National Cyber Security Alliance Announces 2012 Board Leadership

Digital Industry Leaders Serve NCSA's 10th Board, Marking a Decade of Growth in Promoting Safer Online Practices

WASHINGTON, April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA), a non-profit public-private partnership focused on cybersecurity awareness and education for all digital citizens, announces its newly elected board leadership for 2012. The board officers and executives will continue to help guide the organization's awareness efforts in online safety and security and identify new areas of growth for NCSA.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110504/DC95016LOGO)

This year marks a decade of NCSA raising awareness and educating digital citizens on best cyber practices. Over the past decade, the National Cyber Security Alliance has evolved into the premiere organization for industry, government entities, non-profit organizations and individuals to collaborate on issues related to online safety.

Chris Boyer, assistant vice president of public policy at AT&T, will serve as chairman of the NCSA board with support from vice chair Jacqueline Beauchere, director of trustworthy computing at Microsoft. Other newly elected officers include: Keith Gordon, NCSA secretary and senior vice president, security, fraud and enrollment executive, at Bank of America; Brett McDowell, NCSA treasurer and senior manager, customer security initiatives, at PayPal, Inc.; Eric Davis, NCSA director-at-large and global public policy manager at Google will also serve on the executive committee.

"Online safety and security is a national imperative and the National Cyber Security Alliance has been at the forefront in raising the level of awareness about cybersafety. The past decade has seen an explosion in the advancement of technology and the amount of our daily activities we conduct on the Internet," said Chris Boyer, NCSA chairman. "Ten years ago, there were no social networks, we had no smartphones at our disposal, and we were living less of our lives online. As we forge deeper into the digital age, I'm delighted to help lead NCSA in building upon our education initiatives and producing meaningful research and programs to continue making the Internet safer and more secure for all."

"Online safety, security, and privacy issues will continue to converge: therefore, we want to encourage and empower people of all ages and abilities to become fully aware of the best ways to protect their online presence on a daily basis," said Jacqueline Beauchere, NCSA vice chair. "I look forward to supporting the National Cyber Security Alliance in 2012 as we work to ensure that all digital citizens know how to stay safer online."

NCSA has made great strides in increasing its strategic alliances through support from its board that is comprised of a diverse array of digital industry leaders. In addition to the board officers, the 2012 roster includes:

• Gary Davis, Director, Worldwide Consumer Product Marketing; McAfee, Inc.*
• David Martin, Vice President, Chief Security Officer; EMC Corporation*
• Roland Cloutier, Vice President, Chief Security Officer; ADP
• Laura Garcia-Manrique, Vice President, Consumer Product Management; Symantec*
• David Hoffman, Director of Security Policy and Global Privacy Officer; Intel
• Rosetta Jones, Head of Issues Management and Public Affairs; Visa Inc.
• Tom Kellermann, U.S. Vice President of Cybersecurity; Trend Micro*
• Andrew Lee, Chief Executive Officer; ESET North America
• Robert Pate, VP for Cybersecurity; SAIC*
• Marcus Sachs, Vice President, National Security Policy; Verizon Communications, Inc.
• Joe Sullivan, Chief Security Officer; Facebook

(*denotes new company representative in the past year)

"We accomplished great things in 2011 under the leadership of our outgoing board officers, including launching the National Cyber Education Council, the best National Cyber Security Awareness Month ever and taking on the leadership of Data Privacy Day," said Michael Kaiser, executive director of the National Cyber Security Alliance. "We continue our efforts to grow the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. as the national campaign for cybersecurity education and awareness. The campaign has tremendous progress in partnership with government and industry. We look forward to the next decade of working together on this important mission."

NCSA was formed ten years ago when a group of dedicated individuals from industry and government came together to begin addressing cybersecurity education and awareness for the American public, forming the groundwork for the future public/private partnership of the National Cyber Security Alliance. NCSA notes its major milestones, accomplishments, and initiatives that it will continue to expand on this year under its new leadership.

Partnership is the cornerstone to NCSA's accomplishments as a public/private cooperative. The first board member companies to join the effort included Cisco, Symantec, McAfee, RSA, AOL, and CA. In 2003, NCSA began its partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to hold the first annual National Cyber Security Awareness Month. NCSA's board has grown to seventeen members representing leading digital businesses.

STOP. THINK. CONNECT. became the first-ever dedicated national marketing and education campaign to promote online safety. The Online Consumer Safety & Security Messaging Convention led by NCSA and the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) laid the groundwork for the campaign along with twenty-seven companies and seven federal agencies. The campaign was launched by NCSA and APWG in partnership with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the White House. President Barack Obama declared STOP. THINK. CONNECT. as the national campaign message to focus attention on cybersecurity education and awareness and officially named October as National Cyber Security Awareness Month.

National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM) is an annual event supported by Department of Homeland Security with active participation from industry, education institutions and nonprofit organizations. Other government leaders, members of industry, business and civil society also play active roles in spreading the word about online safety and security throughout each October. NCSA, along with DHS and the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center, has sponsored National Cyber Security Awareness Month every October since 2003.

Cybersecurity education is a major focus of NCSA and its partners. NCSA saw significant growth in this initiative last year, having led the formation of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on behalf of the National Cybersecurity Education Council (NCEC) with the Department of Education and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The goal of this agreement is to formally institute and promote cybersecurity education programs in K-12 schools, higher education, and career and technical education environments nationwide.

Data Privacy Day, an annual international awareness initiative focuses on educating people about the importance of protecting the privacy of personal information and promotes individual control over private data, was organized and promoted by NCSA for the first time this January, with a major growth in audience and partner participation.

For more information about the National Cyber Security Alliance and its leadership, visit www.staysafeonline.org. You can also connect with the organization for the latest news and updates on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staysafeonline and on Twitter at @StaySafeOnline.

About The National Cyber Security Alliance

The National Cyber Security Alliance is a non-profit organization. Through collaboration with the government, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors, the mission of the NCSA is to empower a digital citizenry to use the Internet securely and safely protecting themselves and the technology they use and the digital assets we all share. NCSA works to create a culture of cyber security and safety through education and awareness activities. NCSA board members include: ADP, AT&T, Bank of America, EMC Corporation, ESET, Facebook,  Google, Intel, McAfee, Microsoft, PayPal, Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), Symantec, Trend Micro, Verizon and Visa. Visit www.staysafeonline.org for more information and join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/staysafeonline.

About STOP. THINK. CONNECT.

The campaign was developed by the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Messaging Convention, a public-private partnership established in 2009 and led by The Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG) and National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) to develop and support a national cybersecurity awareness campaign. In October 2010 the White House, U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Messaging Convention launched the campaign. The Department of Homeland Security provides the Federal Government's leadership for the campaign. Industry, government, non-profits and education institutions participate in STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Learn how to get involved with the STOP. THINK. CONNECT. Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/STOPTHINKCONNECT and the campaign website at www.stopthinkconnect.org.

SOURCE National Cyber Security Alliance