Networking Is Relative: A CISO’s Perspective: ISSA is an international association with a mission of “being a respected forum for networking and collaboration.” This talk shares the imperative value of critical relationships from the perspective of an information security office in higher education. Concrete examples will be provided as well as recent CISO successes and some security world prognostications.
John Virden is the CISO of Miami University and Assistant Vice President of Security, Compliance and Risk Management. In these roles, he leads the information security program, manages strategic partnerships and orchestrates information security governance, risk-based direction, awareness, University consulting and cybersecurity operations. Additionally, he is a member of the Compliance Coordinating Council, the Information Technology Policy Committee, and the Institutional Response Team. Virden has a wealth of information security
experience and knowledge, most recently as the CISO at the University of California, Riverside. Along with his time in higher education, he spent a significant amount of his career serving in a variety of information and computer security positions within different facets of the US military.
Virden’s information security leadership experience started with four years as the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency’s Cyber Red Team as a United States Naval Officer, and continued with cyber leadership positions for Booz Allen Hamilton, offensive cyber operations in Afghanistan and the defensive position at UC Riverside. Thought of as a strategic, creative, and pragmatic leader, Virden provides senior leadership, mentorship, cybersecurity expertise, strategy development, and college-level teaching for Miami.