Schultze said he knows the risk: His own laptop was hacked while he was giving a hacking demonstration at a hotel ballroom.

New local information security group formed

The recent security seminar in Mankato was hosted by a newly formed Mankato chapter of the Information Security Systems Association.

Jeff Evenson, a security manager at Midwest Wireless, formed the local ISSA because traveling to the Minneapolis chapter meetings and seminars was difficult. And, he said, there are different needs for computer and network security in rural Minnesota.

“In a rural setting computer security isn’t just for big companies like Midwest Wireless or Taylor Corp. There are small businesses all over southern Minnesota that need to keep an eye on computer security,” Evenson said. “It’s hard if you’re the only (information technology) person at a business to keep up on things and network with people about security.”

Evenson, a Twin Cities native, spent 20 years in the Navy, working mainly in cryptology. He retired from the military in 2003 and took a job with Midwest Wireless.

The Mankato ISSA chapter is the 105th worldwide. “The ISSA is for security professionals or practitioners, so it’s a wide range of people,” Evenson said.

For more information, go to the Mankato chapter’s Web site at www.katoinfosec.org

—Tim Krohn