TROY – MITechNews Editor Mike Brennan will moderate the Walsh College IT security briefing for non-profit organizations August 24 at the Troy campus. The conference is underwritten by the SBC Foundation.

According to the FBI, virus attacks, unauthorized computer use, Web site penetration, security breaches from disgruntled employees, and identity theft crimes are all on the rise in this country. Not-for-profit and mission-based organizations have not been immune.

Your vulnerability to these attacks increases as you maintain data on contributor records, conduct transactions using credit cards, and provide registration forms on your organization?s Web site. If you are using wireless networks, your vulnerability also increases. Contributors and the people you serve deserve to know that you are taking reasonable steps to safeguard their personal data. You also need to be more vigilant than ever before to protect the operation of your computer systems.

Privacy, Policy, Protection ? is a security briefing created specifically for mission-based and not-for profit organizations for whom budgets are often ?tight?. We have invited a well-known columnist to talk about the trends he has been covering in recent months. Learn how you may be at risk, and what low cost (even no cost) actions you can take to dramatically improve your security status.

Learn from experts and see live demonstrations of how hackers or cyber-criminals might attack your confidential data and computer systems. Receive briefings on several current software tools you can easily acquire to help. Learn about how certain no-cost internal policies and controls can help. Learn about recent federal regulations that may require certain steps for your organization and ask questions in an interactive session.

Other speakers include:

Andy Wolber, Acting Executive Director NPower Michigan Presentation: ?Free and Low-Cost Resources to Improve Your Security? ? Andy will walk you through a range of free and low-cost options that will help make your organization?s security better. These resources will address security challenges such as viruses, spam, spyware, back-up, and firewalls Since NPower Michigan’s inception in 2002, Andy has led technology strategy and planning workshops for more than 200 nonprofit organizations throughout the Midwest region. Prior to joining NPower, Andy worked for USWeb/CKS, where he developed internet strategies for Fortune 500 clients, such as J.C. Penney and StorageTek, as well as for a nonprofit regional hospital system. He had previously been appointed the youngest Executive Director in the sixty year history of the Dallas Historical Society and had served as board chairman of the Arts District Friends. Andy spent three years in fundraising staff roles for nonprofit cultural organizations, including Dallas Black Dance Theatre. Andy holds a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Master of Arts in Arts Administration from Southern Methodist University.

Carmen Johnson is the Director of External Affairs for SBC, responsible for public relations and government affairs in Oakland County. She has her B.A. in Education, M.B.A. in Strategic Management, and is a current Fellow in the Michigan State University, Institute for Public Policy Research “Michigan Political Leadership Program”.Carmen has been with SBC for the last five years working in Operator Services, Business Communication Services, Global Sales and External Affairs departments. Before coming to SBC she was a small business entrepreneur in language translation services for twenty-two years. As mother of four, Carmen speaks five languages and has traveled extensively.

Mike Klein is CEO of Interlink Networks, one of the leading network security providers. Interlink protects some of the largest networks in the world, and its most recent product, LucidLink, was most recently described by PC Magazine as ?dazzling.? An entertaining and knowledgeable presenter, Mike has been a network communications innovator with companies such as Rockwell and Motorola. He has been granted a half dozen patents in the fields of software and network communications, and degrees in Computer Engineering from Rochester Institute of Technology Arizona State University.

Nanette Poulios, CISSP, CISM, is director of the Walsh College Information Assurance Center. She has been teaching as an adjunct faculty member since the inception of the information security program at Walsh. For more than 15 years, Poulios has worked as a security consultant, instructor, standards specialist and project manager in information protection and security for both large and small-scale computer networks. Prior to joining Walsh College as a full-time faculty member, Poulios was a senior training consultant for Easy i, a provider of online security awareness training. She is an active member of the Michigan Infragard and Computer Security Institute. She is a graduate of Western Michigan University and holds a master?s degree from Wayne State University. She and former students Jill Maxinoski and Randy Goebel will demonstrate threats and recommend safeguards for an organization?s electronic information systems.

To register, click on WalshCollege.Edu