Join The Community – Cleveland Security Groups

Say what you like about Cleveland. One thing you cannot debate is Cleveland has a very strong security community. This can clearly be seen in the number of security groups located in the area. In this blog post I simply provide a list of all the security groups I am aware of in the area. I encourage anyone who is interested in security to attend some of these meetings to learn and network with the security community.

Akron Canton ASIS – Local chapter of ASIS International serving the Akron/Canton area. Group primarily focuses on physical security. Meetings generally occur in the mornings over breakfast and cost $10 to $20. Meetings are not open to the public. If you are interested in attending, either join ASIS or contact me and we can discuss having you attend a meeting as my guest.

ASIS Cleveland - Cleveland Chapter of ASIS International. Like the Akron/Canton group, this one also focuses on physical security. Meetings occur over lunch and cost $15. Meetings are not open to the public. If you are interested in attending, either join ASIS or contact me and we can discuss having you attend a meeting as my guest.

Infragard Northern Ohio Chapter - Infragard is an organization sponsored by the FBI that focuses on protecting critical infrastructure. Meetings are free and often occur in the morning. Meetings that are open to the public are held once a quarter. A number of members-only meetings are also held during the year.

Northeast Ohio Information Security Forum - The NEO InfoSec Forum is an independent security group mainly focusing on technical computer security topics. Meetings occur in the evening on the third Wednesday of the month. Meetings are free and open to the public. A free dinner, usually pizza, is provided.

Northeastern Ohio ISACA – Local chapter of ISACA. Their meetings are generally geared toward auditors and are held every month during the day.

Northeastern Ohio ISSA – Local chapter of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA). Meetings generally occur monthly and focus on a range of information security topics. A number of years ago this chapter of ISSA went dormant. However, the local chapter is now under new leadership and they have been very focused on rebuilding the chapter. If you have not been to a meeting in a few years I recommend checking them out under the new leadership.

Ohio Chapter of the HTCIA - Ohio Chapter of High Technology Crime Investigation Association (HTCIA). This group mainly focuses on computer forensics and investigations.

OWASP Cleveland - Local chapter of the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP). This group focuses on web application security. Meetings are held quarterly at noon and usually include a free lunch. This is a great meeting to invite your company’s developers to so they can learn about secure coding practices. The Cleveland Chapter of OWASP is also sponsored by SecureState.

Did I miss any? If I did, mention them in the comments.