New FISMA requirements place increased emphasis on implementing an effective "continuous monitoring program" for all government IT systems.  This will be accomplished by OMB increasing the annual FISMA reporting requirements and NIST issuing NIST Special Publication 800-37, Revision 1.  

What are the most effective and efficient ways to meet these new OMB and NIST FISMA requirements?  What strategies and tools are available to support a seamless implementation of these requirements into your IT system, and which will be most effective for your system and organizational culture?  All of these questions will be answered during this workshop by an expert who has supported the implementation of security in over 200 government and contractor run government IT systems.   Through this Course, attendees will:

• Understand the new FISMA and NIST requirements for Continuous Monitoring (CM);
• Know the new CM related OMB reporting requirements;
• Learn the various strategies and tools available to support this requirement;
• Be able to create a tailored CM program in to their organization;
• Determine "How much is enough?";
• Learn how to integrate seamlessly CM efforts into existing operations and culture; and
• Influence IT funding using CM results.

View the Seminar Agenda.

Read NISTS's recently released Frequently Asked Questions on Continuous Monitoring.

Featured Speaker

Ronald Ross, Senior Computer Scientist and Information Security Researcher, National Institute of Standards and Technology, will provide a NIST strategy and objectives overview for the New 800-37 Revision 1 NIST Guide for the Security Certification and Accreditation of Federal Information Systems.

Learning Objectives

The learning objectives for this 2-day, Manager and Operations Level course are broad ranging and include a number of concepts including understanding the:

• New FISMA and NIST Continuous Monitoring (CM) requirements;
• Updated OMB reporting requirements and the relationship to a CM program;
• Components of an effective CM Program;
• Myths, facts, issues and concerns;
• GOTs and COTs solutions available to support a CM Program;
• Strategies for creating and implementing an effective program;
• Answer to "How much is enough?"; and
• Way to use the results of their CM to influence fund and resources.

Who Should Attend

The intended audience for the course is individuals with security responsibility in Federal, Department of Defense, and Intelligence organizations to include:  authorizing officials (AOs), designated approving authorities (DAAs), certifiers, Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), IT system owners, project managers, information system security officers (ISSOs), and system administrators and their staffs and any individuals seeking to maintain and monitor their IT security within the US Government.

• Configuration management and control processes;
• Security impact analyses on actual or proposed changes to information systems and environments of operation;
• Assessment of selected security controls in information systems and controls inherited by those systems (i.e., common controls); and
• Security status reporting to appropriate organizational officials.

Earn PDUs / CPEs

• PMI® PMPs will earn 11 PDUs for attending this Training Seminar
• Earn 11 (ISC)2 CPEs: Attendees who carry the SSCP, CISSP, ISSEP, ISSMP, ISSAP or CAP credential from (ISC)2 can receive 11 Continuing Professional Education (CPE) credits. Credential holders must enter their CPE credits in the usual manner on the (ISC)2 website.

Attendees will receive a Certificate of Completion as a result of their seminar participation.

Continuous Monitoring In the News

Recent articles on the topic include:

• "Why continuous monitoring is gaining popularity", published by FederalNewsRadio.com
• "Agencies get ready for FISMA changes", published by FederalNewsRadio.com
• "Just how continuous should continuous security monitoring be?", published by FCW
• "Proof: Continuous Monitoring Does Works," published GovInfoSecurity.com
• "Story Behind NASA's Move to Continuous Monitoring", published GovInfoSecurity.com
• "Continuous monitoring guidance under way at NIST", published GCN
• "Next steps for continuous network monitoring", published GCN

Plus check out FISMApedia, a collection of documents and discussions focused on Federal IT security

What Attendees Will Receive

• A copy of the book Know Cyber Risk
• Training Materials
• A Certificate of Completion
• Continental Breakfast
• Lunch

Why Attend

Explore in a hands-on, vendor-neutral, interactive academic setting how to effectively meet the new FISMA and NIST requirements for continuous monitoring in your organization and increase the security of your IT systems.

What Attendees Say...

About past Seminars on  this subject:

• "This seminar was not boring, (there were) moments of brilliance."
• "It was flexible to students needs."
• "I learned more than I thought I would;  it was very interactive."
• "Excellent Training.  Information presented in clear concise manner."
• "I enjoyed the Instructors' knowledge and past experiences."
• "Practical, down to earth approach."
• "Helpful tips, techniques, strategies."
• "Lots of real world examples."
• "The group activities really made you think about the subject matter."
• "I enjoyed the ability to hear from my peers how they dealt with certain issues."
• "Good instructor. Well organized information.  Useful resources."
• "Provided practical methods to conduct our CMP."
• "Good coordination of materials and anecdotal information."
• "I enjoyed the presentation,  the real experiences shared, and the exercises on continuous monitoring action."
• "The course materials are great reference materials."
• "Interesting stories from real life experiences."
• "Great explanation of Continuous Monitoring tools.  The correlation of real life events in explanation of process was helpful.  Lots of great information on effective CMP."
• "The exercises and exchanges of information and participants were invaluable."

About the Instructor

James Litchko, CISSP-ISSEP, CAP, MBCI, CMAS, Senior Security Expert, Litchko & Associates.

Mr. Litchko has worked as a security and management expert for over 30 years. He has been an executive with five organizations and supervised and supported the securing of over 200 military, government and commercial IT systems.  Over the past two years, he supported the securing of IT systems at DHS, DOE, VHA, NASA, EPA, USAF, DOJ, and FEMA.  Jim created and taught the first graduate IT security course at Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and was a manager at NSA. Jim holds a Masters degree from JHU and has authored five books on security and management topics, most recently the 2010 FISMA Authorization Process Guide: A Review for the (ISC)2R CAPR Certification Exam.

Read DGI's "Executive Insight" interview with Mr. Litchko about the new OMB and NIST FISMA requirements.