InfoSec Hamilton Monthly Meetup for September 2026

NEW LOCATION ALERT!
This month, we are gathering at McMaster Innovation Park at 175 Longwood Road S.

Parking is free after 5pm.
Come in the front doors and walk through the main atrium area. We'll be on the ground floor, in the meeting rooms that are on the left hand side of the atrium.

6:30 - doors open
7pm - Welcome from Dr. Gailene Tobin Vandenheuvel - CEO of McMaster Innovation Park
7:30 - Gamified tabletops, including a short demo with volunteers w/ John Svazic
8:30pm - intermission
8:45pm - continue talk / social time
9 to 9:30pm - wrap up

Session description:
Tabletop exercises are a common way to test disaster recovery and business continuity plans, but they can also be some of the most dry and boring meetings any professional can attend. Following a set script with no variation can cause folks to lose interest and question the value of such exercises, even when they are required for compliance frameworks such as SOC2. What is a security professional to do? Simple-introduce variability by adding dice! Gamification isn't a new idea, but applying some principles of gamification to a traditional tabletop exercise can breathe new life into a potentially monotonous activity. Join John as he describes his method for gamifying tabletop exercises, and participate in a short demonstration!

Your speaker:
John has been in the IT field for over 30 years, with the past 15+ years dedicated to Information Security. As the CEO & Principal Consultant at EliteSec Information Security Consultants, John has made it his mission to help other organizations navigate the complex river of cybersecurity. John’s done a lot, including being a book author, podcast host, conference organizer, part-time professor, full-time father, and a lover of more hobbies than you can shake a stick at. John likes to talk and share what he knows with other people and loves to trade stories, so it’s always encouraged to sit down with him to chat.

Your co-hosts:
Todd Dow (LinkedIn) is a Cybersecurity Solutions Engineer focusing on AI Defense, Splunk XDR, Agentic AI & SOC Modernization at Cisco. He is also a writer (toddhdow.com), speaker and founder of InfoSec Hamilton. Todd has over 20 years of experience in the cybersecurity field performing penetration tests, providing security architecture and compliance consulting and creating, developing and leading high performing security teams – this included working as the CISO at two organizations: First Ontario Credit Union and ArcelorMittal Dofasco. Todd maintains CISSP, CISA and PMP credentials and he has also earned an Hon BA in Philosophy and Religious Studies from the University of Toronto.

Don Mallory (LinkedIn) has over 30 years of experience in enterprise IT, primarily in critical infrastructure, specializing in operations, data storage, disaster recovery, and security for critical infrastructure. Professionally, Don is a Senior Security Analyst in the healthcare sector. He is a co-author of “Applied Data Security Strategy - A Leader’s Guide”, and has been involved in various volunteer activities including C3X, Hak4Kidz Toronto, the Hamilton Infosec Meetup, and the Latow Photographer's Guild at the Art Gallery of Burlington, where he teaches traditional wet darkroom photography.