Security-Related Organizations

American Society for Industrial Security (ASIS)

ASIS is a professional organization for managers working in the security field. They publish a monthly magazine dedicated to security and loss management. ASIS also sponsors security meetings and other activities.

CERT

The Computer Emergency Response Team promotes security awareness, provides 24-hour technical assistance for computer and network security-related incidents and offers security training and other related services. CERT is located at the Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), in Pittsburgh, PA.

Their 24-hour telephone hotline is: 412-268-7090.

www.cert.org

CERIAS

Purdue's CERIAS (pronounced serious) is the Center for Education and Research in Information Assurance and Security. The sponsorship program provides early access to technology and encourages industry participation and feedback to researchers.

www.cerias.org

CIAC

The U.S. Department of Energy's Computer Incident Advisory Capability (CIAC) is located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It provides security services to the DOE and shares security tips and tools with the Internet community.

www.ciac.org/ciac

Computer Security Institute (CSI)

CSI sponsors security workshops and conferences. It also publishes a monthly newsletter and quarterly research journal dedicated to computer security.

www.gocsi.com

EFF

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering and protecting privacy, freedom of expression, and access to information.

www.eff.org

FIRST

FIRST is a coalition that brings together various Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) throughout the world. Most of these organizations have 24-hour-a-day 7-day-a-week telephone assistance. If you have a break-in or security-related problem, you can contact one of these organizations for help. FIRST members include all of the most experienced teams, including CERT, CIAC (U.S. Department of Energy), AUSCERT Australia, and DFN/CERT (GERMANY). For a current list of the IRTs participating in FIRST, point your Web browser to the FIRST home page.

www.first.org.

High Technology Crimes Investigation Association (HTCIA)

This organization is for individuals involved in the investigation and prosecution of high-technology crimes. There are several chapters throughout the United States.

www.htcia.org

ICSA

Provides security assurance services, certification, training, and membership. It also provides an information exchange with product developers and service providers. See the ICSA website for a full list of services.

www.icsa.com

ISC^2 (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium)

This organization is a global not-for-profit organization that maintains a common body of knowledge for information security. It also certifies professionals in an international security standard.

www.isc2.org

Internet Society

The Internet Society is an international organization that supports global cooperation and coordination of the Internet's technologies and applications. Information about the Internet Society can be found on its website.

www.isoc.org

Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)

ISSA is an international organization. It provides education, publications, and other security-related activities.

www.issa.org

IT-ISAC (Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center)

A forum for sharing threat-related information and ways to protect against those threats.

www.it-isac.org

US National Infrastructure Protection Center

The NIPC's mission is to serve as the U.S. government's focal point for threat assessment, warning, investigation, and response for threats or attacks against our critical infrastructures, such as telecommunications, emergency services, energy, banking and finance.

www.nipc.gov

SANS Institute

SANS is a cooperative education and research organization. SANS offers technical conferences for system and security administrators. It shares lessons learned in the field and focuses on how to solve some of the problems faced by system administrators. The SANS Network Security Digest is a must-read for system and security administrators. Check the SANS website for details.

www.sans.org

SEARCH

SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics, provides computer forensics training for law enforcement and corporations. See the SEARCH website for more information on training events.

www.search.org

US Office of Homeland Security

The Office of Homeland Security coordinates national strategy to strengthen protections against terrorist threats or attacks in the United States.

www.whitehouse.gov/homeland/

USENIX/SAGE

USENIX is a nonprofit education organization for UNIX and UNIX-like systems. It publishes a journal and newsletter and sponsor various conferences and workshops on UNIX security and systems administration.

www.usenix.org