Security experts give charities a hand

The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) is embarking on a mission to help charities by offering its expertise in security and auditing to those who are struggling to meet compliance regulations.

"Let's give something back to the community," said Richard Starnes, ISSA's UK president. "Let's get the infosecurity professionals to chip in and donate their time to a registered charity that couldn't otherwise afford the consultancy fees. We're currently appealing to people to get in touch with the charities and help out."

ISSA is a not-for-profit organisation with more than 300 members in the UK and 13,000 worldwide. It is heavily sponsored by security vendors and membership costs $95 (£53) a year.

Several ISSA members have already pledged their support to the scheme, including ex-president of ISSA John Austin, who started Scotland Yard's Computer Crime Unit; Fred Piper, who runs the masters programme at Royal Holloway, University of London; and David Williamson, a sales executive for Cisco.

ISSA is also looking to help newcomers to the security profession. Starnes added that the security body is setting up a mentoring programme for school and university leavers who want to work in security. Experts will assist budding security enthusiasts in career development.

"We're going to help people get into the industry too," said Starnes. "People in their mid-to-senior part of their careers will do the mentoring. It's not really about academic learning but more the advice of experience. If someone has just left university with a programming degree and has an entry-level job, where do they go then? We can help with that."

Those interested in the mentoring scheme should contact David Williamson at: vicepresident@issa-uk.org.