ISSA Denver Chapter

Registration is open for the Denver ISSA Women in Cybersecurity SIG Dinner!

Join us for Celebrating Colorado’s Cybersecurity Woman of the Year Nominees, featuring two Colorado ISSA chapter leaders who have received recognition through the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year program.

🎤 Gina Yacone serves as Vice President of Denver ISSA and is an Advisory CISO at Trace3, where she acts as the Information Security Official for the company’s Mountain States region. Gina was named the 2024 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year. With extensive experience as a CISO across multiple organizations, she has led security strategies designed to strengthen resilience and reduce risk. She holds a master’s degree in cybersecurity and has delivered more than 100 presentations at information security conferences and industry events.

🎤 Laura Harder is a cybersecurity professional with more than 23 years of experience and extensive military service, including nine years in the Army and 14 years in the Air Force Reserves. Laura is a 2026 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year nominee. She currently serves as an Offensive Cyber officer and is the founding and current President of Northern Colorado ISSA and an ISSA International Board Director. Her experience spans government, private industry, cloud security, application development, project management, and security consulting.

During this session, Gina Yacone and Laura Harder will share their personal journeys, what the Cybersecurity Woman of the Year recognition has meant to them, how their experiences have influenced their careers, and their perspectives on leadership, mentorship, and the cybersecurity community.

📅 Wednesday, September 30
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 Trace3 | 4601 DTC Boulevard #400, Denver, CO 80237

🔗 Register today: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denver-issa-women-in-security-special-interest-group-dinner-tickets-1999811844059?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

⭐ Board Member Spotlight: Carlin Dornbusch, CISSP

Meet Carlin Dornbusch, Recording Secretary for Denver ISSA and a cybersecurity and privacy leader with extensive experience helping organizations navigate security, risk, compliance, and technology strategy.

As President of American Cyber Security Management, Carlin works across a broad range of areas, including cybersecurity, privacy, governance and risk management, cloud security, compliance, DevSecOps, and strategic technology decision-making. His work focuses on helping organizations strengthen their security and privacy programs while aligning those efforts with broader business goals.

Carlin also brings his expertise to the stage as a public speaker, sharing insights on cybersecurity, GRC, privacy, executive leadership, incident response, and decision-making.

His involvement with Denver ISSA reflects that same commitment to collaboration and strengthening the cybersecurity profession. As Recording Secretary, Carlin contributes his time and leadership to helping our chapter remain an active resource for professionals throughout the Denver cybersecurity community.

👏 Thank you, Carlin, for your continued leadership, expertise, and commitment to Denver ISSA!

🔗 Connect with Carlin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlindornbusch/

🔐 FutureCon is coming to Denver!

Denver’s cybersecurity community is coming together on September 24 for the 2026 FutureCon Denver Cybersecurity Conference.

Join fellow cybersecurity professionals for a day of education, networking, and conversations around today’s evolving threat landscape. Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from industry speakers, explore emerging technologies, connect with the local community, and earn up to 10 CPE credits.

📅 Thursday, September 24, 2026
📍 The Legacy | National Western Club, 4th Floor
4800 National Western Drive, Denver, CO 80216
💻 Hybrid event

Whether you join in person or virtually, it’s a great opportunity to stay connected with what’s happening across the cybersecurity industry.

Denver ISSA is proud to be part of this year’s event. We hope to see members of our community there!

🔗 Learn more and register: https://futureconevents.com/events/denver-co-2026/

Join us on Wednesday, September 30 for our next Women in Cybersecurity Special Interest Group event featuring a conversation with two Colorado cybersecurity leaders:

Celebrating Colorado’s Cybersecurity Woman of the Year Nominees

🎤 Gina Yacone
Vice President, Denver ISSA
2024 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year

🎤 Laura Harder
President, Northern Colorado ISSA
2026 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year Nominee

Gina and Laura will share their personal journeys, what their nominations meant to them, how the experiences have shaped their careers, and what it has been like to connect with an international community of women in cybersecurity.

📅 Wednesday, September 30
🕠 5:30 PM
📍 Trace3 | 4601 DTC Boulevard #400, Denver, CO 80237

Mark your calendar and stay tuned for registration information!

🚨 Last Call to Register!

Don’t miss out on our Denver ISSA AI/ML Special Interest Group event with speaker Shelley Rossell!

👋 Meet the Speaker: Shelley Rossell, Cloud Security Architect, Solventum

Shelley Rossell is a senior cybersecurity leader specializing in cloud security and modern enterprise architectures. She currently serves as a Cloud Security Architect at Solventum, a global healthcare company, where she secures large‑scale environments across AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud. Previously, Shelley held key security roles at The University of Chicago, including Lead Information Security Engineer and Cloud Security Architect, and served as an Adjunct Associate Professor in Computer Science, mentoring emerging security professionals.

Her experience spans cloud architecture, network forensics, incident response, auditing, and security governance, and she has presented at numerous national and regional security conferences. Shelley holds advanced degrees from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Chicago.

💡 What we'll learn: “Securing Product AI: From R&D to Production”

Organizations are rapidly adopting AI to boost productivity and streamline operations, and traditional security controls generally address these internal use cases well. But when AI is embedded directly into customer‑facing products and services—what this session refers to as Product AI—a fundamentally different set of security challenges must be tackled.

Product AI systems, typically built on cloud platforms such as AWS and Azure, span a full lifecycle: research, experimentation, development, deployment, and ongoing operations. Securing these workloads requires protecting data, models, agents, identities, APIs, and cloud infrastructure across highly distributed environments.

Using AWS as a reference architecture, this session highlights where and how security should be integrated throughout the Product AI lifecycle. No prior AWS or cloud background is needed; the focus is on security concepts, architectural patterns, and governance practices that apply across enterprise AI ecosystems. Attendees will gain practical approaches for securing and governing Product AI workloads at scale—earning CPEs while strengthening their readiness for real‑world AI adoption.

🗓️ Wednesday, August 26

🕦 5:30 PM - 7 PM

📍 Trace3

4601 DTC Boulevard, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80237

🎟️https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denver-issa-aiml-special-interest-group-tickets-1995375168844?aff=oddtdtcreator&keep_tld=true

💼 Cybersecurity Career Corner: The Value of Professional Communities

A successful cybersecurity career is built on more than technical skills. Professional communities provide opportunities to exchange ideas, stay informed on emerging trends, and build relationships with peers across the industry.

Many professionals discover new career opportunities, mentors, collaborators, and lasting connections simply by staying engaged with their local cybersecurity community.

Whether you're just entering the field or are an experienced leader, being part of a professional organization helps you stay connected, continue learning, and contribute to the future of cybersecurity.

Looking to grow your network and stay engaged?

Become a Denver ISSA member and connect with one of the nation's largest cybersecurity communities.

🔗 Learn more about membership:
https://www.denverissa.org/membership

⭐This month’s board member spotlight is: Gina Yacone

Meet Gina Yacone, Vice President of the Denver ISSA Chapter and an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader dedicated to helping organizations make confident, risk-informed decisions.

As a CISO (Regional, Advisory, vCISO) at Trace3, Gina works with organizations across the Mountain States to strengthen cybersecurity programs, translate complex risks into practical business strategies, and help leaders build resilient security programs that support growth.

Throughout her career, Gina has advised organizations across healthcare, finance, government, and other industries, always with a focus on making cybersecurity understandable, actionable, and aligned with business objectives.

Beyond her professional work, Gina is deeply committed to advancing the cybersecurity community through mentorship, speaking, and volunteer leadership. She has presented at more than 125 industry conferences, serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Colorado Colorado Springs Strategic Artificial Intelligence Program, and continues to invest in developing future cybersecurity leaders.

Her contributions have earned numerous industry recognitions, including:
🏆 Cybersecurity Woman of the Year (2024)
🏆 Cybersecurity Women of the World – Top 20 (2024)
🏆 LinkedIn Top Security Voice
🏆 Top 9 vCISO Influencer (2024 & 2025)
🏆 One of Colorado's 5 Female Security Leaders to Watch (2026)

As Vice President of Denver ISSA, Gina plays an integral role in fostering collaboration, education, and professional growth throughout Colorado's cybersecurity community.

Thank you, Gina, for your leadership, service, and continued commitment to strengthening the cybersecurity profession.

Join the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Northern Colorado Chapter on Thursday, August 20, 2026, for the 3rd Annual Cyber & IT Summit at the Denver Federal Center.

The event will take place at Building 41 in the Re*****on Arms Conference Room from 9:30 AM - 3:30 PM. The summit will feature cybersecurity awareness and technical briefs from government and industry SME speakers, as well as cyber and IT exhibits. Learn more about Artificial Intelligence (AI), Zero Trust, Quantum Computing, Cloud & Hybrid IT, Network Modernization, Threat Detection, Vulnerability Management, Cyber Resilience, Identity Security, Data Protection, and Critical Infrastructure Security from leading government and industry technology providers.

Featured Speakers:
🎤 Nathan "Nate" Batty, Supervisory Special Agent, Denver Cyber Squad, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
🎤 Jeremy C., Customer Engineer, Cloudflare
🎤 Laura I. H., Flight Commander, US Air Force Reserves | Vice President, ISSA International | President, ISSA - Northern Colorado Chapter
🎤 Paul Herbka, CISSP, CEH, MBA, AI & Cybersecurity Strategist | Speaker & Author | ISSA Denver Board Member | VP, AI Transformation & Cyber Strategy, 6e Technologies
🎤 TSA Jordan Huntzinger, Network Intrusion Response Agent, U.S. Secret Service
🎤 Chris Jensen, Director of Public Sector Business Development, Tenable

Know Before You Go:

🔵 All those that are interested are invited.
🔵 There is no fee to attend for those with a .gov or .mil email address (including contractors).
🔵 There is no fee to attend for ISSA and DAMA – RMC members.
🔵 You do not have to attend for the entire day. Attend, as many or as few, sessions as your schedule allows or just come for the exhibits and join us for lunch.
🔵 CPE/CEU Credit will be awarded, and LUNCH will be provided!

Need more information? Email Dennis O’Neill at [email protected]

🎟️ Register here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/3rd-annual-cyber-it-summit-at-the-denver-federal-center-tickets-1981583005111

🚨 Last Call to Register!

Don't miss the Denver ISSA August Chapter Meetings featuring Bhumika Tripathi.

💡 Meet the Speaker: Bhumika Tripathi

“I am an international student from Nepal currently pursuing a degree in Information Systems at the University of Colorado Denver. My academic and professional interests lie at the intersection of cybersecurity, digital ethics, and the societal impact of emerging technologies. Through my mentorship with Global Information Security (GIS), I have gained hands-on exposure to cybersecurity practices and developed a deeper understanding of the evolving digital threat landscape. Recently, I had the opportunity to compete in an ISACA case competition, where my team secured first place for our presentation on the impact of deepfakes and artificial intelligence on financial institutions. This experience strengthened my ability to analyze complex cyber risks and communicate them effectively to diverse audiences.

Coming from a global perspective, I am particularly passionate about addressing issues such as cybercrime and cyberbullying, especially how digital platforms can be used to silence voices and reinforce gender bias. I aim to use my voice to raise awareness, encourage responsible digital behavior, and advocate for safer and more inclusive online spaces.”

👋 What we'll learn: “Silenced Online: Cybercrime, Cyberbullying, and the Gendered Cost of Speaking Out in the Digital Age”

This session will highlight how cyber harassment functions as a mechanism to suppress dissent, reinforce societal biases, and limit inclusive participation in public discourse. By connecting cybersecurity with social responsibility, I aim to shed light on the urgent need for safer digital spaces and more accountable online behavior. Ultimately, this talk calls for a shift in how we understand and address cybercrime, not just as a technical issue, but as a critical social and ethical challenge.

🗓️ Wednesday, August 12

🌇 Lunch Meeting

🕦 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM

📍 Trace3

4601 DTC Boulevard, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80237

🔗 https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denver-issa-august-2026-chapter-meeting-lunch-tickets-1992726799500?aff=oddtdtcreator

🌃 Dinner Meeting

🕠 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM

📍 Gensler Denver Office

1225 17th Street, Suite 150
Denver, CO 80202

🎟️ https://www.eventbrite.com/e/denver-issa-august-2026-chapter-meeting-dinner-tickets-1992726951956