InfraGard Members Alliance Houston

Quarterly chapter meeting May 13th, 2010

The next InfraGard Houston quarterly meeting will be held on May13th, 2010 at the National Weather Service/Galveston County Office of Emergency Management.  The meeting will include the election officers, a briefing from the National Weather Service on the upcoming hurricane season, a discussion on critical infrastructure preparedness and a tour of the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management.  We will meet in the conference room at the GCOEM.  The slate of candidates will be  emailed to each member.  Directions to the NWS/GCOEM.

Chapter update for March 2010

All chapter updates are also available as podcasts.  To access the current podcast click here: Load

Previous podcasts are available by selecting the applicable update listed in the Categories under Chapter Updates.

FBI Anonymous Cyber Survey

The Houston FBI field office requested the Houston InfraGard Chapter to participate in an anonymous Cyber Survey.  All members are encouraged to complete the survey and mail (without name/address, or any identifiers) to our FBI Coordinator whose address is listed on the Leadership tab of the website.  Click here for the link to the survey.  The results of the survey will be posted sometime after June.

Gulf South Hurricane Response Multi-State Full Scale Exercise

The Houston Chapter will be participating in the Two-thousand-Ten Gulf South Hurricane Response Multi-State Full Scale Exercise in conjunction with the InfraGard National Members Alliance, the National Sheriff’s Association and various State Sheriff’s Associations, critical infrastructure and private sector firms.   The exercise will be held on Galveston Island on April 6th, and include several Houston chapter members.  We’ll report back next month on the results of the exercise.

Volunteer opportunities

Please see the Sponsors/Volunteers tab for more information on opportunities and a link to the Volunteer Registration form.  We have a number of initiatives that are currently being considered and will post the information when it is available.

Port of Houston field trip

We had a tour and briefing at the US Coast Guard facility on the Houston Ship Channel in March and were provided an excellent behind the scenes look at how the US Coast Guard protects the third largest port in the nation.  The tour included a visit to the Vessel Tracking Center (VTC) and the Command Center.  The tour was completed by visiting the boat basin and boarding a 25 foot patrol boat for an orientation on the capabilities of the boat and how it helps protect our waterways.

DHS funding proposal

The Houston Chapter submitted two proposals to the INMA which included initiatives for Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource Collaboration and Malware Public Intelligence Analysis.  Both projects include outreach to the CIKR community and higher education

Quarterly meeting

Our next quarterly meeting will be held on Thursday, May 13th at the National Weather Service/Galveston County Office of Emergency Management in League City.  We will be provided a briefing on the upcoming Hurricane Season, and a tour of both the NWS and the GCOEM.  Please refer to the event tab on the website for details and directions.

Online training

We have posted a link to the  Adaptive Cyber-Security Training Online courses are now available on the TEEX Domestic Preparedness Campus.  Over the next several months we will also be posting additional relevant webinars and training programs on the event calendar.

Sector Chiefs

We are rolling out our Sector Chief program.  If you are interested in becoming a Sector Chief please see the sponsor and volunteer tab for additional details.  The goal is to enable communication in smaller workgroups, and target communications to those who need to know.  It also provides a point person for the sector to other authorities.  We intend to provide "blog" space for each Sector Chief to provide late breaking information relative to critical infrastructure protection.Hope to see you at our next meeting. 

I’m Bob Janusaitis, and we'll talk to you next month.

Chapter update February 2010

Chapter update for February 2010

Note: All chapter updates are also available as podcasts.

To access the current podcast click here: InfraGardHoustonUpdate Feb 2010

Full text:

We have just completed our first general meeting of two-thousand-ten at the SecureWorld Expo conference at Reliant Center.  Members were briefed on the communications process implemented in January.  It included reminding the members that they should be receiving an email each month from the listserv.  If they are not getting at least one email, they should go to the website and select the Member Resources tab for further instructions.

Based upon our experience and a survey distributed last year we are only reaching twenty-five percent of the membership.  All future communications will be driven from the website.  The order in which information is released will be: the Houston InfraGard website, Twitter, Facebook, and lastly email.  It should be noted that not all communications will be made via email; however all will be posted on the website. Members were then provided a briefing on the Twitter and Facebook options.

FBI Anonymous Cyber Survey

The Houston FBI field office requested the Houston InfraGard Chapter to participate in an anonymous Cyber Survey.  We were able to rapidly deploy the survey to our new website, and further drive the communication with Twitter and Facebook.  Members and guests of the conference were also able to complete the survey and leave it at the booth.  All members are encouraged to complete the survey and mail (without name/address, or any identifiers) to our FBI Coordinator whose address is listed on the Leadership tab of the website.  Click here for the link to the survey.  The results of the survey will be posted sometime after June.

New Volunteer Coordinator and volunteer opportunities

We announced our new Volunteer Coordinator – Gladys Koontz who will be facilitating volunteers in various projects.  Please see the Sponsors/Volunteers tab for more information on opportunities and a link to the Volunteer Registration form. We have once again been requested to assist Harris County with the Primary Elections on Tuesday arch 2^nd.  If you are interested in this opportunity, please submit a Volunteer Registration form on the site.

March Field Trip/Meeting

We have reserved space on the Sam Houston, Port of Houston Boat Tour on Wednesday March 10, 2010 at 2:00pm.  We have limited space, so please go to the Event Calendar  tab and select the Port Tour and click on the "RSVP" link  (we must have your name 48 hours before the departure for security purposes).  We will be given a tour of the Houston Ship Channel.  We are coordinating with the US Coast Guard, and the Port of Houston to provide a speaker during, or after the tour.

 Election of Officers

Nathan King a Houston Board member is coordinating nominations for officers for 2010-2012; we will be communicating the details of that process in the next several weeks.

Meeting speakers

Our general meeting speaker was Special Agent Randall Clark who spoke about Protecting Children From Online Sexual Exploitation  He discussed the FBI's Innocent Images program, addressing the proliferation of child pornography and the danger of sexual predators victimizing children via the Internet.  Randall provided insight into the mind of how a predator lures their victims.  It was very illuminating, informative, and I would highly recommend it to parents of children already using cell/smart phones, or the internet.  This is something every parent should know, and something everyone in IT security should understand.  The Innocent Images Squad presents regularly to schools, churches, and parents groups.

Our keynote speaker Rich Garcia spoke about his involvement in one of the largest spy stings in United States history, when he was based in Washington DC.  He was directly involved in the case and his actual activities were later used to create the Hollywood film “Breach”.  He spoke of the complexity of the case, and all the preparations necessary to acquire evidence to indict, and eventually convict a former FBI agent who leaked classified information to the Russians.

2010 Gulf South Hurricane Response Multi-State Full Scale Exercise

The Houston Chapter will be participating in conjunction with the InfraGard National Members Alliance in coordination with the National Sheriff’s Association and various State Sheriff’s Associations, critical infrastructure associations and firms.  The multi-state Full Scale Exercise of a disaster-scene access control tool is being developed for use by law enforcement checkpoint operators, with a view toward nationwide adoption.  The Exercise will seek to empower and re-use any existing credential trusted by law enforcement, and facilitate the handoff of Essential Personnel Lists from large firms and groups needing disaster reentry permission to law enforcement personnel charged with operating disaster reentry checkpoints.  Additional details will be provided as they are released. 

No-cost on-line training opportunity

The Adaptive Cyber-Security Training Online courses are now available on the TEEX Domestic Preparedness Campus. This DHS/FEMA Certified Cyber-Security Training is designed to ensure that the privacy, reliability, and integrity of the information systems that power our global economy remain intact and secure.  The 10 courses are offered through three discipline-specific tracks targeting everyday non-technical computer users, technical IT professionals, and business managers and professionals.   These courses are offered at no cost and students earn a DHS/FEMA Certificate of completion along with Continuing Education Units (CEU) at the completion of each course.

Collaboration within the sectors

During the next several months, we will be rolling out our Sector Chief program.  If you are interested in becoming a Sector Chief please see the sponsor and volunteer tab for additional details.  The goal is to enable communication in smaller workgroups, and target communications to those who need to know.  It also provides a point person for the sector to other authorities.  We intend to provide "blog" space for each Sector Chief to provide late breaking information relative to critical infrastructure protection.

Hope to see you on the boat tour.  I’m Bob Janusaitis, and we'll talk to you next month.

Previous podcasts are available by selecting the applicable update listed in the Categories on  the home page under Chapter Updates.

Chapter update January 2010

The InfraGard Houston Board of Directors has been hard at work preparing for an exciting 2010.  We believe that 2010 will be a pivotal year in how we share information with our Critical Infrastructure Partners, and the members of the local InfraGard Chapter.

It is clear we all need to do a better job of communicating with one another and to help that process we have implemented a number of technologies:

New ways to share information

1. A new website that is to easy navigate, easy to find resources, and a source for breaking information.
2. Twitter we have been using Twitter for about six months, but expect usage to increase and we also expect to use it to communicate, supplement communications during any disaster.
3. Facebook Page and Groups, another area to share information, and more visibility for the local chapter.

A better way to know what is happening on the schedule

We''ve also implemented a comprehensive event calendar that provides not only InfraGard events, but those of our affiliated organizations such as ISACA, ISSA, and the ACP.  We will also be posting webinars of interest to our members.

A better way to communicate by sectors

We will also be providing "blog" space for various Critical Infrastructure sectors chiefs to provide late breaking information relative to critical infrastructure protection.

I invite you to look around and please send any comment(s) to me at: Bob Janusaitis

Our first 2010 event

We kick off the year by meeting at Reliant Center for SecureWorld Expo 2010 

on Thursday Feb 11, 2010

8:30am - We have our new FBI Coordinator SA Randall Clark who will be speaking on: Protecting Children From Online Sexual Exploitation  He will discuss the FBI's Innocent Images program, addressing the proliferation of child pornography and the danger of sexual predators victimizing children via the Internet.This is something every parent should know, and something everyone in IT security should understand.  I encourage you to attend and also introduce yourself to Randall if you haven't yet met him.

9:30am - Followed by Randall, is the Keynote Speaker Rich Garcia who will speak about:  Keeping a Straight Face to Catch a Spy.  This is a great presentation, if you haven't heard it before, you need to make room in your schedule.

Be sure and stop by the InfraGard booth when you visit the conference,

We also have several other InfraGard Houston members making presentations during the two day conference.  If you plan on attending other sessions there is a discount available for InfraGard members.  Please use code: HouInf to get the discount when you register.

Events being planned

In March we are planning a Boat Tour of the Houston Ship Channel and having a WMD expert talk to us during the trip.  We will also be having our bi-annual elections sometime in March.

Other events in the planning stage are: a tour and update from the National Weather Service Office in Dickinson in May, an air transportation briefing with the City of Houston Aviation Department at Bush Intercontinental, the TSA, and Continental Airlines sometime in Aug, and a visit to Disaster City at Texas A&M sometime in the fall.

We also expect to repeat our Christmas party which many members and special guests enjoyed in December.

We need you!

You're busy, and we're busy, but we can always use help, please contact any board member to find out what you can do for the local chapter.  We have a variety of things you can do that don't necessarily take a lot of time.  We want you to participate!

Thanks and have a great new year.  We'll talk to you next month.

Bob Janusaitis 

Podcast: InfraGardHoustonUpdate Jan 2010