I smell a movement
No, not that kind, silly.
I just read over at Bejtlich’s blog, that he has decided to start NoVA Sec, having been inspired by Chisec, which was begun by Matasano honcho Thomas Ptacek.
ChiSec is fun, and has been rapidly imitated by other Matasano folks, yielding Seasec and NYsec (I’m hoping it will go next to Paris, just so there can be a Parsec).
My sense is that many in the security biz are disappointed with some of the “establishment” groups, such as ISSA. I let my ISSA membership lapse because it had no payoff for me. I can network with people on-line and at conferences more tailored to my interests, anyway. The “local connection” was missing, however. Chisec has eliminated that problem handily. I wonder if the success of these other regional {foo}secs is due to a similar disatisfaction or sense that something is missing? If I had to guess, I’d say yes.
I’m glad to see Rich taking this step, which I am certain will be popular.
Back in 2001 a bunch of folks out in Silicon Valley formed BARF (Bay Area Regional FIRST). They get together once a month for dinner and BSing. Thre are no dues and you don’t have to be a member of FIRST, the idea of it was just spawned at a FIRST conference.
I assume you’ve heard of Agora? That’s pretty much the local ‘sec group here in the NW.
Monsec?
While I think the CitySec idea is excellent, I just wanted to point out that my ISSA chapter has no local dues, forbids sales pitches in chapter-sponsored communications, has no vendor sponsorships, and uses member-provided content for a large majority of our presentations. If folks are dissatisfied with their local ISSA, I recommend they get involved and kick the vendors out — or otherwise solve the problem, instead of abandoning it.