March 2020 Newsletter
March 31, 2020
COVID-19 & Cybersecurity Webinar:
Securing a Remote Workforce April 3
Register now for our upcoming webinar regarding “Securing a Remote Workforce” on Friday, April 3 from 9-10 a.m. HST. As more of our daily work and personal lives move online due to concerns over the spread of COVID-19, experts and business leaders will share best practices, tips and updates on current phishing scams emerging during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In advance of this webinar, Jodi Ito, Chief Information Security Officer, University of Hawaii, appeared on KHON2’s Wake Up Today in a FaceTime interview to share tips with viewers on how to prepare to work from home and what people need to be mindful of when doing so.
Click here for a link to watch the interview.
CyberDefense 101 Workshop
CyberDefense 101 Workshop pulled together cybersecurity and IT professionals and leaders in both the public and private sector. Attendees and panelist were able to share their knowledge, experiences and best practices to be more aware and secure of cyber threats.

The first panel featured insight on how businesses can get started on building a cybersecurity program to fit their risk profile, what cyber insurance is and how protect sensitive data. Panelists include:
  • Tina Andrade, vice president Catholic identity and Mission at Catholic Charities Hawai‘i 
  • Alan Ito, information security officer of Hawaii Pacific Health
  • Chi Kwok, IT security manager at Servco Pacific
  • Luis Pascual, system architect of Hawaii Community Foundation
  • Moderator: Joel Kumabe, SVP & CIO of Hawaii State Federal Credit Union

Following the first panel, panelists a discussed what to do in the event of a cyber intrusion, building a cyber incident response plan and developing best practices when it comes to email compromise, phishing campaigns and insider threat policy. Panelists include:
  • Adam Cheong, network and datacenter services at DRFortress
  • Steve McGovern, chief information officer of Hawaii Gas
  • Brian Tepper of the Hawaii State Fusion Center
  • Moderator Jodi Ito, chief information security officer of the University of Hawaii

Mahalo to the Better Business Bureau, Chamber of Commerce Hawaii and the Hawaii Small Business Development Center for their support.
CyberUSA Wahine Panel
at College Park, Maryland
We rocked the house with an inaugural Power Women panel featuring:

  • Kyri Bye-Nagel, Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Action Officer embedded in Department of Homeland Security Hawaii;
  • Jodi Ito, Chief Information Security Officer, University of Hawaii;
  • Col. Lisa Whittaker, Deputy Chief of Staff, G6, U.S. Army Pacific;
  • Keppel Wood, Chief Operating Officer, NSA’s new Cybersecurity Collaboration Center
  • Moderator: Jennifer Sabas, Director, CyberHawaii

Properly attired with lei, we brought chocolate covered macadamia nuts for the tables, as well as our 2020 CyberHawaii Girl Scouts calendars to share. Each had their own special connection/intersection with Hawaii and were passionate about the important cyber security work they did every day.

Interesting tidbit: A majority possessed a liberal arts degree, rather than a bachelors in hard sciences and viewed their role, in large measure, as “translator” then “technician.”

Best advice to young people considering the field: Endless possibilities. Just go for it. This is the new reality - you want to be a part of it so don't give up when the challenges get harder. Power through it!
International Cyber Risks and National Efforts with Christine Riccardi, Region IX Director of DHS CISA
CyberHawaii members enjoyed a candid discussion with Christine Riccardi, region IX director of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) . We talked about international cyber risks and national efforts to more quickly push out information to the critical sectors. We talked about DHS' efforts, together with the State and CyberHawaii as the private sector partner, to develop a Hawaii ISAO (Information Sharing and Analysis Organization) to share information, threats and best practices - all of which go to our overall mission of a more cyber safe and resilient Hawaii. This effort is ongoing.

The CISA team also shared helpful information and tips on their website: https://www.cisa.gov/cyber-essentials .
Mahalo Kenji Price, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii and Jeff Hong, CTO of Techmana!
An excellent CyberHawaii general meeting on February 27 featured Kenji Price, U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii who talked about the U.S. Department of Justice’s role in shutting down bad cyber actors – it’s a coordinated, global effort. We were then treated to a “scary”, “disconcerting” presentation by Jeff Hong, chief technology officer of Techmana about robot farms attacking our IT infrastructure.
CyberHawaii