Dear Colleagues:

        Today, many citizens are definitely aware of both the need for and the importance of businesses and governmental agencies having an effective security infrastructure in place. Unfortunately, much of this heightened awareness resulted from the disastrous events that occurred on September 11, 2001. We recognize that our world changed because of those events. However, in keeping with President Bush's request for us to move forward, we are in the midst of busily planning for FISSEA's 15th annual conference.

        As usual, we are doing our best to ensure that this will be a top quality conference. Dara Murray (Health and Human Services) is doing an outstanding job as the conference director with some assistance from the conference committee and executive board. The theme for our 2002 conference is "Information Security: Spring Training Is Here!." We believe that almost any baseball coach or FISSEA member will agree that a regular training program is necessary for effective job performance. Most of you are aware that coaches plan and implement extensive training experiences for all their baseball players in the spring to ensure that the team is ready to play well in the regular season. Similarly, many FISSEA members plan and/or implement creative information systems security awareness, training, or education events for personnel in our agencies, businesses or organizational entities to ensure that the staff can perform their duties in a secure manner. Expect to see the spring training theme emphasized throughout the conference.

        Please plan to join us on March 5-7, 2002, at the Gaithersburg Hilton Hotel for our 15th annual conference. Don't miss this opportunity to hear excellent presentations to assist you in performing your job better, to network with information systems security professionals who have diverse job experiences, skills, and perspectives, to discuss security products and services with vendors, and to have some fun while learning. There are limited spaces at only $235 for three full days of training. Get your registration in early while there are still slots available.

        Visit FISSEA: http://csrc.nist.rip/organizations/fissea.html for frequent updates as we finalize our agenda and get confirmations from invited speakers.

        I look forward to networking with both old and new acquaintances at the conference. Please take time to introduce yourself to me. Let me know how FISSEA can serve you better in the future, and I will be glad to tell you some of the ways the Board believes you can make FISSEA a better organization.

Barbara Cuffie, CISSP
FISSEA Executive Board Chair
Social Security Administration