Mary Catherine ("MC") Petermann
Chair Person of the Atlanta chapter
Mary Catherine Petermann is a seasoned communications executive, startup enthusiast and investor with a focus on Internet security and emerging technologies. She has more than ten years of technology marketing and public relations experience in both agency and corporate environments. Mary Catherine currently serves as director of Purewire communications for Barracuda Networks Inc., where she is responsible for communication efforts for Barracuda Labs, the company’s multi-disciplinary research organization that develops innovative technologies across email, Web, network and cloud security and technology. She joined Barracuda Networks in October 2009, when the company acquired Purewire, where Mary Catherine served as vice president of marketing.

Prior to Purewire, she was director of corporate communications at CipherTrust, where she led the company’s global communications initiatives before its acquisition by Secure Computing in 2006. Mary Catherine has developed and implemented communications programs during five acquisitions for both public and private companies, and helped launch and raise the visibility of numerous technology companies and nonprofits. Previously, she worked with Air2Web, Deltacom, Weber Shandwick (clients: Sprint, Deltacom, Harley-Davidson and Spectrum-EBP-acquired by Metavante), GCI Group (clients: BellSouth-acquired by AT&T, Sun and Nortel), and Edelman PR (clients: Scientific-Atlanta-acquired by Cisco, and MCI).

Outside of her professional duties, Mary Catherine is an avid supporter of thyroid cancer research, where she leads efforts for fundraising, planning and outreach for ThyCa, the thyroid cancer survivors association. Mary Catherine graduated with highest honors from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English and Speech Communication.
 
E-Mail MC at:

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Advisory Council:
 
Dan McGinn-Combs
Dan has more than 20 years experience managing information technology with a special focus on security. Dan is currently the manager of network security at Cypress Communications, where he is responsible for the company's security strategy, operations and ongoing audit program. He holds CISSP and CISA as well as a gold GSEC certification from GIAC/SANS.
 
Dan took the position of Chief Engineer at the original Peachtree Software in 1982 as it was being acquired by Management Science America (MSA), a mainframe software company. At MSA, he managed the growing number of SNA and Token Ring attached personal computers. Early in the 1990s, Dun & Bradstreet acquired MSA forming a global software entity, D&B Software. There, Dan managed the company’s developing Internet presence, commissioning a token ring-based firewall from an Atlanta startup, Technologic, using Novell's UnixWare. In the mid-1990s, Geac Computers acquired D&B Software. Preparing Geac's global network and IT infrastructure for Y2K, Dan replaced aging Motorola Unix firewalls with Check Point on Sun and Nokia platforms converging and extending the global network reach with security under single management vision for the first time. Same desk, five (and more!) jobs.
 
Dan's outside interests include 2D and 3D animation, contributing to Open Source projects and teaching his grandchildren the joys of loafing. Dan graduated from Southern Illinois University (and so really *is* Southern) in 2000, having taken a brief hiatus while raising a family. 
 
 
 
  Nick Owen
Nick is the CEO and co-founder of WiKID Systems, a dual-source, two-factor authentication provider in Atlanta, GA. Nick has been involved with Internet start-ups since 1994, when he co-founded Interweb. This website design and application development firm was originally funded with less than $100,000 and was sold four years later for more than $13 million. He subsequently joined Derivion (now part of Metavante, where he was Chief Operations Officer. In this capacity, he was responsible for building the Technical Operations and Account Services teams, developing and architecting the data center, as well as customer service operations.
 
In August of 2000 Nick co-founded iTendant, Inc. (now part of Abrahms Industries (ABRI). Using the Internet and wireless hand-held devices, iTendant provides property service and maintenance management solutions. iTendant was purchased by Abrahms Industries (ABRI) in late 2003. Nick was also an Entrepreneur-in- Residence at the ATDC. He has invested in many companies including SPI Dynamics, TogetherWeb (now part of Proficient Systems), Connecture , RF Solutions (now part of Anadigics, and Servigistics). Nick earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Virginia. He also holds an MBA in finance and real estate from the University of Georgia. 
 
 
 
  Mike Rothman
Mike is President of Securosis, a research and advisory firm specializing in information security. Mike's bold perspectives and irreverent style are invaluable as companies determine effective strategies to grapple with the dynamic security threatscape. Mike specializes in the sexy aspects of security, like protecting networks and endpoints, security management, and compliance. Mike is one of the most sought after speakers and commentators in the security business and brings a deep background in information security. After 20 years in and around security, he's one of the guys who "knows where the bodies are buried" in the space.
 
Starting his career as a programmer and a networking consultant, Mike joined META Group in 1993 and spearheaded META's initial foray into information security research. Mike left META in 1998 to found SHYM Technology, a pioneer in the PKI software market, and then held VP Marketing roles at CipherTrust and TruSecure -- providing experience in marketing, business development, and channel operations for both product and services companies. After getting fed up with vendor life, he started Security Incite in 2006 to provide the voice of reason in an over-hyped yet underwhelming security industry. After taking a short detour as Senior VP, Strategy and CMO at eIQnetworks to chase shiny objects in security and compliance management, Mike joins Securosis with a rejuvenated cynicism about the state of security and what it takes to survive as a security professional. 
 
Mike published "The Pragmatic CSO" in 2007 to introduce technically oriented security professionals to the nuances of what is required to be a senior security professional. He also possesses a very expensive engineering degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University. His folks are overjoyed that he uses literally zero percent of his education on a daily b asis.
 
 
Renault Ross (Symantec)