Tuesday, January 13th, 2026

Location: ECPI University, 
5555 Greenwich Rd – Suite 360, Virginia Beach, VA 23462

                                   

 

Speaker Bio: Rene Alova – The CEO of Charlie Defense, LLC and a self-taught ethical hacker with hands-on bug bounty experience. He is an active board member of ISSA-HR and has been involved with the organization for over two years, contributing to the local cybersecurity community through education, collaboration, and mentorship.

 

Talk Description

This presentation walks through the speaker’s journey into bug bounty hunting, cutting through common misconceptions, early roadblocks, and the mistakes many newcomers make. He’ll share how community and collaboration played a critical role in staying motivated and improving results, then break down real-world vulnerabilities he discovered while progressing through major bug bounty programs, including Netflix, Amazon, and T-Mobile.

After-Social:

As soon as the meeting is over, we will take all our chatting over to Plaza Degollado Mexican Grill. It is down the street from ECPI on the corner of Newtown Road. Let’s have some fun together.

Schedule:

5:30 PM – 6:00 PM Meet, Greet and Network

6:00 PM – 6:15 PM Introduction and upcoming events discussion

6:15 PM – 7:15 PM Speakers Presentation and Q&A

7:15 PM – 7:45 PM ISSA-HR Business Meeting (Meeting ends)

7:45 PM – Unofficial social @ Plaza Degollado Mexican Grill

Registration:

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1977990380474