ISSA Rainier and ISACA Mt. Rainier are teaming up for our 2nd Annual Spooky Cybersecurity Awareness Event on Thursday, October 29, 2026, at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma.

Join us for an evening of cybersecurity insight, community, professional networking, and a Halloween costume contest with cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place best costumes.

We are honored to welcome Ralph Johnson, recently retired CISO for the State of Washington, as our guest of honor for a fireside chat-style conversation on lessons learned from the seat of the CISO.

Drawing from decades of public-sector cybersecurity leadership, Ralph will help us explore what it takes to lead security programs, manage risk, protect critical services, and make decisions under pressure. This will be a valuable conversation for current and aspiring CISOs, security leaders, auditors, risk professionals, and anyone working toward greater leadership responsibility in cybersecurity.

This event will also include final voting for announced ISSA Rainier board officer candidates for President, Vice President, and Secretary. These officer roles are currently open for applications for those interested in serving and helping guide the next chapter of ISSA Rainier. Officers confirmed by vote will serve a two-year term.

This joint chapter event is free and open to the public. Cybersecurity practitioners, auditors, risk leaders, students, veterans, job seekers, and community allies are all welcome.

Come for the security conversation. Stay for the costumes, connections, and South Sound cyber community.

Date: Thursday, October 29, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM
Location: Washington State History Museum, Tacoma
Hosted by: ISSA Rainier Chapter and ISACA Mt. Rainier Chapter
Guest of Honor: Ralph Johnson, former Washington State CISO
Board Elections: Final voting for eligible officer positions of President, Vice President, and Secretary
Costume Contest: Cash prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place

*** MULTIPLE VENDOR SPONSORSHIPS REMAIN AVAILABLE ***

Join ISSA Rainier on Thursday, August 27, 2026, at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma for an interactive cybersecurity session with author and practitioner Kayne McGladrey ,CISSP.

Most security teams know how to prioritize vulnerabilities by technical severity. But CVSS scores do not always tell you what matters most to the business.

A “critical” vulnerability on a low-value dev system may get urgent attention, while a “medium” flaw affecting a revenue-generating system quietly creates real business risk.

In this interactive session, participants will complete a hands-on vulnerability-to-business impact mapping exercise using a framework from the book, applying it in real time to a vulnerability from their own environment.

Fair warning: you'll be asked to estimate financial impacts, revenue loss, and operational costs. You won't know the exact numbers, and that's the point. The discomfort you feel is the gap between where security professionals sit and where business decisions actually get made. The session closes with participants sharing what they discovered and what they plan to do about it, followed by an open Q&A about the book and the process of writing it.

What you'll learn:
-Why technical severity scores like CVSS don't reflect business risk, and what to use instead
-How to map a specific vulnerability to the business functions and revenue streams it threatens
-A practical framework for estimating financial, operational, reputational, and regulatory impacts, even when you don't have perfect data
-How to translate your findings into language that drives executive action rather than executive confusion
-Why your next career move should involve walking across the building to meet your business leaders

What you'll do:
-Work through a vulnerability-to-business impact mapping framework on paper, using a real vulnerability from your own organization
-Estimate business impacts across four dimensions (financial, operational, reputational, regulatory) using ranges and best guesses
-Calculate a business risk rating that combines likelihood and business impact
-Determine a recommended risk response and proposed solution
Share your key takeaway and planned next step with the room

This session is designed for cybersecurity practitioners, risk leaders, students, job seekers, veterans, and anyone working to make security more relevant to business decision-making.

ISSA Rainier events are community-powered, sponsor-supported, free, and open to the public.

Special thank you to our Platinum annual sponsor, Fortinet

🎤 We are pleased to welcome our featured guest speaker, renowned presenter and cybersecurity expert Dr. Erika Voss, CISO & SVP at Blue Yonder!

📍 Join us at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma for an evening of professional development, cybersecurity discussion, and community connection.

🎟️ This event is free and open to the public
All career levels are welcome, from students and early-career professionals to seasoned practitioners and leaders.
🍽️ Food and happy hour refreshments will be provided.
👉 Please RSVP and 📣 Share with your network

We are excited to welcome Tim Rainsas our featured guest speaker. Tim brings extensive leadership experience in cybersecurity.

🤝 Thank you to our sponsors, Fortinet, Check Point, and Zafran for supporting this event and our chapter community. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting your cybersecurity journey, all are welcome.

For sponsorship questions or details, please reach out to our chapter leadership team:
• MC & Host: Terry Boedeker
• Chapter President: Parth Shah
• Vice President: Guruprasad Venkatesha
• Chapter Operations Director: Jenn Mohoric

🎟️ This event is free and open to the public
All career levels are welcome, from students and early-career professionals to seasoned practitioners and leaders.
🍽️ Food and happy hour refreshments will be provided.
👉 Please RSVP and 📣 Share with your network

Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn, network, and celebrate our growing community.

Friendly, Helpful, Easily Manipulated: The Dangers Inside AI Chatbots

🚀 ISSA Rainier is kicking off 2026, and the momentum is real. We’re excited to announce our February Chapter Meeting.

🎤 Featured Speaker: Manoj Kumar, CCISO, CISSP, AI & ML Security Product Leader at Microsoft

This is our first event following an incredible 2025 milestone of being named 2025 Small Chapter of the Year, and we’re carrying that same energy straight into 2026!

Our 2026 calendar is fully planned, with chapter meetings scheduled for the 4th Thursday of February, April, June, and August. We are also introducing a regional, all-day security conference in the first week of October.

👏 A big shout-out to the ISSA Puget Sound Chapter for a packed house and a high-energy January kickoff. The bar for 2026 has been set high- your time to shine, Rainier Chapter! Let’s go, #GrittyCityCyber

🤝 Call for Sponsors
Our 2026 sponsorship packages are finalized, with no increase in cost from last year. Opportunities range from sponsoring catering or happy hour to Platinum Annual Sponsorships.

For sponsorship questions or details, please reach out to our chapter leadership team:
• MC & Host: Terry Boedeker
• Chapter President: Parth Shah
• Vice President: Guruprasad Venkatesha
• Chapter Operations Director: Jenn Mohoric

🎟️ This event is free and open to the public
All career levels are welcome, from students and early-career professionals to seasoned practitioners and leaders.
🍽️ Food and happy hour refreshments will be provided.
👉 Please RSVP and 📣 Share with your network

Get ready for a wickedly good time with invaluable insights! The ISSA Rainier Chapter invites you to a special event designed for the South Puget Sound cybersecurity community.

Join us on Thursday, October 30th at 6:00 PM at the iconic Washington State History Museum for an evening packed with:
🤝 Professional Networking: Connect with fellow cybersecurity professionals and expand your network.
🎤 Two Engaging Speaking Sessions: Dive deep into cutting-edge topics with our featured guests and industry experts.
🎃 Halloween Costume Contest: Show off your creativity and win cash prizes!
🍽️ Complimentary Food & Drink: Enjoy delicious refreshments, courtesy of our generous sponsor.

This event is proudly sponsored by Kudelski Security and the generous donors of the ISSA Rainier Chapter, making it free and open to the public! Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting your cybersecurity journey, all are welcome.

Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to learn, network, and celebrate our growing community. Come learn what the buzz is all about with the winners of the 40th Anniversary ISSA Small Chapter of the Year Award!

➡️ RSVP now to hear insights from guest speaker Tony North, ISSA Rainier Chapter President Parth Shah, and your beloved emcee Terry "TBoe" Boedeker.

We can't wait to see you there!

#GrittyCityCyber Let's Go!!!

Bootloaders aren’t bulletproof.

Join ISSA Rainier Chapter at the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma for an exclusive evening with Jonathan Bar Or (“JBO”), renowned researcher, author, and hacker, and Principal Security Researcher at Microsoft.

Modern bootloaders are the guardians of the operating system—but what happens when the guardians have flaws? This talk unveils a series of newly discovered vulnerabilities in GRUB2, U-Boot, and Barebox, including multiple memory corruption issues with real-world exploitation potential. We’ll explore how these bugs were found, walk through proof-of-concept attacks, and discuss their implications for secure boot and firmware trust. Attendees will gain insights into reverse-engineering techniques, exploitation strategies, and lessons for hardening bootloaders against the next wave of attacks.

Why Attend?
-Professional networking with security and IT peers
-Help build a community of resilience in the Puget Sound
-Authorized CPE credits
-Sponsored food & drinks provided

Free to attend, but space is limited. RSVP NOW! 🙏🏼

APIs and Dev/SecOps Orchestration

Join the ISSA Rainier Chapter for an engaging practitioner-focused session featuring Joe Fontes, a seasoned technologist with nearly 30 years of experience spanning systems administration, development, network architecture, and solutions engineering.

In this talk, Joe will explore how APIs and Dev/SecOps orchestration play a critical role in reshaping modern security practices. As organizations navigate a globally distributed workforce, operational complexity has skyrocketed—demanding agile, scalable, and integrated security solutions.

What You’ll Learn:

How to break down silos with modern orchestration techniques

Leveraging open source and APIs for security modernization

Practical workflows that support secure, scalable DevOps

About the Joe Fontes:
Joe Fontes has been immersed in technology since 1997, with a passion for leveraging open platforms to enable modernization. Currently at Cato Networks, he helps enterprises transform their security architecture to meet the needs of today’s fast-changing landscape. Joe resides in Edmonds, WA with his wife and two children.

🔗 All security professionals, technologists, and students are welcome!
📝 RSVP now (this LinkedIn Event) to secure your spot!

Michael’s Bio:

Michael Freeman is a seasoned cybersecurity leader with over two decades of experience developing offensive and defensive cybersecurity capabilities for U.S. intelligence agencies. After transitioning to the private sector, he spent five years at a Fortune 100 company, uncovering significant gaps in enterprise vulnerability management and asset visibility. These insights inspired him to found Cyber Threat Cognitive Intelligence (CTCI), an AI-powered threat hunting firm acquired by Armis in 2024.

At Armis, Michael spearheaded the creation of Armis Centrix for Early Warning, helping organizations transition from reactive to proactive cybersecurity strategies. He was instrumental in integrating technologies from key acquisitions (CTCI and Silk), significantly reducing vulnerability management noise and enhancing asset discovery, particularly in specialized OT/ICS environments. Known for simplifying complex cybersecurity challenges, Michael continues to support CISOs in navigating the convergence of IT and OT domains, budget constraints, and organizational silos with a practical, results-driven approach.

2025 Threat Landscape Dynamics

In this fast-paced talk, Trey will discuss several recent changes to the threat landscape, including how attackers leverage AI. He will also cover some of the key mistakes many organizations are making and how to correct them. It will be fun and eye-opening for anyone wanting to learn more about these issues.

Trey's Bio:

Trey Blalock is a highly respected Chief Information Security Officer and security researcher who has performed extensive work in almost every security domain for some of the world's largest corporations and governments. Trey has trained thousands of people on advanced security topics. He has managed all aspects of security for one of the world's largest financial transaction hubs, performed hundreds of penetration tests for Fortune 500 companies, and has performed forensics for several high-profile cases such as "Donald Vance vs. Donald Rumsfeld." He also specializes in defending large-scale systems from advanced threat actors. Trey currently serves on several forensic, red teaming, and penetration testing advisory boards and is a frequent guest on television. He has also recently served as the CISO for Coinstar and Cognira.