrusion Detection System and Method of Practicing Same.

Just as spy agencies have intelligence analysts, the government needs to develop technically savvy cyber analysts as IT threats from foreign nations and criminal organizations grow, says a former Federal Bureau of Investigation chief information officer.

"We're moving into a cyber warfare environment (and) if you look at the two domains (intelligence and IT), they're very similar," Zalmai Azmi, now senior vice president

"The intelligence analyst relies on the number of information feeds they're getting from different intelligence agencies. They are drawing a common operational picture and then they decide how they're going to write a report and move it forward." Azmi told GovInfoSecurity.com's Eric Chabrow. "The same is true of cyber warfare. These (cyber) analysts will be looking at tons of information coming from different sources and they have to determine what is the right course of action."

In the second of a two-part interview, Azmi also addressed the need to:

In Part 1 of the interview, Azmi discussed why he sees the recent attacks on Google emanating from China as a prelude to future assaults, how IT tools can improve situational awareness and the effectiveness of the Federal Information Security Management Act.

Azmi joined CACI in November 2008 after serving five years as CIO of the FBI where he guided the bureau through its largest-ever technology upgrade. Before joining the FBI in 2003, Azmi served as CIO for the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys, where he created the organization's first IT security office. A Marine veteran - he served as a communications and intelligence specialist - Azmi has been twice deployed to Afghanistan as well as detailed to an intelligence agency.

Azmi holds a master in information systems from George Washington University, a bachelor in IS from American University and several IT certifications including information security management and program management.

Howard Schmidt hit the road running last week as he started his new job as the long-awaited White House cybersecurity coordinator.

In an impromptu interview with GovInfoSecurity.com Eric Chabrow and other reporters at the State of the Internet Conference in Washington, sponsored by the Advisory Committee to the Congressional Internet Caucus, Schmidt said there were no surprises in the busy first week on the job.

President Obama promised when he created the job that he would meet periodically with the cybersecurity adviser, but no such meeting occurred the first week. Still, Schmidt had his hands full meeting with top IT leaders in government, key lawmakers and military cybersecurity brass.

The "Chris" Schmidt refers to in the interview is Chris Painter, who had served as White House acting senior director for cybersecurity from September until Schmidt began his job.

Also see Schmidt: Internet Safer Than in Past, our story on his debut speech as White House cybersecurity coordinator.

In an exclusive interview, Richards discusses:

Richards has served on the ISSA International Board since 2003, initially in a global chapter relations capacity and then as the international vice president since 2007. A past president of the Chicago ISSA Chapter, Richards is an information security and risk management advisor for Crowe Horwath with more than 18 years of experience in information security, business continuity and enterprise risk management. His expertise ranges from risk analysis and program design to information security and business continuity program development and leading practices.

This is the position of Kenneth Newman, VP & Information Security Manager at Central Pacific Bank. In an interview about top risk management trends, Newman discusses:

Newman joined Central Pacific Bank as Vice President & Information Security Manager in February 2009. He oversees the bank's information security program and the protection of its information assets.

Prior to joining CPB, Mr. Newman served as First Vice President & Online Risk Manager for Washington Mutual (WaMu) and has managed various global and regional security and risk functions for Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in New York.

Central Pacific Bank is the main subsidiary of Central Pacific Financial Corp., a Hawaii based financial institution with $5.2 billion in assets.

Attacks from China on Google and other corporate IT infrastructures just scratch the surface in regards to infiltration into America's critical information systems and networks, the former chief information officer of the Federal Bureau of Investigation says.

"The kinds of intrusions may be just a prelude to determining some of the weak points in our national security programs related to cyber and that may become a point of exploitation for future intrusion into our systems," Zalmai Azmi, senior vice president for global strategic law enforcement and national security at the IT services firm CACI International, said in an interview with GovInfoSecurity.com.

In the first of a two-part interview, Azmi also addresses:

In the second part of the interview, Azmi discusses the use of milestones and matrixes to effectively manage agency cybersecurity initiatives.

Azmi joined CACI in November 2008 after serving five years as CIO of the FBI where he guided the bureau through its largest-ever technology upgrade. Before joining the FBI in 2003, Azmi served as CIO for the Executive Office of the United States Attorneys, where he created the organization's first IT security office. A Marine veteran - he served as a communications and intelligence specialist - Azmi has been twice deployed to Afghanistan as well as detailed to an intelligence agency.

Azmi holds a master in information systems from George Washington University, a bachelor in IS from American University and several IT certifications including information security management and program management.

GovInfoSecurity.com's Eric Chabrow interviewed Azmi.

What's the cost of a data breach?

The Ponemon Institute is out with its 5th annual "Cost of a Data Breach" study, and in an exclusive interview Dr. Larry Ponemon discusses:

Ponemon is the Chairman and Founder of the Ponemon Institute, a research "think tank" dedicated to advancing privacy and data protection practices. Dr. Ponemon is considered a pioneer in privacy auditing and the Responsible Information Management or RIM framework.

Ponemon Institute conducts independent research, educates leaders from the private and public sectors and verifies the privacy and data protection practices of organizations in a various industries. In addition to Institute activities, Dr. Ponemon is an adjunct professor for ethics and privacy at Carnegie Mellon University's CIO Institute. He is a Fellow of the Center for Government Innovation of the Unisys Corporation.

In an exclusive interview, Lester Rosen, President and CEO of ESR, discusses:

Rosen, a retired attorney, founded ESR in 1996. In 2003, that firm was rated as the top screening firm in the US in the first independent study of the industry in research report prepared by the Intellectual Capital Group, a division of HR.com. He is a consultant, writer and frequent presenter nationwide on pre-employment screening and safe hiring issues. His speaking appearances have included numerous national and statewide conferences. He has qualified and testified in the California, Florida and Arkansas Superior Court as an employment screening expert on issues surrounding safe hiring and due diligence. He is the author of The Safe Hiring Manual-The Complete Guide to Keeping Criminals, Imposters and Terrorists out of the Workplace." He is also the key presenter in the webinar Avoid Negligent Hiring - Best Practices and Legal Compliance in Background Checks.