Hands-On Security Awareness Training Workshop Kicks Off Wombat Wisdom 2018

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Join us September 18-20 in our hometown of Pittsburgh, PA, for the fourth annual Wombat Wisdom Conference. This event brings together some of the brightest minds in security to share ideas and actionable concepts around the continuous improvement of security awareness training programs — and this year’s gathering is shaping up to be bigger and better than ever.

New for this year is a pre-conference workshop that will guide attendees through the process of planning and launching an effective security awareness and training program. The one-day session and subsequent two-day conference are open to Wombat customers and non-customers alike. If you’d like to attend, we encourage you to register by August 31 to take advantage of discounted Early Bird Pricing.

Take Your Cybersecurity Education Program to New Heights

Our new pre-conference workshop is entitled “Implementing an Effective Security Awareness Training Program: Leaping Tall Buildings in Small Bounds.” It provides additional value for Wombat Wisdom attendees by giving them actionable advice that can be applied in the days, weeks, and months following the conference to take their security awareness and training programs to new heights.

Slated for September 18 from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., this hands-on workshop examines proven best practices for building an organizational culture of security, and is appropriate for infosec professionals of all experience levels and administrators at all phases of program development. The presenters will offer expert advice and facilitate interactive discussions that will allow attendees to share their own successes and challenges and learn from their peers’ experiences.

Topics include:

  • Developing a mission statement and program plan
  • Achieving executive buy-in
  • Identifying stakeholders who can become advocates for success
  • Navigating and overcoming potential obstacles
  • Evaluating end-user vulnerabilities and associated risk
  • Using training to address the most pressing vulnerabilities
  • Key metrics for measuring ROI and program success

Presenters:

Stefanie Parente recently joined Santander Bank, N.A., as their Chief Privacy Officer. Prior to that, she was the Chief Privacy Officer for Viewpost, an invoicing and payments platform. At Viewpost, she ensured that the company met their regulatory and contractual obligations regarding privacy, information security, and marketing, while also maintaining the company’s operational risk program and training program. Before joining Viewpost, Stefanie was a privacy officer for Citizens Financial Group — the former US operations of the Royal Bank of Scotland — where she provided business line support on all privacy-related regulations and managed the data breach program. She began her career in compliance as a licensing and compliance attorney for a large title company.

Gretel Egan is the Brand Communications Manager for Wombat Security, a division of Proofpoint. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she has extensive experience in researching and developing cybersecurity education content and was named one of “10 Security Bloggers to Follow” by IDG Enterprise. Gretel is a frequent contributor to the Wombat blog, and has written and provided commentary for national, industry, and trade publications such as The Mirror, ITProPortal, and Accounting Today. She has also presented and participated in panel discussions hosted by Infosecurity Europe, SecureWorld, SC Media, and ISACA.

Also on the Agenda

We’re pleased to announce this year’s keynote speakers:

  • Gary Steele, CEO of Proofpoint, our parent company, will be sharing our expanding vision of people-centric security and why it’s more important than ever for organizations to account for end users in their defense-in-depth strategies.
  • Prior Wombat Wisdom attendees are likely to remember Alan Levine, Security Advisor for Wombat Security, who will return to the conference this year to discuss the true value of security awareness training from the perspective of a Fortune 500 CISO.

We are currently working to finalize our full agenda, which will include two days of expert and peer sessions, as well as opportunities for networking with fellow infosec professionals and engaging face-to-face with members of the Wombat team. Session topics include: getting executive buy-in, gamification ideas, lessons learned from simulated phishing, and how to think like a cybercriminal when designing campaigns. We’ll also hear from companies about starting their security awareness efforts, learning from mistakes, and continuing to grow and refine their programs.

Stay tuned for full details, which will be announced on our blog!

Don’t Miss Out!

Last year’s conference was a big hit with attendees. Here’s just a sample of the feedback we received:

“Very hands-on, applicable, and strategic. This is my second year, and it is the best security training conference I’ve been to.”

“I really enjoyed hearing from other organizations and about their challenges as well as the Wombat products they’re using. It was so great being able to openly talk to the Wombat team about feedback and questions we had.”

“I really enjoyed attending the event. As a new user of Wombat, it was very beneficial interacting with others who have used it for years.”

What would you like to get out of Wombat Wisdom 2018? Take a few minutes to register for this year’s conference.