InfraGard
Ever wonder how your company can be working closer with the government to deal with some of the issues that deal with national security? One way is to have your people work with InfraGard. As stated on its website:
InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At its most basic level, InfraGard is a cooperative undertaking between the U.S. Government (led by the FBI) and an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to increasing the security of United States critical infrastructures.
All InfraGard participants are committed to the proposition that a robust exchange of information about threats to and actual attacks on these critical infrastructures is an important element for successful infrastructure protection efforts.
The goal of InfraGard is to enable the flow of information so that the owners and operators of infrastructure assets can better protect themselves and so that the United States government can better discharge its law enforcement and national security responsibilities.
InfraGard is a tremendous potential resource with chapters in Albany, Albuquerque, Anchorage, Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Baton Rouge, Birmingham, Boston, Buffalo, Charlotte, Chattahoochee Valley, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbia, Columbus, Connecticut, Dallas, Dayton, Delaware, Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Eastern Carolina, El Paso, Fort Wayne, Harrisburg, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Jackson, Jacksonville, Jefferson City, Kansas City, Knoxville, Lafayette, Las Vegas, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Louisville, Madison, Memphis, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, Mobile, Nashville, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, Northern Nevada, Oklahoma, Omaha, Orlando, Pensacola, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Portland, Richmond, Rochester, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, San Juan, Savannah, Seattle, Springfield, St. Louis, Tampa, Toledo, Tucson, Vermont, Washington Field Office, West Virginia, and Wilmington.
InfraGard is also a resource that is oddly unknown in many business circles. Besides having good resources online, the presentations at the local chapter meetings are authoritative, informative, and helpful in areas where sharing is often helpful.
At a recent meeting of the New York chapter, there were a number of useful presentations, including presentations on Gramm-Leach-Bliley, Sarbanes- Oxley, a information security presentations by the World Bank, and by Price Waterhouse Coopers, and presentations by the US Attorney’s office, and the Secret Service.
It is quite likely that your people are unaware of InfraGard. You can dazzle them by bringing it to their attention. You will also be doing your own organization a favor by encouraging your staff’s participation in InfraGard.
