Inside Dark Networks

Yesterday I attended the above meeting in the Bay Area. I joined two years ago and the group has gone from strength to strength.

We had an excellent presentation covering a study of 517 U.S. Secret Service cases, and their conclusions on current Identity Theft Perpetrators, Victims and Methodologies. It was followed by a Panel led by Jerry Archer, CISO Intuit, on Critical Emerging Threats. Definitely it was an engaging afternoon.

Security people some in all sorts and personalities. Normally we don’t put anything in writing about the people themselves. However, for two of the attendees, I will break this rule.

Jerry Archer led the panel. In all my time in the valley, and after meeting with half the countries CISO/CSO’s, I don’t think I have ever met such a genuine honest and all-round good security person. Jerry deeply cares about his company, his people, the profession, stopping the bad guys and keeping the average person safe. He gives up hundreds of hours per year to protect the man in the street and is a yardstick by which other CISOs should be measured by. Good to see him again.

The second person who deserves credit is the organizer, Robert Rodriguez. Robert since retiring from the USSS has tiringly build bridges between the public and private sectors. His list of contacts inside the US Government agencies is legendary, and he is driven by the goal of protecting the US infrastructure and its citizens. I have had the pleasure of knowing Robert these last 4 years.

Both men are a true credit to their profession, and it’s worth breaking the rules every now and then by calling this out.