ISACA Adds Cyber Evangelist Montana Williams to its Cybersecurity Practices Staff

ISACA, a global professional association serving 140,000 professionals, has added Robin “Montana” Williams, CWDP, as senior manager of its Cybersecurity Practices. In this role, he manages ISACA’s Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX), a holistic resource for cybersecurity knowledge, certification and professional development. ISACA launched CSX in 2014 to help address the global cybersecurity skills shortage and develop a skilled cybersecurity workforce.

Known as a cyber-evangelist, Williams has directed innovation and strategy for the US government’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE). His leadership helped raise awareness of cybersecurity and the need for strong educational programs to provide the training needed for effective cybersecurity.

“Montana Williams has made significant contributions toward addressing the global cybersecurity skills shortage. His experience directly aligns with ISACA’s goal of helping employers identify and hire skilled cybersecurity professionals, and helping guide professionals with their career management,” said Ron Hale, Ph.D., CISM, chief knowledge officer, ISACA. “Montana’s expertise and knowledge will be an asset to ISACA as we continue to build CSX and provide resources and training for individuals at all career levels.”

Prior to joining ISACA, Williams spent 25 years in government service, including 21 years in the United States Air Force (USAF), retiring as a Lt. Colonel. He served as the chief of the Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Branch at the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and as the senior strategic advisor to the White House on NICE. Prior to DHS, he served as a senior technical program manager for the National Counterintelligence Executive, directing cyber counterintelligence training and threat analysis. During his military career, he held numerous flying, intelligence, training and cyberspace assignments, including commanding the USAF Cyber Red Team.

“I was drawn to ISACA because of its vision to create the first-ever hire-to-retire, performance-based education, training, and certification program, Cybersecurity Nexus (CSX),” said Williams. “I have spent the last five years developing a national vision to create a globally agile cybersecurity workforce to ensure the nation’s economic and national security. When ISACA asked me to become part of the team that shared that vision, I could not pass up such an opportunity.”

CSX, www.isaca.org/cyber, reflects ISACA’s ongoing collaboration with global organizations at the center of cybersecurity, such as ENISA (European Union Agency for Network and Information Security) and NIST (U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology). ISACA also will host the World Finals of the Global CyberLympics, an ethical hacking competition from EC-Council Foundation, at ISACA’s upcoming CSX 2015 conference in October in Washington, DC.

 “ISACA’s CSX delivers a solution to one of the globe’s most significant problem sets—ensuring cybersecurity resiliency in a time of continually evolving risk to critical infrastructure systems (e.g., financial, energy, healthcare, government, manufacturing, information technology, transportation and water),” explained Williams. “CSX provides a cybersecurity workforce with the knowledge, hands-on skills and abilities to identify, protect, detect, respond, and recover in global economic system almost solely dependent on cyber. I am thrilled to be part of the team.”