ISSA - Sacramento Valley Chapter

ISSA Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting - 3/21/2025 - AI Assistant for the CMMC
2025-03-21 11:30 - 13:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Capsity, 3808 Broadway, Sacramento CA, Capsity, 3808 Broadway, Sacramento, CA, United States
Speaker: Paul Grabow, Principal Advisor, Cybersecurity Grant Advisors LLC

Topic: AI assistants for the CMMC ecosystem
Synopsis: The DoD Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) v2.0 program officially went live December 16, 2024. CMMC is required for all companies, over 300,000 of them, that are part of the DoD supply chain and handle Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI). In 2023, companies in California subject to CMMC received $41.2B in defense spending, ranked number 3 among states. CMMC is arguably the largest and most accelerated compliance regime to date in the US.
Paul is working on prototype AI assistants for roles in the CMMC ecosystem, including those defined by the CyberAB, which is the official accreditation body for the CMMC program. He would like the people attending this meeting to be a focus group to see the AI Assistants, think of queries, and provide feedback.
Check out the CyberAB website (https://cyberab.org/) to learn more about the CMMC (and all of the buzzwords).
Speaker Bio: Paul is Principal Advisor at Cybersecurity Grant Advisors, LLC.
Meeting Details: This is planned (if things go according to plan) to be a hybrid meeting (both in-person and on-line). You may attend remotely via Zoom (see link at top of this page that will be put there the week of the meeting) or attend in person at Capsity, 3810 Broadway, Sacramento CA (Google Maps and Directions). Note that the speaker strongly encourages people to attend in person, so that they can participate in the focus group.
Please register for the meeting below.
You don’t have to be a member of ISSA to attend our meetings (but we encourage you to join us!). Please share information about this meeting with your friends and colleagues who have an interest in information security.
This is hybrid meeting on Zoom and in person at Capsity.
Here Zoom Meeting info if needed:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89292525445?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 892 9252 5445
Passcode: [REDACTED]

ISSA Sacramento Valley Chapter Meeting - 4/18/2025 - Zero Trust
2025-04-18 11:30 - 13:00
Speaker: Surendra Narang, Senior Manager, Cyber Security, Palo Alto Networks
Topic: How to implement the Zero Trust security model
Synopsis: Due to the rise of sophisticated cyber threats and the erosion of traditional network boundaries due to cloud adoption and hybrid work, enterprises are increasingly embracing the Zero Trust security model. Unlike legacy perimeter-based approaches, Zero Trust is grounded in the principle of “never trust, always verify,” meaning that every user, device, and application must be continuously validated, regardless of location or network status.
Successful deployment of Zero Trust is not a one-time implementation but a strategic, iterative transformation that requires a methodical, multi-phase approach. It starts with a comprehensive assessment of the organization’s security posture, then identifying high-value assets, key user roles, and critical data flows. From there, enterprises implement granular, least-privilege access controls, adaptive authentication mechanisms, and continuous monitoring.
Speaker Bio: Surendra Narang is a seasoned cybersecurity leader with deep expertise and a strong focus on zero-trust architecture, security transformation, and enterprise-scale implementations. As Senior Manager of Cybersecurity at Palo Alto Networks, he led the end-to-end design and deployment of Zero Trust Security Architecture, embedding its core principles—least privilege access, continuous verification, and segmentation—into the fabric of the organization’s infrastructure and security products.
Meeting Details: This is a hybrid meeting (both in-person and on-line). You may attend remotely via Zoom (See information below) or attend in person at CapCity (see the address below).
Please register for the meeting below.
You don’t have to be a member of ISSA to attend our meetings (but we encourage you to join us!). Please share information about this meeting with your friends and colleagues who have an interest in information security.
This is a hybrid meeting on Zoom and in-person.
To join Zoom Meeting:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83647622654?pwd=[REDACTED]
Meeting ID: 836 4762 2654
Passcode: [REDACTED]
