Rick Farina will speak on Wednesday, November 13th at 4:30 pm in the Wheatley Atrium. “Have you ever heard of WPA3 and Enhanced Open?  Come learn about the new additions to the WiFi standard and how they can help secure you today.”  If you are interested in learning the dangers of Wi-Fi, you will want to attend this presentation.

One hour of professional development SET credit will be awarded. Refreshments will be served. This is a TSC sponsored event.

Below you will find Rick’s bio:

Rick Farina is a well-known wireless expert who is a frequent speaker at a
variety of security conferences including DEF CON. With multiple
colleagues he runs RF Hackers Sanctuary, a not for profit dedicated to
education.  RFHS runs the Wireless Capture the Flag at numerous
conventions. Farina enjoys talking to people about wireless hacking
and teaching anyone with an interest in wireless security.  

The Top Secret Colonials (TSC) will be hosting a fundraiser on Tuesday, October 29th from 4:00 pm to close at the All-Star Sports Bar in Robinson located at 6302 Robinson Centre Drive, Pittsburgh, PA 15205.

This fundraiser directly supports the club. We will have raffle items including gift baskets, gift cards, and more.  We hope to see you there and please spread the word!

On Wednesday, September 25th, Austin Cusak, Senior Talent and Innovation Officer at the Cybersecurity Division (CSD) of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), will be coming to the Wheatley Atrium from 3:30 to 5:45 PM. He will be splitting up the event into two parts, first part will be his presentation Finding your Cultural Fit: Is a Federal Career Right for You? The second part will be a resume building workshop. It’s recommended that you look up any specific questions about federal resumes so that you have a start to the workshop.

Austin Cusak is a general security specialist with years of experience conducting intelligence operations, insider threat assessments, and cyber threat analysis. With a non-technical background in Public Diplomacy, Austin has specialized as a Certified Professional Coach and Talent Development expert focused on growing a cyber-centric workforce. 

Austin’s unique approach to Talent Development in the federal space has been shaped through his diverse experiences in extreme work environments: helping to mature the United States Army’s first Cyber Warfare Battalion at the National Security Agency; living the “radical transparency” lifestyle of Ray Dalio’s hedge fund at Bridgewater Associates; performing Opera and Improv; instructing snowboarders at the top of Utah’s mountains; and managing underwater adventures as a Dive master. 

Austin earned his BA in International Studies and Diplomacy from Brigham Young University, and dual Masters Degrees in International Relations/Public Relations from Syracuse University.

Students will receive SET credit for the attending the workshop.

Tracy Cassidy from the CERT Team at Carnegie Mellon University will be holding a lecture on Insider Threats on Thursday, March 21st from 4:30 – 5:30 pm in the Wheatley Atrium.

This is a Top Secret Colonials sponsored event. Students will receive one (1) hour of SET credit for attending. Pizza and drinks will be provided. Please read below for information on Tracy Cassidy.

Tracy Cassidy is an Insider Threat Researcher at the CERT Insider Threat Center, part of the Software Engineering Institute (FFRDC) at Carnegie Mellon University. Her work at CERT Insider Threat Center has focused on researching behavioral and socio-technical factors surrounding a variety of insider threats such as espionage, fraud, information technology sabotage, theft of intellectual property, workplace violence and terrorism. Prior to becoming a researcher, Cassidy was a practicing clinical psychotherapist. As a psychotherapist, she focused on clients with criminal backgrounds, substance abuse problems, and severe mental health issues. She was a long time contracted Federal Services Program Director for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons and U.S. Federal Probation and Pretrial Services which provided mental health and substance abuse services for hundreds of clients entering or exiting the federal criminal justice system in Northern California, Hawaii, and Guam. During her work at CERT, she has been continually looking at ways to bridge the technical-behavioral gap in addressing insider threat and cybersecurity challenges. Tracy has her B.A. in Psychology and her M.A. in Clinical Psychology. Cassidy is an active member of InfraGard as well as the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) community where she sits on the DC Chapter board and is the local Chapter Development Chair. She is one of the original founders of BSides Pittsburgh.

Organizations across all industry and government sectors face risks from insider threats. Insiders can use their authorized access to systems, facilities, and information to either maliciously or unintentionally harm their organization and this threat may not stop when the employee leaves the organization. Technology has made it easier to exfiltrate proprietary, sensitive, or classified information as seen in many recent cases. During this presentation, Tracy will discuss the types of insider threats, case examples, and the potential risk indicators that might be visible to give technical and behavioral clues that the insider is on the pathway to insider risk. Insider threat mitigation is about prevention, detection and response- all topics of discussion during this presentation.