Skip to main content

📣 Submit your proposal: OpenSSF Community Day Europe

Category

Press Release

OpenSSF Announces Key Themes of AI Security, Diversity and Open Source Public Policy at SOSS Fusion Conference

By Blog, Press Release

Engaging Sessions Led by Industry Experts Will Empower Attendees With the Knowledge, Tools, and Connections to Drive Innovation and Enhance Security in the Open Source Ecosystem

WASHINGTON — September 26, 2024 — The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) is pleased to announce the agenda for its inaugural Secure Open Source Software (SOSS) Fusion Conference, which will take place October 22-23, 2024, in Atlanta, Ga. Featuring presentations covering a variety of high-priority topics, including AI security, diversity, OSS consumption and public policy, the conference will bring together a diverse group of professionals from both the public and private sectors — software developers, security engineers, cybersecurity experts and leaders, founders, tech pioneers and policymakers — to collaborate on creating a more secure open source future. 

In the wake of recent high-profile incidents including XZ Utils, there has been an industry-wide pivot to focus on creating and implementing programs and best practices to bolster open source security. SOSS Fusion will unite key stakeholders for discussions, training and community-building opportunities to advance a more secure digital future. The program will feature keynotes from industry leaders, including:

  • Decoding the AI Revolution; Implications for Security and Society: AI Security Matters: Bruce Schneier, renowned security technologist and best-selling author
  • Window Snyder, founder and CEO at Thistle Technologies (session details forthcoming)
  • Enshittification Was a Choice: Cory Doctorow, science fiction author, activist and journalist
  • Government’s Continuing Path Contributing Towards a Secure Open Source Ecosystem: Timothy Pepper, senior technical advisor, open source software security, U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA)
  • Setting the Standard — Safely Operationalizing OSS Contributions: Brenton Stevens, open source compliance manager, Fannie Mae
  • There Is Just One Way to Do Open Source Security: Together: Marten Mickos, CEO, HackerOne

“Security in the open source world is not just about technology; it’s about building a culture of collaboration and trust,” said Arun Gupta, vice president and general manager of Open Ecosystem Initiatives at Intel and OpenSSF governing board chair. “At SOSS Fusion, we’re bringing together the best minds in the industry to address the pressing challenges of our time, from AI security to diversity and public policy. This conference is an essential step towards creating a safer, more inclusive digital future.”

It will also showcase workshops on the latest security technologies, panel discussions on emerging cyber threats, and networking opportunities with peers and industry leaders. Agenda highlights include:

  • Building Developer Confidence in Software Security With the DevRel Community [Panel]: Katherine Druckman, Intel Corporation; Tabatha DiDomenico, G-Research; Lori Lorusso, Percona
  • Assessing Open Source Software Projects in the Software Supply Chain: Scott Hissam, Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, and Joshua “CoCo” Crisp, Unified Platform (USCYBERCOM)
  • Trojan Model Hubs: Hacking the ML Supply Chain and Defending Yourself from Threats: Sam Washko and William Armiros, Protect AI
  • Navigating the Quantum Readiness Journey: Hands-on Guidance for Starting Your Migration: Eric Mizell, Keyfactor
  • Is Diversity the Top Ingredient in Your SBOM?: Rao Lakkakula and Tunji Taiwo, JPMorgan Chase

Registration for SOSS Fusion 2024 is now open. To learn more about the event, including sponsorship opportunities, please visit the event website.

About the OpenSSF

The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) is a cross-industry initiative by the Linux Foundation that brings together the industry’s most important open source security initiatives and the individuals and companies that support them. The OpenSSF is committed to collaborating and working upstream and with existing communities to advance open source security. For more information, please visit us at openssf.org.

Media Contact:

Jennifer Tanner
Look Left Marketing
openssf@lookleftmarketing.com

Celebrating Women's History Month

OpenSSF, Linux Foundation Training & Certification, and CNCF Announce Scholarships to Support Women in Jordan Entering the Cybersecurity Field in Collaboration with US White House National Security Council

By Blog, Press Release

AMMAN, JORDAN, March 4, 2024 – Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF), Linux Foundation Training and Certification (LF T&C), and Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) are thrilled to announce an initiative in celebration of Women’s History Month. In collaboration with the US White House National Security Council (NSC), we are proud to support the women of Jordan by launching a pilot program offering 250 free security courses and certifications, including specialized certifications in Kubernetes and Cloud Native Security.

This initiative is a testament to our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the technology and cybersecurity fields. By providing complementary security certifications, we aim to break down barriers and create opportunities for women in Jordan, fostering a more inclusive and diverse workforce. As cybersecurity continues to experience challenges in finding enough skilled workers, this program will help build capacity in the workforce.

The pilot program is sponsored by OpenSSF and LF T&C, organizations dedicated to advancing open source software security and providing high-quality training and certification programs.

“Today’s announcement creates exciting opportunities for Jordan women to learn critical skills to enter the cybersecurity workforce and contribute to Jordan’s national security,” said Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technologies. “We applaud OpenSSF and the Linux Foundation for investing in women by granting these scholarships, which will strengthen our collective cybersecurity.” 

“It is an honor to provide these scholarships to the women of Jordan in recognition of International Women’s Day and this year’s theme, ‘Inspire Inclusion,'” said Clyde Seepersad, SVP, General Manager, Training & Certification at Linux Foundation. “Supporting the careers of all women and increasing the supply of skilled cybersecurity professionals are both of vital, global interest.”

Omkhar Arasaratnam, General Manager of OpenSSF, added, “OpenSSF is a proud supporter of cybersecurity capacity building in diverse communities. Our Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) work group and Education Special Interest Group (SIG) have made great progress toward these goals. We’re proud to collaborate on this initiative. We believe that providing opportunities for women in cybersecurity is not just the right thing to do; it is essential for building workforce capacity and the diversity of thought required to address tomorrow’s cybersecurity challenges.”

# # # 

Media Contacts:

Jennifer Bly

OpenSSF

jbly@linuxfoundation.org 


J Scott Punk

Linux Foundation Training & Certification

jspunk@linuxfoundation.org  

Samantha L. Reposa

National Security Council

Samantha.L.Reposa@nsc.eop.gov

About the OpenSSF:

The Open Source Security Foundation (OpenSSF) is a cross-industry initiative by the Linux Foundation that brings together the industry’s most important open source security initiatives and the individuals and companies that support them. The OpenSSF is committed to collaborating and working upstream and with existing communities to advance open source security. For more information, please visit us at openssf.org

About the Linux Foundation:

The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, OpenSSF, OpenChain, and more. The Linux Foundation focuses on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.

About the National Security Council (NSC):

The National Security Council (NSC) is the President’s principal forum for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his or her senior advisors and cabinet officials. Since its inception under President Truman, the Council’s function has been to advise and assist the President and to coordinate matters of national security among government agencies. For more information, please visit whitehouse.gov/nsc/.