Had a fantastic experience presenting as part of Shellcon.io's 2019 RaiseMe track! If the video starts correctly, Up The Hill should start playing. Otherwise, please jump to 2:24 into the video to see the presentation. Thanks!

Abstract:
Leaders are shaped and challenged constantly. Patience and perseverance are what make them considered great. Our community needs mentors and mentees badly. Also, each needs the other and picking the right pairings are important.
How do you become a mentor, a mentee, or both? We’ll discuss how to pick the right role and person. We’ll take a look at how volunteering can present both opportunities and obstacles to becoming a good leader. We’ll look at the cost of burnout and timing for moving on to the next role.

Revised the content and added graphics when presenting at GrrCon, in October.

​​Abstract
“If you compete with others, you may not win. If you compete with yourself, you always win by becoming better.” ― Debasish Mridha
PURPOSE: Demonstrate the possibilities of career enhancement by making use of the wide variety of conferences, conventions, and events that are put on in the wider Information Security community
When I got my first job out in the real world, I thought: this is it: All I’m ever going to need to know for my career, for my job. Got a rude awakening that was one of those worthwhile lessons taught outside of school: invest in becoming a lifelong learner.
How do you come across new ideas to keep things fresh? To borrow a saying, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room! Attending conferences is one way to learn about different viewpoints. Revisiting ideas is one way to renew our minds and impact the way we think. Peeking into points along a career path will demonstrate an approach to keeping an eye on constant growth, while watching out for warning signs for burn out. Compete against yourself and you’ll Maybe it was the dialog in the scene or suddenly understanding what the writer must have been thinking. The point is, the introduction of new ideas is essential to keep adding value to ourselves and the things we do.

Cons and Careers was accepted at more than one event in 2019. This was the first time it was presented.

Abstract
“If you compete with others, you may not win. If you compete with yourself, you always win by becoming better.” ― Debasish Mridha
PURPOSE: Demonstrate the possibilities of career enhancement by making use of the wide variety of conferences, conventions, and events that are put on in the wider Information Security community
When I got my first job out in the real world, I thought: this is it: All I’m ever going to need to know for my career, for my job. Got a rude awakening that was one of those worthwhile lessons taught outside of school: invest in becoming a lifelong learner.
How do you come across new ideas to keep things fresh? To borrow a saying, if you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room! Attending conferences is one way to learn about different viewpoints. Revisiting ideas is one way to renew our minds and impact the way we think. Peeking into points along a career path will demonstrate an approach to keeping an eye on constant growth, while watching out for warning signs for burn out. Compete against yourself and you’ll Maybe it was the dialog in the scene or suddenly understanding what the writer must have been thinking. The point is, the introduction of new ideas is essential to keep adding value to ourselves and the things we do.

Had the chance to participate on the CyberTalkRadio program and it was a blast!

Bret Piatt, CTR Host, and Steven Bernstein, identity access management (IAM) practitioner and local BSides coordinator, discuss the infosec community in San Antonio, cyber training and education for youth and other local organizations/events promoting tech and security!

Abstract

How can it be that digital signatures aren't commonplace in our everyday lives? From timesheets to transactions, we still haven't come around to rely on digital identity. Why would we? From the point of view of the security professional, there are still risks, right? So if a lack of security is the reason, why is it still acceptable to use a faxed representation of a person's signature instead? All or nothing isn't good enough. Many say this model is so broken, so why is wet ink preferred when it offers less security? It all boils down to trust.

Slides for Practical PKI

Abstract:
Establishing Electronic Trust is becoming a more important part of the digital landscape than ever before. This presentation aims to do two things:

1. Use allegory and a story like approach to explain what PKI is without the math.
2. Seek to paint a picture of the impact to doing business and where the road looks to be going.

​Part One: What is PKI in practical terms. It may seem commonplace in the industry by now, but believe you me, there are plenty who don't know a Relying Party from a hole in the ground. We'll cover some of the common terms above and beyond Digital Certificates, how they interact, and how things are managed. An attempt will be made to inject some humor as gravy to what is seen as an otherwise dry topic. This isn't to say this that finger puppets will be used, but for the people want to learn, demystifying information in plain English should be a welcome change. An explanation of the trusted roles involved in deploying certificates, the governance of the system, and the management and distribution of keys will be offered afterwards.

Part Two: A few real world examples of how to apply these concepts will then be offered, having established a basic understanding of how the pieces of the jigsaw fit together. Once these topics are briefly covered, it will be time to suggest where things are going based on key events taking place in this ever active and growing industry of Identity Management. Included will be some observed happenings regarding the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC) and the much sought after on-the-fly provisioning methods.