Fourteen luminaries spanning managed security service providers, IT and cybersecurity providers, venture capital and academia have been named to the security-centric CompTIA Information Sharing and Analysis Organization’s (ISAO) inaugural executive advisory council.
An ISAO is a group created to gather, analyze, and disseminate cyber threat information. ISAOs typical focus on a specific vertical market or sector. In this case, the CompTIA ISOA hub provides threat intelligence to technology providers, MSPs, solution providers, integrators, distributors and business technology consultants.
Members of the ISAO advisory council include:
- Arnie Bellini, managing partner, Bellini Capital
- Vince Crisler, founder and CEO, Dark Cubed
- Christopher Jones, director of cyber security, Dell Technologies
- Ben Nowacky, senior vice president of products, Axcient;
- Jay Ryerse, CISSP, vice president, cybersecurity initiatives, ConnectWise
- Wayne Selk, director, professional services, ConnectWise
- Marty Ward, vice president, product marketing, Sophos
- Scott Algeier, executive director, IT-ISAC
- Paul Kurtz, co-founder and chairman, TruStar
- Chris Loehr, executive vice president, Solis Security
- Eric Weast, owner, ECW Network & IT Solutions
- Esteban Blanco, chief geek officer, Blanco I.T.
- Sagar Samtani, assistant professor and Grant Thornton Scholar, Indiana University Kelley School of Business
- Tracy Holtz, director, security Solutions, Tech Data and co-chair, CompTIA Cybersecurity Advisory Council
Membership in the ISAO is open to organizations in the IT channel and MSP communities, including cloud services providers, managed service providers, managed security service providers, technology vendors, and businesses providing services to the tech industry, such as financial, legal, sales, marketing, business consulting and training firms.
“The CompTIA ISAO brings together the best minds in the cybersecurity, IT channel and MSP communities to gather, analyze, disseminate information, and counter cyber threats,” said MJ Shoer, senior vice president and executive director of the organization. “Our advisory council members have a common goal of seeing that robust security practices are implemented throughout the IT industry.”
Shoer is a former MSP owner/operator, who previously built and then sold his IT services business.
Roughly a year ago, CompTIA took over the management and operation of the Technology Solution Provider Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (TSP-ISAO), a community Bellini and ConnectWise had jointly established in August, 2019. Some 650 technology companies had joined the organization at the point CompTIA took the reins.
CompTIA ISAO kicked off its ISAO in August, 2020. The group's roster has now bumped up to nearly 1,000 corporate members, which have been coated with some 200 cybersecurity alerts on breaking threats and reports from analysts, members and other industry sources, according to CompTIA.
To underscore its value to members, the association pointed to examples: An alert in September, 2020 on a Microsoft Windows Netlogon vulnerability, in which ISAO members had nearly 48 hours advance notice of the issue and recommendations for immediate mitigation; and, the more than 40 entries posted on the ISAO Cyber Forum concerning the SolarWinds massive security breach so members could better understand its impact and help them keep their customer and themselves cyber safe.
