Michelle Schafer & Tim Wilson
Merritt Group
Michelle Schafer is Senior Vice President and runs the cybersecurity team at Merritt Group, an integrated marketing and public relations firm based in the DC area. Over the past decade, Michelle has represented more than 50 security companies including BlackHat, CrowdStrike, Mandiant, Netwitness, Venafi, MACH37, PhishMe, (ISC)2, PGP and Fortify Software, among others. She is a MACH37 mentor and frequently presents at conferences like RVASec and Security B-Sides about the role of media in cybersecurity.
Tim Wilson is Editor in Chief and co-founder of Dark Reading.com, UBM Tech’s online community for information security professionals. He is responsible for managing the site, assigning and editing content, and writing breaking news stories. Wilson has been recognized as one of the top cyber security journalists in the US in voting among his peers, conducted by the SANS Institute. In 2011 he was named one of the 50 Most Powerful Voices in Security by SYS-CON Media.
The Changing Mind of the Security Pro — How Hype and Media Shape Infosec Priorities
One of the most difficult jobs of today’s security professional is setting priorities in a storm of news reports, vulnerability disclosures, and product announcements. With so much hype and misinformation on the Web and in the media, how can infosec pros determine which problems to tackle first? In this informative session, top experts in the fields of security PR and media will discuss the various ways that threats and technology are overhyped — and how you can sort through the noise to determine what really matters to your organization