From Adversaries to Allies: Developers and AppSec, a Love-Hate-Love Relationship

We are excited to partner with Central Indiana ISSA for our April meeting. We have two great presentations scheduled for this upcoming meeting.

Please register at their link, for our hosts to get an accurate count: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/central-indiana-issa-chapter-meeting-april-2025-tickets-1292924625359

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#### Presentation One:

#### Title: Insights from a Chief Security and Trust Officer

#### Speaker: Mike Towers, Chief Security and Trust Officer at Veza

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Topics will include:

• Transforming Identity Security with Intelligent Access
• The Identity Security challenge
• The need for a new approach
• Enabling important business initiatives
• Vision for Identity Security
• Finally achieving least privilege

As the founder of Digital Trust Group LLC and a distinguished executive, Mike specializes in digital security, trust, and business resiliency. Prior to joining Veza, he served as Takeda’s Chief Digital Trust Officer and held leadership roles at Allergan and GSK, where he developed robust security frameworks. Mike has been influential in over 50 M&A deals and has been honored by the CSO Hall of Fame. A respected speaker, author, and board advisor to multiple companies, Mike is dedicated to responsible innovation, data protection, and industry knowledge sharing. Based in Boston, he continues to make significant contributions to the field of digital trust and security.

#### Presentation Two:

#### Title: From Adversaries to Allies:Developers and AppSec, a Love-Hate-Love Relationship

#### Speaker: Peter Chestna, CISO at Checkmarx

AppSec is hard. Great AppSec is really hard.
Over almost 2 decades, Peter Chestna has consulted on and observed hundreds of AppSec programs. He's even built a few of my own. The similarities are striking and the impact and outcomes in these programs are stymied by common misconceptions about the goal of AppSec and the results we should be seeking.

In general, we find too much, fix too little, and do almost nothing to prevent new vulnerabilities. We have built a world where we attempt to report and goal our way to victory. How's that working for us? We need to rebalance our efforts across these three pillars and put the emphasis where it belongs. The accumulation of security debt is burying us all under a mountain of exception processing and annual recertification. Stop the madness!

Whether you are a security leader or a development leader, Peter has practical guidance for you. In this presentation, Peter hopes to convince you that by shifting your current focus, you can drastically improve the results you get from your efforts.

In this talk, Peter will describe how to:
1. Turn developers from adversaries to allies.
2. Modify your controls to reflect reality and make compliance feel better
3. Put the effort of your finite resources to places that will have the greatest impact
4. Elevate your AppSec program to a level of excellence through effective developer engagement

Dinner Sponsorship: Brooksource

Parking Information: See picture below for parking and entrance information.

Evening Agenda:
5:30 – 6:00 pm > Networking and Food (in-person only)
6:00 – 6:15 pm > Central Indiana ISSA Introduction and Chapter Business
6:15 – 7:30 pm > Meeting Speaker(s)
7:30 – 8:00 pm > Brooksource Social (Rooftop Bar) / Cleanup

Please note that the location for our chapter meetings is at Brooksource located at 6215 College Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46220.

PLEASE ARRIVE as close to 6:00 pm. as you can