Core Beliefs

vCISO Catalyst members embrace, respect, and enforce a vendor-neutral environment in order to maintain an equitable space in which ideas and opinions are shared to enable a culture of growth and cooperation in the global cybersecurity community.

Conflict of Interest

vCISO Catalyst members shall be obliged to disclose financial incentives, gifts, referral fees or other compensation provided by their vendor or other partners to other members and to their clients when making recommendations, stating opinions or performing assessments to avoid conflicts of interest.

Confidentiality

All members are expected to protect the confidentiality of their clients and abide by all non-disclosure and confidentiality agreements in which they are a party.

Marketing to Members

Members shall not disclose membership list(s), meeting attendee list(s) or any other database of the organization to any third party. Members shall not solicit other members or their clients or conduct direct marketing to other members or their clients without the other member’s individual, explicit written consent.

Acknowledgement

All members shall sign a written acknowledgement and agree to abide by the code of conduct upon joining the organization.

Recording of Meetings

Meetings may be recorded by the vCISO Catalyst Meeting Host for future review or reference. Members are not authorized to make additional recordings on other platforms or publish recorded meetings outside of the vCISO Catalyst community forum that have not been approved by the Advisory Board and/or CEO or by the speaker. The vCISO Catalyst Meeting Host shall warn the meeting attendees before the meeting is recorded so that attendees can anonymize their on-screen appearance in the meeting to their privacy preference.

Inclusivity

The vCISO Catalyst community forums, discussions and events require all participants to be treated with respect and equal opportunities irrespective of sex, gender identity or gender expression, pregnancy and maternity, marital and civil partnership status, race, ethnic group, neurodiversity, disability, age, nationality, national origin, sexuality, socioeconomic status, religion, belief or any other demographic factor.

Illegal Activity

Undertaking, encouraging or enabling any illegal activity on vCISO Catalyst community platforms or events will be immediately reported to appropriate authorities. Members are obliged to alert vCISO Catalyst without delay, if they become suspicious or aware of such activity. Additionally, a member found to be involved in any way in illegal activities outside the vCISO Catalyst community that would cause the community to lose trust in those individuals may be subject to actions as deemed appropriate by the Advisory Board and/or CEO including suspension of membership.

CHATHAM HOUSE RULE AND CONFIDENTIALITY

To encourage open discussion and to facilitate information sharing, all vCISO Catalyst forums and events are - unless otherwise explicitly stated - assumed to take place under the Chatham House Rule:

When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed.

It should be noted that vCISO Catalyst is not responsible for the security of public applications and social media platforms; i.e., LinkedIn, Slack, Zoom, or Twitter. Although the Chatham House Rule applies and vCISO Catalyst will do its best to restrict the sharing of information outside the community, vCISO Catalyst cannot be held responsible for the security of such applications.

The Chatham House Rule is an aid to free discussion of sensitive issues. It provides a way for members to openly discuss their views in private while allowing the topic and nature of the debate to be made public and thereby to contribute to broader conversations that further the cause of good information security practices.

Members may use information that has been shared within the community for the purposes of furthering the interests of the information security profession as long as the information:

• Remains non-attributable;
• Does not include any material that could expose a member's (or their organization's) security posture or question their integrity.

UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR

vCISO Catalyst forums and discussions may involve sensitive information regarding specific organizations' security postures, and specific individuals' opinions, and may be shared within the community under the Chatham House Rule.

For this reason, it is completely in violation of vCISO Catalyst's Code of Ethics to disclose, share publicly, store or publish said information on any other platform.

PREVENTION OF HARASSMENT

Harassment is any unwanted behavior which can be intimidating or conduct which is upsetting for one or more members.

It includes, but is not limited to: intimidation, harassment, assault, unfair discrimination, derogatory or demeaning conduct, reinforcement of social stereotypes, sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation/stalking, unwanted photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks, unwanted physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, or the encouragement of any such behavior.

Asking questions of a member to obtain clarity or debate a point is appropriate - heckling or haranguing the member is not appropriate. If you are concerned that something you wish to say may fall under the umbrella of harassment, refrain from sharing those words aloud. Harassment is in the perception of the person being harassed.

ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR

Professional and respectful behavior is expected of all members, at all times, no matter the circumstances, platform or venue.