Meet The Cyber Helpline’s USA Advisory Committee
For the last year, The Cyber Helpline has been operating in the USA. Thanks to the support of partners including AXIS Capital, SecurIT360 and Arete, we have been able to support over 60,000 individuals in the USA since January 2023. Over 3,200 of these users have reached out for help via our chatbot.
Behind the scenes is a team of volunteers from the cybersecurity industry and beyond, passionate about our mission. Part of our USA team is our Advisory Committee, a group of experts with different areas of expertise who help us to provide the best support we can for residents of the USA.
Meet some of the team!
Kris Rides
Kris Rides is the Founder of Tiro Security - a Cybersecurity professional services and staffing firm. He is one of the original founding Board Members of the Southern California Cloud Security Alliance Chapter, the previous President, and an honorary board member. He chairs the Industry advisory board for the National Cybersecurity Training & Education Center (NCYTE) and is an advisory board member to The Cyber Helpine, Washington States Cybersecurity Centre of Excellence, as well as for the non-profit; GRC for Intelligent Ecosystems (GRCIE).
When it comes to cyber security staffing Kris is recognized as one of the most experienced specialists in the industry. He has spoken at some of the most prestigious conferences in our industry, including DEFCON, INFOSEC WORLD, RSA, BSidesLV, and the (ISC)² Congress.
Kris is committed to using his expertise to make a difference in the cybersecurity Industry.
Blair Dawson
Blair has earned a Master of Science of Cybersecurity and holds multiple IAPP certifications and recognitions (FIP, CIPP/US, CIPP/E, CIPM). In addition to being an Advisory Board Member for The Cyber Helpline, she is a Mentor for the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) Mentorship Program. Blair will also be an Adjunct Professor at IIT, Chicago-Kent College of Law in Spring 2024 teaching Cybersecurity, Data Privacy and Incident Response for the JD Certificate program in Data Privacy Law.
Rob Ferril
Rob is a Graduate of Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in Management Information Systems. He currently holds the CISSP and the SANS GPEN certifications and several others previously. Rob has 30+ years of experience in IT with the last 23 being focused on Information Security. Rob has been in his current role at UAB since the beginning of 2019 and was at UAB Medicine in the three years prior to that. The Information Security team is responsible for developing, maintaining, overseeing, and operating security tools, processes, and policies. Rob’s team oversees the protection of information assets via security event management, risk management, vulnerability management, penetration testing, technology reviews and incident response / digital forensics.
Will Rogers
Will has amassed nearly 20 years of experience in cyber security. Starting his career in R&D for Government clients in the UK, he has since built and run world class security programs at Etsy, mParticle, ActBlue and Zwift. He has helped organizations and individuals stay one step ahead of adversaries and provided post event support to those impacted by cyber attacks and online harassment. Will is excited to help bring The Cyber Helpline's essential services to the US.
David Forrestall
David Forrestall is the founder and CEO of SecurIT360, an independent, cyber-only security consulting firm. Over the past three decades, David has consulted with many clients on cyber, technology, and compliance issues. He currently leads product development to stay ahead of threats by staying active in cyber research, incident response, technology, and privacy issues. He studied Physics and taught at the University of Alabama at Birmingham before transitioning into technology in the 1990s. Since then he has worked in various technical roles, eventually becoming a CIO. He founded SecurIT360 in 2009.
Learn more about our USA support here.
Want to support our mission? Your assistance will enable us to extend our reach and provide aid to all those in need. Learn about different ways you can support here.
Need Help? Chat to our chatbot on our ‘Get Help’ page. Our chatbot will ask you some questions and get you to summarise your issue. Once the chatbot has enough information, it will match your issue to a known type of cyberattack. If you need more help the chatbot will give you the option of speaking to one of our volunteers.
Further Resources from The Cyber Helpline
Guide for Dealing with Inappropriate content