ID Theft is a major issue that effects people from any walk of life. Criminals on the internet are actively trying to steal your information. Whether it is credit cards, medical information, bank information, or your retirement. With so many online accounts the opportunity is limitless; many are left not knowing what to do.
JSCM Group spends its days advising on, testing, training, and researching cyber/network security issues. This has been our core focus for over a decade. With all of the work and issues that I have personally seen, I have developed a keen understanding when it comes to cyber/network security. I have experienced scenarios in which companies and individuals have handled the information on their network both wrong and right. I can tell you that there are a lot of things individuals can do to prevent ID theft. Additionally, there are businesses out there with an active interest in helping people protect themselves. JSCM Group works to connect these two groups together.
I am an avid runner. I run as many days a week as possible. For example, as I write this, I am on a cross-country flight returning from the Blackhat Conference hosted in Las Vegas. I woke up this morning at 2:45 AM so that I could get a run in before I had to sit for a large portion of the day. Being such a devoted runner, something occurred to me a few months back - What better way to raise awareness of ID theft and prevention than hosting a race within the community?
So, it began. My talented marketing manager, sales team, and I all worked together to investigate what it would take to put on a race within our community. We located an event management organization, which was a godsend, and that then allowed us to really narrow down what all needed to be done. We learned about course layouts, local police issues, sponsorships, t-shirts, medals, food, bathrooms…needless to say there are a lot of moving parts to something like this. But we still decided to move forward and plan our first community race, the Inaugural Hacker Hustle on September 28, 2019. We met with our fantastic firewall partner WatchGuard and they agreed to become our title sponsor.
We then contacted businesses in the community and partnered with a terrific local bank, Aquesta, who is actively working to protect their client’s information. Additionally, we partnered with Ckezepis Law, a local real estate lawyer. Ckezepis Law is actively working to secure your information during the home buying process, which is one area that is substantially growing within fraud and theft. These guys are going above and beyond, and Justin Ckezepis is a great guy to know!
While I can’t go through every partner and stick with our typical short form BLOGS, I will thank everyone who has partnered with us on this project. But we need help. We need to get the word out about this project. We need people to come and be a part of this event whether a sponsor or a runner. We need to connect individuals and families with information they can use to protect their identities.
We don’t care if you run, walk, jog, or crawl. We believe this event will be a great avenue for you to pick up tips and tricks that will help prevent theft of your information. Don’t make yourself and easy target. Frustrate them so they leave you and your loved ones alone.