Cloud Security Alliance Announces Annual Ron Knode Service Award Winners

Six Outstanding Individual CSA Volunteers Selected to Honor the Legacy of Late CSA Member and Volunteer Contributor Ron Knode

Orlando, FL – CSA CONGRESS 2013 - December 5, 2013 –The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) today announced the recipients of its second annual Ron Knode Service Award, an annual award sponsored by the CSA recognizing six members from the Americas, Asia-Pacific and EMEA regions for excellence in volunteerism. The honorees were selected by the CSA executive team and chosen based on their valuable contributions towards fulfilling the CSA’s mission of promoting best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing. The year’s recipients will be honored this week at the CSA Congress 2013 in Orlando. Ron Knode was an information security expert and member of the CSA family, who passed away on May 31, 2012. An innovative thinker and author of the CSA Cloud Trust Protocol, Ron was a cherished member of the CSA, with endless energy and humor to guide his volunteer contributions. In Ron's memory, the CSA established the Ron Knode Service Award, awarded to CSA members on an annual basis. This year’s recipients reflect Ron’s passion for volunteerism and embody the spirit for which this award was established. They include: Dominik Birk, CSA EMEA: Dominik Birk is an Information Security Manager for the Zurich Insurance Group in Zurich, Switzerland. Birk currently serves as the chair of the CSA Incident Management and Forensics Working Group and has helped established the German and Swiss local CSA chapters. He has also contributed to the CSA Cloud Security Guidance V3.0. Sean Cordero, CSA Americas: Sean Cordero is President of Cloud Watchmen, Inc. and an information security leader with experience in providing information security and IT infrastructure expertise to public and private sector companies across diverse industries. He currently serves as the co-chair of the CSA Cloud Control Matrix Working Group and is a contributor to the Consensus Assessment Initiative Questionnaire. He also has been integral in the development and evolution of the recently launched CCM V.3. Evelyn de Souza, CSA Americas: Evelyn de Souza is the Senior Cloud Compliance Strategist at Cisco Systems where she focuses on developing blueprints and holistic solutions to help organizations embrace cloud securely but in an agile manner. She currently serves as the co-chair of the CSA Cloud Control Matrix Working Group where she has been integral in guiding the development and evolution of the recently launched CCM V.3 Antony Ma, CSA APAC: Antony Ma is an experienced IT audit and system assurance professional, involved in security standard developments. He is the founding chair of the CSA Hong Kong and Macau Chapter and is also a member of the CSA International Standardization Council. Siani Pearson, CSA EMEA: Siani Pearson is a Principal Research Scientist at HP Labs’ Security and Cloud Lab, leading a number of different projects in the area of privacy, accountability and security. Within the CSA, Siani is Vice President of the CSA UK Chapter as well as member of the Privacy and OCF Working Groups. He also serves on the Steering Committee of the GRC stack. Nantawan Wongkachonkitti, CSA APAC: Nantawan Wongkachonkitti serves as the Director of IT Intelligence Operations Division for the Electronic Government Agency (Public Organization), Thailand where she manages the Electronic Government Agency’s Operations Division for all IT Thailand Government. She currently serves as the secretary of the CSA Thailand Chapter, which developed the Cloud Control Matrix 1.3, called the “Cloud Control Self Assessment” on the App Store for dual languages (Thai and English). “The CSA benefited greatly from Ron’s enthusiasm, passion and commitment, and we are reminded of that as we continue to benefit from his hard work within the CSA,” said Jim Reavis, co-founder and executive director of the CSA. “This year’s six individuals truly embody the spirit of Ron’s commitment to volunteerism. In his honor, we commend these individuals and their efforts to promote secure cloud computing across the globe.” About the Cloud Security Alliance The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa. Media Contacts: Kari Walker for the CSA 703.928.9996 [email protected]