The 2011 (ISC)2 Security Congress

20 InfoSecurIty ProfeSSIonal issue number 16
Q&a
experts address trending security topics
Spreading Cyber Safety To All
DaviD Melnick, principal, audit and enterprise risk services at
deloitte, and an (isc) 2 board member, recently spoke to us about
the safe and secure online outreach in his los angeles, calif.
community.
Q: How did you get started with (ISC) 2 ’s
Safe and Secure Online program?
I had the privilege of being on the
(ISc) 2 Board of Directors, which was
regularly briefed as (ISc) 2 started
their rollout of the Safe and Secure
online program in the u.S. I was
immediately taken with the obvious
fit for our professionals who have
often expressed interest in community
service.
at the same time, I had been very
involved in Deloitte’s IMPact Day program where
the entire u.S. firm mobilizes on a single day, and
approximately 50,000 professionals engage in an
array of community projects. We’d go into schools
and repaint buildings, landscape yards, and perform
academic programs. The Safe and Secure
online program was an obvious complement to
Deloitte’s efforts, so I offered up the idea of leveraging
Deloitte’s efforts over 1,100 cISSPs to deliver
this program on IMPact Day.
Q: How did you get into the school program?
I started working locally in l.a. three years
ago at John leighty Middle School where Deloitte
had an established trusted relationship with the
administration. We first presented to the principal
and administration, who loved it. from there,
we worked with the entire eighth-grade class with
more than 600 kids on the first IMPact Day.
The program provided an interactive multimedia
experience to keep the kids’ interest as we covered
major topic areas including ethics and cyber
behavior, downloading music, understanding the
laws and rules, antivirus and more.
Q: What impact has this had?
The program was a big success in the l.a. area.
The following year, we decided to roll the pro-
gram out nationally with Deloitte’s
IMPact Day. We established security
leaders regionally across the country
to develop city- and school-level
volunteer teams. It’s been a great
experience for security professionals.
Q: How does a new volunteer get
started?
(ISc) 2 can get you started. all
you need to do is sign-up online,
complete (or show proof of) a recent
criminal background check, sign a waiver form
and get introduced to the presentation materials
through a one-hour online orientation followed by
a short quiz. If you have a child or know a child in
a school, you might be able to talk to an administrator
or teacher about getting involved. once you
are introduced, then you go in and deliver the presentation.
The prepackaged content is very structured
with music and multimedia so you can just
run with it. The level of commitment is minimal,
and you get cPe credit for it as well.
Q: What have you learned from your experience?
I was caught off guard with how vulnerable
[students are], and how real this [security] problem
was.
also, most of these kids have never had this cyber
security conversation before with an adult. The kids
all are using social media and the technology, and
yet, no one is talking to them about the topic.
Q: Do you have any advice for (ISC) 2 members?
Get involved. It’s easy to register, easy to deliver,
and you will feel good when you deliver it. The first
step is to go through the process with (ISc) 2 and
put yourself out there. We’re all here to help, if you
are interested, so get online dialogues going and
things might happen.