286 - Yvette Florez - CISO CO State Government Agency

Our featured guest this month is Yvette Florez, CISO of a Colorado State Government Agency, interviewed by Frank Victory. News from Litera, the Denver Broncos/Ibotta, RTX/Space Force, Multicut, xAI v. Colorado RE: AI legislation, as well as blogs from Zvelo and Red Canary plus much more! Don’t forget to get in on the Colorado=Security Annual Salary Survey!

Our featured guest this month is Yvette Florez, Information Systems Security Manager at the City of Lakewood (and former Director of Identity & Access Management for the Colorado OIT), interviewed by Frank Victory (President of Denver OWASP and Conference Chair for SnowFROC).

We often talk about the operational side of cybersecurity, but Yvette brings a unique perspective on managing statewide crises and driving legislative change. She takes us back to her time with the Colorado Governor’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), detailing the intense response to the SamSam ransomware attacks that took down CDOT. Yvette also shares the behind-the-scenes work of representing OIT before the Joint Technology Committee (JTC) in 2018, where she played a key role in securing crucial funding for state identity initiatives. Finally, we explore unique workforce solutions, like the Department of Corrections (DOC) programs that utilize offenders for tier I Help Desk calls.

Check out the full episode where we discuss:

• The state's battle against the SamSam ransomware attacks on CDOT and the resulting federal indictments.

• Navigating the JTC to secure legislative support and funding for critical state identity initiatives.

• Unconventional workforce development, including utilizing DOC offenders for tier I Help Desk calls via the CCI program.

Come join us on the Colorado = Security Slack channel to meet old and new friends.

Sign up for our mailing list on the main site to receive weekly updates - https://www.colorado-security.com/. If you have any questions or comments, or any organizations or events we should highlight, contact Alex and Robb at info@colorado-security.com

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This Month’s News

• Slack channel | Mailing list | Rate us and subscribe | Tell a friend

• Software company expands into downtown Denver

• U.S. military terminates Aurora-based GPS technology contract after $6.27B spent

• Ibotta extends Nuggets jersey sponsorship

• Aerospace company chooses Northern Colorado city for manufacturing site

• Elon Musk's xAI sues Colorado over artificial intelligence law

• Why AI Application Signals Should Drive Enforcement Decisions

• The Governed Agentic Future of Security

• How AI can streamline your security testing

Upcoming Events

• Check out the full calendar

• 5/20 DenSec Monthly Meetup

• 5/21 IdentiBeer

• 5/27 - ISC2 Pikes Peak May Chapter Meeting

• 5/27 Denver ISSA Privacy and Regulations SIG Meeting

• 5/30 ISSA CO Springs Chapter SEC+ Review Session 4

• 6/11 Nortside Cyber Quarterly Meetup

• 6/17 DenSec Monthly Meetup

• 6/24 ISC2 Pikes Peak June Chapter Meeting

• 6/23-6/25 Rocky Mountain Information Security Conference (RMISC)

Episode Resources:

• Yvette Florez on LinkedIn

• Frank Victory on LinkedIn | Professor Frank Website | GitHub | YouTube Channel

• How SamSam ransomware took down CDOT, and how the state fought back twice (Colorado Sun)

• CDOT hacking indictment (Colorado Sun)

• CDOC Colorado Correctional Industries (CCI) Program

• 2026 Salary Survey

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• Thanks to CJ Adams for our intro and exit! If you need any voiceover work, you can contact him here at carrrladams@gmail.com. Check out his other voice work here.

• Intro and exit song: "The Language of Blame" by The Agrarians is licensed under CC BY 2.0