InfraGard is a partnership between the FBI and the private sector. It is an association of persons who represent businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the U.S.

The Huntsville Chapter of InfraGard meets on the first Tuesday of every month. Meeting details are posted on this website at least one week prior to every meeting.

December Meeting – Risks to Critical Infrastructure

December 4 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

Cost: $15 w/lunch (choose when completing registration), $0 w/o lunch

All attendees must register: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/infragard-huntsville-members-alliance-monthly-meeting-tickets-29449827226 

Speaker:

JOSEPH S. DINOTO, SPIPC, PSC, ISOC
Director, National Security Strategies, Intrepid LLC

As Intrepid’s Director of National Security Strategies, Mr. Joe DiNoto brings over 30 years of experience in conducting intelligence activities, managing security operations, and leading counterterrorism efforts. At Intrepid, he leads all national security efforts for client services involving Intelligence Programs, Security Operations, Surveillance & Reconnaissance Activities, and Security Engineering & Protective Sciences. Joe leads these corporate capabilities by providing unique expertise, support, and specialized services to the Intelligence community, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and Department of Defense, as well as a portfolio of international clients in those same missions.

His most recent assignment has been Chief Security Officer, United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command (USASMDC/ARSTRAT). In this role, Joe led the organization’s global security enterprise spanning 23 world-wide locations across 11 time zones, managing the security clearances of 2,800 employees. This included 200 technology programs, 50 international programs, over 110 classified contracts (estimated $380M contracting value), and 22 Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities. Responsibilities included leading insider threat efforts, supply chain risk management, technology protection, support to defense critical infrastructure protection, and cybersecurity cognizance for information networks classified at the Top Secret level.

His previous Intelligence Community assignments included serving as the Director of Intelligence & Security for the U.S. Army’s Cruise Missile Defense Systems Project Office, Chief, International Security Branch for USASMDC/ARSTRAT, and Chief, Foreign Disclosure & Technology Protection Branch for the U.S. Army Special Operations Command (USASOC). Prior to his federal service, Joe served as a Supervising Criminal Investigator

for the State of New York where he led complex criminal investigations and undercover operations, as well as infiltration and exploitation activities against transnational crime groups and organizations providing material support to terrorist organizations.

Joe is currently completing his Doctorate in Strategic Security Studies from the Henley-Putnam School of Strategic Security. He possesses a Master’s Degree in Global Strategies,  a Bachelor’s Degree in National Security Affairs & Intelligence Studies, and an Associate’s Degree in Criminal Justice. In 2015 he was inducted into the Order of the Sword and Shield, the national academic honor society for intelligence and security professionals.

Joe is the only person in the history of the DoD to have ever been awarded both the Thomas Dillon Award for Security Excellence (2016) and the Kenneth C. Raymer Award for Excellence in Foreign Disclosure (2007). His other official awards and certifications include: LTC Thomas Knowlton Award for Excellence in Military Intelligence,

Army Superior Civilian Service Award (3 times); Army Commander’s Award for Civilian Service; Army Achievement Medal for Civilian Service (2 times); Army Patriotic Civilian Service Award; DoD Physical Security Certification; DoD Industrial Security Officer Certification; DoD Security Program Integration Professional Certification; DoD Security

Asset Protection Professional Certification; DoD Security Fundamentals Professional Certification; and the U.S. Army Space Cadre Qualification.

InfraGard and Amazon Smile

Posted on by

Amazon Smile is an Amazon program that donates 0.5% of the purchase price of eligible products to the charitable organization of your choice.  Huntsville InfraGard Member Alliance (HIMA) is registered with Amazon as a charitable organization and eligible to receive donations.  To take advantage of this opportunity to support the Huntsville InfraGard Member Alliance, you need:

  • an Amazon account
  • have that account associated with the Huntsville InfraGard Member Alliance, and
  • use the Smile Amazon URL

If you need help getting started with Amazon Smile, the link below will walk you through the process.

Amazon Smile Instructions

November Meeting – Critical Infrastructure

November 6 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

SPEAKER: Earl “Butch” Erskine

Emergency Planning for Critical Infrastructure:  Chemical, Communications, Dams, Commercial Facilities, Critical Manufacturing, and Defense Industrial Base.

This presentation will explain what “critical infrastructure” is, the elements that make up “critical infrastructure,” the realistic threat of electromagnetic pulse (EMP), and coronal mass ejection (CME). Attendees will learn from an emergency management perspective what drives requirements to protect critical infrastructure, and the potential shortfalls of not protecting critical components in the civil sector and in the military industrial complex. Attendees will be able to participate in a brief two-way discussion on the topics covered at the conclusion of the presentation.

About the Speaker:

Earl “Butch” Erskine is a decorated U.S. Air Force Veteran of 20 years and public speaker on Emergency Preparedness and Disaster Recovery. With over 34 years of experience in all facets of global security, vulnerability assessments and emergency planning, Butch continues his efforts to focus on the foundation of individual preparedness.

Eventbrite Registration:

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/infragard-huntsville-members-alliance-monthly-meeting-tickets-29449827226

LUNCH SELECTION:

Lunch will be $15.00 and the menu selections from McCallister’s are :

  • Club sandwich box
  • Traditional box
  • The Veggie box
  • Harvest chicken salad sandwich box
  • Tuna salad sandwich box
  • The Memphian box
  • Wrap box
  • Grilled Chicken Salad
  • Garden Salad
  • Caesar Salad

LOCATION:

Quantum Research International Inc
991 Discovery Dr NW
Huntsville, AL 35806

EARN 1 HOUR CONTINUING EDUCATION UNIT

Note: Our host request we park at the rear of the building. There is ample parking available.

Make sure your RSVP by the Monday before at 8:00am and don’t forget to mark you lunch order.

September Meeting: Current cyber threat picture in Northern Alabama

Register on EventBrite

September 4 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

MEMBERS ONLY – ALL attendees must RSVP (with or without lunch).

THIS IS A MEMBERS ONLY MEETING. Only InfraGard members can attend. No guests are permitted.
Title: Current cyber threat picture in Northern Alabama
Speaker: SSA Darren J. Mott, FBI
Description: SSA Mott will discuss the current cyber threat picture in Northern Alabama to include the evolving nature of the cyber threat and the rise of the state-sponsored cyber actor in Northern Alabama and how to protect your personal and business computer networks.
Speaker Bio:: Darren J. Mott is the Supervisory Special Agent for the Counterintelligence Program for the Birmingham Division of the FBI. This program works with other USIC partners to detect, deter, and neutralize the threat of hostile nation intelligence services active in Northern Alabama. SSA Mott entered on duty with the FBI in 1999 and has worked both the counterintelligence and cyber threats during his career. SSA Mott has worked in the Charlotte and Cleveland Field Divisions and worked at the national program level at FBIHQ. SSA Mott was responsible for building a working relationship between the FBI and Russian Federal Security Service to combat the cyber threat and he created the first national level program blending the counterintelligence and cyber disciplines within the FBI. The Birmingham Division operates its counterintelligence program out of the Huntsville Resident Agency and has primary responsibility for mitigation of counterintelligence and cyber threats present in Cummings Research Park. SSA Mott holds two Masters Degrees, the most recent, obtained in 2018, being in Cybersecurity Policy and Risk Analysis.
Lunch Selection:
Lunch will be $15 from McAlister’s Deli. Menu selections are:

  • Club sandwich box
  • Traditional box
  • The Veggie box
  • Harvest chicken salad sandwich box
  • Tuna salad sandwich box
  • The Memphian box
  • Wrap box

Earn 1 hour of continuing education unit

Note: Our host request we park at the rear of the building. There is ample parking available.

Make sure your RSVP by the Monday before at 8:00am and don’t forget to mark you lunch order.

Infragard, FBI and Duo are Stopping the Bad Guys

Posted on by

Today’s IT platforms are more secure than ever before, but the risk of data breaches is still higher. Your IT infrastructure has changed (cloud, BYOD, etc.) but your security hasn’t. Attackers are targeting end users directly which pushes the need to establish a Zero Trust initiative, 95% of all breaches involve compromised end user credentials; 70% of all breaches involve compromised end user devices. How can you take a modern approach to reducing the risk of data breaches?

Join Scott Augenbaum, former FBI Special Agent to learn why almost 90% of the Cyber Crime activity seen throughout his career could have been prevented.

When: Wednesday, September 12, 11:00am – 1:00pm CST
Where: B&A Warehouse, 1531 First Avenue South, Birmingham, AL 35233
Register online

He will be discussing:

  • How usable security is the most effective security in practice
  • How to win the hearts of your users and business with multi-factor authentication
  • Why a single platform can replace several mobile, cloud and authentication products
  • How companies such as Facebook are securing BYOD, users and cloud apps using Duo

August Meeting: Steganography

Register on EventBrite

August 7 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

ALL attendees must RSVP (with or without lunch).

Note: Our host request we park at the rear of the building. There is ample parking available.

THIS IS A MEMBERS ONLY MEETING. Only InfraGard members can attend. No guests can attend.
Speaker: Michael Lee, Radiance Technologies
Sector: Information Technology Sector, Defense Industrial Base Sector
Description: At the Cyber Forensics Camp, one of the stations teaches kids about steganography and cryptography. In this presentation, Michael Lee will discuss steganography and how it is different from cryptography. He will discuss what steganography is, how it is used, and what the security implications of it are. He will specifically focus on how it works, how you can detect it, and how you can protect against it. Mr. Lee will demonstrate several steganography tools and how easy they are to use. He will also demonstrate some steganalysis tools and how they detect steganography. This presentation is a high-level overview of steganography relevant to all audiences.
Speaker Bio:: Michael Lee is a Senior Software Engineer at Radiance Technologies where he focuses on developing tools and capabilities for full spectrum cyber operations on closed systems and networks. He has led the development of several cyber tools in the areas cyber operations, cryptography, data integrity, and authentication. He has also conducted vulnerability analysis and reverse engineering on multiple systems. He has a B.S. degree in Computer Engineering from University of Arkansas and a M.S. degree in Computer Networking from NC State University.
Lunch Selection:
Lunch will be $15 from McAlister’s Deli. Menu selections are:

  • Turkey Sandwich
  • Ham Sandwich
  • Roast Beef Sandwich
  • Salad
  • Veggie Sandwich

Make sure your RSVP by the Monday before at 8:00am and don’t forget to mark you lunch order.

Cloud Security: Breach or Glory – Real-world Experiences of Incident Response in the Cloud

Register on EventBrite

May 1 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

ALL attendees must RSVP (with or without lunch).

Note: Our host request we park at the rear of the building. There is ample parking available.

Speaker: David England
Sector: All
Objectives: 1) Gain a deeper understanding of cloud environments and securing them. 2) Understand the threats to cloud environments. 3) Introduce techniques, tactics, and procedures of conducting IR in the cloud.
Background: During World War I, Army Air Corps pilots fought in a new environment, the “Empire of the Cloud”. These heroic men believed “Turn like the devil and shoot straight from the sun” and “Death or glory, it’s all the same”. Now, in this age of information, we are “fighting” in a new cloud and in this new environment, it is Breach or Glory. The cloud presents information security professionals, incident responders, and forensic analysts with new challenges and without proper training, preparation, and tools, our adversaries will be “Aces” and our “dirigibles” of data will be flaming disasters.
We will begin with a discussion of what is the cloud and some of the cloud environments where breaches may occur, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft’s Azure, data center hosted servers, and even Dropbox. Without this understanding, we can’t develop the correct techniques to “turn like the devil and shoot straight from the sun”. We will continue with how we can properly secure our clouds without “filling
the skies with flak”.
Next, we will focus on our adversaries and their techniques. We have seen an increase in activity targeting data in cloud environments and the threats are employing more and more sophisticated exploits and targeted malware against us. As information security professionals, we must be cognizant of the changing nature of the threat and how to identify and combat them, as well as assisting management in prioritizing their security initiatives and resources in light of these changes. The discussion will conclude with real-life experiences where security efforts were “flaming dirigible disasters”, lessons learned from these events, and some of incident response TTPs used to properly and thoroughly conduct investigations in these environments.
Speaker Bio:: David England is a Digital Forensics and Incident Response professional with more than 30 years of experience in investigations, information security, and consulting. Since 2001, David has been involved in the investigation of cybercrime, conducting computer forensics in support of complex incidents of fraud, phishing and data breaches. In 2005, he retired from the U.S. Army as a Chief Warrant Officer 3, moved to Huntsville, and began work in the Defense Industrial Base. Dave was instrumental in establishing an InfraGard Chapter in Huntsville and leading it for the first several years of its existence. He was recognized in June 2011 by the Director of the FBI for his efforts.
In 2011, David became an incident response consultant and has conducted many large breach investigations on behalf of businesses, corporations, and attorneys across the globe. He also worked for a managed and secure cloud provider. In late 2017, David joined nou Systems, Inc, a Huntsville-based defense contractor, as a Senior Cyber Analyst.

Make sure your RSVP by April 30th at 8:00am and don’t forget to mark you lunch order.

Chemical Sector and Critical Manufacturing

Register on EventBrite

April 3 @ 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

ALL attendees must RSVP (with or without lunch).

Note: Our host request we park at the rear of the building. There is ample parking available.

Speaker: Beth Letson
Sector: All
Summary: Beth Letson is a North Alabama native, originally from Hartselle. She holds a BS in Management Information Systems from UA-Huntsville and a MS in Information Security from UAB. She has over 18 years of experience within IT and cybersecurity, 12 of those working in industrial controls systems environments. She was a part of the design team responsible for the development of the National Children’s Advocacy Center campus off of Pratt Avenue in Huntsville. Additionally, she spent several years supporting the Utility Helicopter Project Management Office at Redstone Arsenal. Her industrial controls systems experience began with 3M in Decatur, AL, where she developed and maintained communications solutions between controls systems and business networks. Today, she works in a similar role at Indorama Ventures (formerly known as BP Chemicals) in Decatur. She is also responsible for securing the process controls network, developing related policies, and consulting her business network counterparts. She lives in Moulton, AL with her husband, Jimmie, and two young children.

Make sure your RSVP by April 2nd at 8:00am and don’t forget to mark you lunch order.