WaTech's state Office of Cybersecurity will hold several virtual presentations in October as part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Please mark your calendar for the following events and bookmark this page (cybersecurity.wa.gov/news/hacktober-presentations) for video links on the day of the presentation.
OCS operational plan
As Dwight D. Eisenhower once said: "Plans are worthless, but planning is everything." Please join state Chief Information Security Officer Vinod Brahmapuram to learn about OCS efforts to ensure the State of Washington that can meet the security challenges that lie ahead.
- Oct. 12 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
Incident response and disaster recovery plans
Please join Greg Tudor, chief information officer for the state Recreation and Conversation Office (RCO), for a discussion about incident response and disaster recovery plans. Greg is the CIO/Senior Manager for RCO and the Puget Sound Partnership. He has more than 30 years of enterprise IT/GIS experience including surveying, mapping, developing applications, managing projects, administering databases, and managing IT.
- Oct. 13 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
Lessons learned from the IT security trenches
Please join Alex Weeks, chief information security officer for the state Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS), for his presentation on lessons learned from the IT security trenches. Alex became CISO at DSHS in 2018. Alex began his information technology career in 1988 with the US Army where he served in a variety of roles including Senior Signal (Cybersecurity) Warrant Officer with the 1st Special Forces Group Airborne at Fort Lewis.
- Oct. 20 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
OCS Security Presentation: Password security
Josh Eshenbaugh, a security analyst with the OCS Computer Incident Response Team, will lead a discussion about password complexity, security, and policy. Josh joined the CIRT in 2019. He previously worked as a consultant in the private sector focusing on cloud compliance frameworks and also worked as a malware, digital forensics and exploitation analyst in the Navy.
- Oct. 21 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
Josh Eshenbaugh's presentation on password security
Security Awareness and Training
Matthew Beaumont, chief information security officer for the state Department of Retirement Systems, will discuss his agency's efforts to improve security awareness and training. Matt has spent more than two decades serving in several technical and leadership roles in the U.S. Army and public and private organizations. He's worked with an array of technologies from Microsoft enterprise systems and network administration, to more specialized industrial control systems security design and cloud security architecture.
- Oct. 22 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
Matt Beaumont's presentation on security awareness and training
Privacy and the Public Records Act
State Chief Privacy Officer Katy Ruckle will talk about privacy and the state public records act. There is a difficult balance between individual privacy and open records. Please join Katy for a discussion on considerations when handling public records that may contain private information. Katy was appointed as the state CPO on Jan. 1, 2020. She previously served as the Privacy Officer and Information Governance Administrator at the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS).
- Oct. 27 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A
Katy Ruckle's presentation on Privacy and the Public Records Act
Taking a threat-centric approach to security
Please join state Chief Information Security Officer Vinod Brahmapuram to learn about OCS efforts to take a threat-centric approach to cybersecurity in Washington state. Vinod will discuss the need to move away from the state's current federated environment that has led to the creation of multiple small armies to fight attackers.
- Oct. 29 - Noon to 12:30 p.m., plus Q&A