ISSA-LA May 15 Dinner Meeting

Come and network with your friends, make new friends, and hear two great talks about Cybersecurity. A buffet dinner will be served and drinks will be available. 

Please register and pay here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/how-the-ciso-role-is-changing-and-cisa-services-overview-tickets-853070596117

Topic One: How the CISO Role is Changing

With an increasing threat to information security for organizations, the CISO role is moving from a technical role to an executive advisor role. This executive function is responsible for information security across all layers of an organization with the ability to engage business stakeholders as well as technical teams. To ensure compliance with the security policy among different groups within the organization, such as employees, the board, and the IT department, the CISO must be able to adopt different postures with a focus on the business.As organizations and individuals alike rely increasingly on interconnected technologies, they face escalating cyber risks that can result in devastating financial losses, reputational damage, and legal repercussions. Soft skills are thus a priority to be able to effectively gain buy-in from the business and operationalize strategies.

Speaker: Jeffrey Aguilar

As Chief Information Security Officer of Los Angeles County, Jeffrey is responsible for all aspects of information security, including information security governance, strategic direction, executive advisory, program maturity, and adherence to federal information security policy. Other responsibilities include participating in information technology advisory bodies, and other committees or agencies involving County policies, plans, methodologies, and programs related to information security. Jeffrey is also responsible for working with the County Chief Information Officer and providing information security leadership and advisory across the 38 disparate County departments which includes but not limited to Healthcare, Justice, Elections, Tax collection and County operations.

With over 25 years of experience, Jeffrey has served as a consultant to several Fortune 500 organizations providing an array of services ranging from advisory roles to executive leadership to recommendations of technical solutions; he has experience in the automotive, healthcare, financial, technology, government and consulting industries.

Jeffrey holds industry certifications CISM, CRISC, CDPSE and earned his MBA from Pepperdine Graziadio Business School. He is an Adjunct Professor for Pepperdine Graziado Business school and an active member of several industry advisory boards including FBI Cyberwatch, Infragard, LA City CyberLabs, , Pepperdine CyRP program. He is a 2023 CISOs Connect C100 award winner, two-time Government Technology award winner.

Topic Two: CISA Services Overview

This presentation will cover services provided by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). CISA leads the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber and physical infrastructure and works with partners to defend against today’s threats and collaborate to build a more secure and resilient infrastructure for the future. The presentation will include information on no-cost services that are available to Federal Government; State, Local, Tribal and Territorial Government; Private Industry; Academia; and NGO and Non-Profit organizations.

Speakers: Mario Garcia & Vincent Chapman

Mario Garcia joined the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in May 2021 as a Cybersecurity Advisor (CSA), and serves as the Cybersecurity State Coordinator (CSC) for California. In these roles, Mario builds strategic public and private sector relationships with state, local, tribal, and private sector entities, and serves as a principal point of contact to non-Federal entities interested in engaging with the Federal government to prepare, manage and respond to cybersecurity incidents. Before joining CISA, Mario was the Deputy Commander/Acting Commander for the California Cybersecurity Integration Center. The multiagency center is the hub of the state’s cybersecurity activities, providing overarching strategy, information-sharing, cyber threat intelligence, risk assessment, warning, and incident response. Over the preceding 20 years, Mario worked in the California Army National Guard’s Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (“J6”) Directorate. In this capacity, he held several positions, including Network Operations and Security Center (NOSC) Manager, Telecommunications Manager, Application Development and Web Services Manager, and IT Logistics and Support Manager. Mario has a Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix.

Vincent Chapman is a cybersecurity advocate who has worked to make the world cyber safe in his roles as a cybersecurity auditor, educator, and cybersecurity manager for the past 30 years. Vincent joined the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in 2023. He currently serves as a cybersecurity advisor for San Diego and Imperial counties. Prior to CISA, Vincent was a defense contractor specializing in cybersecurity engineering, and auditing IT governance, risk, and compliance.

Prior to working as a defense contractor, Vincent worked as a civilian for the U.S. Navy as a Regional Cybersecurity Manager for three years. Vincent got his start in information technology serving in the U.S. Marine Corps for 24 years as an IT Chief and cybersecurity instructor.

Vincent has been an associate professor at a local university for the last three years. He holds a master’s degree in IT in addition to numerous IT/cyber certifications, including RHEL, CEH, CISSP, CGRC, CISM, and CISA.