Denise Tripoli sees her new job as business manager for the SANS Institute, an international Internet security business located on Kaua‘i as a two-fold challenge.
Both are about awareness.
One is to cast light on what the institute does and its relation to Kauai’s high-tech community, and also how through its classes and outreach, it can help just about any Kauai resident or business owner learn more about Internet security.
Then, there is also the potential of bringing high-tech jobs to the island.
“We can show there are great high-tech jobs available on Kaua‘i,” she said, referring to the possibility of jobs becoming available as SANS enters what she called “a growth mode.”
“My big challenge is letting people know we are here,” she said.
“This is the business of the future and I am proud to be a part of a global company,” she said.
The SANS Institute is based in Maryland, but has 12 employees on Kauai, including its CEO Stephen Northcutt who has lived on-island for several years.
Tripoli, a 20-year Kaua`i resident, received her MBA at Golden Gate University and is a recent graduate of the Leadership Kaua`i Inaugural Class. She joined SANS Institute July 1.
“We are pleased to have hired someone locally with the experience, education and skills necessary to satisfy this critical position”, Northcutt said.
“We know that Denise fills a very vital role in our organization”, he added.
“I couldn’t think of a more beautiful place than Kaua`i to do business and with the high tech industry’s ability to work from anywhere, Kaua`i is a perfect destination, Northcutt said.
According to its Web site, SANS is the most trusted and by far the largest source for information security training and certification in the world.
It also develops, maintains, and makes available at no cost, the largest collection of research documents about various aspects of information security, and it operates the Internet’s early warning system – Internet Storm Center. The SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute was established in 1989 as a cooperative research and education organization.
Its programs now reach more than 165,000 security professionals, auditors, system administrators, network administrators, chief information security officers, and CIOs who share the lessons they are learning and jointly find solutions to the challenges they face. At the heart of SANS are the many security practitioners in government agencies, corporations, and universities around the world who invest hundreds of hours each year in research and teaching to help the entire information security community.
Locally, the SANS Institute will offer classroom sessions.
“Stay Sharp: Home Computer and Network Security” is offered at a discounted price of $40. “The course will assist in raising your level of awareness and knowledge even if you are intimidated and don’t know where to start,” according to Lynn Lewis, Director of the Stay Sharp Program.
“It is offered at a discount to Kaua`i residents with the expectation that you put extra effort into constructive advice on the course evaluations to help us fully fine tune the new course” she added. The “Stay Sharp: Home Computer and Network Security” course is ideal for parents with children that use the Internet, e-mail, eBay and online shoppers in general.
According to Lewis, Stay Sharp offers skills based on short courses that run from three hours to twodays in the five areas of discipline in a single session. Stay Sharp can offer participants with little security experience important concepts and technology that every Internet user should know.
For business owners, it would be the basic knowledge to keep your operation secure.
Students can learn about many different threats, antivirus programs, firewalls, anti-spyware, identity theft, phishing, and how to create strong passwords.
“It’s useful for the small business owners of Kaua`i who need to maintain security in their operations and trade secrets,” Lewis said. Many small business owners and even real estate agents who handle confidential information are many times novice beginner level users who would greatly benefit from this class,” she said.
“The phrase ‘you get what you pay for’ works both ways. SANS training is worth every penny. I was able to put my newfound knowledge to immediate use from each of the two courses I have taken, and am confident that the same will be true for the third one that I am headed to next week,” said client Ken Connelley.
“If you ever wanted to understand computer and information security, but don’t know how to make yourself more secure, you should take this course” said Tripoli. A sampling of the topics include identity theft, web browser security, antivirus, firewalls, and creating strong passwords.
For more information on registering for the class, please feel free to contact Lewis at 346-5465. Seating is limited. Please visit The SANS Institute at “http://www.sans.org”; www.sans.org for more information on the company and opportunities on Kaua`i.
Many SANS resources, such as the weekly vulnerability digest (@RISK), the weekly news digest (NewsBites), the Internet’s early warning system (Internet Storm Center), flash security alerts and more than 1,200 award-winning, original research papers are free to all who ask.
