OWASP Portland

Welcome

This is the website of the Portland, Oregon OWASP Chapter.

Our chapter is dedicated to the application security and information security of the Pacific Northwest. Above are tabs to various elements of our chapter activity. We host monthly chapter meetings with presentations from regional security practitioners, and we collaborate with other chapters in the Pacific Northwest to produce an annual appsec conference called OWASP AppSec Days Pacific Northwest. The conference has been running for three years. In 2023 it was held in Portland. In 2024 it will be in Vancouver, BC.

Next Meeting/Event(s)

Get Involved

If you are interested in being more involved in our chapter follow the links to the right. Lately Meetup.com has been our primary channel for announcing events.

Let us know if you would be interested in speaking, hosting, or sponsoring a session.

Our Committees

Chapter Leadership

Chapter Meetings

Purpose

Our Chapter Meeting Committee is responsible for cultivating venues and speakers for our monthly chapter meeting.

Members

  • Chelsea Willis - Chair

Opportunities

If you are interested in speaking at a chapter meeting, having your company host one of our meetings, or helping out with this committee please email [email protected].

AppSecPNW Conference

Purpose

Our AppSecPNW Conference committee is responsible for the planning of the AppSecPNW Conference.

Members

  • Brian Myers - Chair

Opportunities

If you are interested in speaking at the conference, know a company who wants to sponsor, or helping out with this committee please email [email protected].

Mentorship

Purpose

The Mentorship committee helps match mentor and mentee pairs, recruit people to utilize our mentorship program, develop resources for learning, and check in with mentorship pairs.

Members

  • Terry Tower - Chair

Opportunities

If you are interested in being a mentor or mentee, developing resources, or serving on this committee email [email protected].

Mentorship

What It Is

We’re in the business of helping people grow. Whether you are a beginner, and expert, or somewhere in between, we want to help you develop as a professional. We work to pair you with someone who has experience or is interest in the same area you are looking to mentor or be mentored. It’s about relationships, hands on keyboards, questions, advice. A lot of the program is what you make out of the relationship we seed you with.

How to Get Involved

If you are interested in finding a mentor or being a mentor, please contact one of our leaders in our chapter via email.

Resources to Help

Here is our resource guide for our mentorship program. It is very much a work in progress (and we would love your help if you want to throw some people hours at it).

Presentations

Podcasts

All of our podcasts can be found here:

Contact us if you know someone who would be a great podcast guests:

Videos

All of our videos can be found on our OWASP PDX YouTube channel here:

Participating

Attendees

Our events are open to the public, and most events are free. Membership in OWASP is not required, though if you are interested in supporting OWASP’s mission we encourage you to join.

If you have ideas about events you’d like to see OWASP offer or topics you’d like to hear speakers address, contact any of the chapter leaders or post a suggestion in Meetup.com or on our OWASP Slack channel. We’d love to hear from you.

Volunteers

We are all volunteers! OWASP chapters are run entirely by volunteers. If you would like to help us put on events, contact any of the chapter leaders. You could help in many ways including:

  • attending monthly chapter planning meetings
  • attending events and greeting people who arrive
  • identifying new people at events and helping them feel welcome
  • finding speakers and venues
  • being the coordinator for one or more monthly events
  • being a mentor for people who participate in our mentorship program

In addition, our chapter helps plan larger events such as the annual AppSec Pacific Northwest conference. In the past we have also offered an annual training day. We sometimes need people to take on roles for those events as well.

Mentorship

We have a mentorship program! If you would like help pursuing appsec-related goals, we may be able to connect you with people who can offer useful advice. Or if you have experience to share, we may be able to pair you with someone who would like to receive it.

(Note that mentorship is not the same as training. Mentors offer guidance, advice, and support, not a structured program for acquiring knowledge.)

Speakers

We are always looking for speakers to present at monthly events. We accept a wide range of topics related to application security. If you are interested, contact anyone on the leadership committee. (Be aware that we try to keep our schedule booked some months in advance.)

We do not pay speakers. OWASP is a largely volunteer-run non-profit organization.

What We Ask from Speakers

What follows are standard expectations for all our events. Most of it probably goes without saying, but I’m including it just to be clear.

We are looking for talks of about 30-50 minutes with time afterwards for Q&A. We typically schedule events after work, around 5:30 or 6pm. Exact time depends on the speaker and the venue.

We generally expect speakers to have visual aids (typically slides) and to have practiced their presentation in advance. Venues may or may not provide internet connectivity. We assume you are bringing a laptop with slides and don’t need anything from us except a hookup to a screen or projector. We would be happy to post your presentation on our website afterwards, but that is up to you.

OWASP has a code of conduct and we ask all participants in our chapter events to follow it. Among other things it includes commitments to treating others with respect, not plagiarizing, and not jeopardizing OWASP’s objectivity and independence.

OWASP does not endorse products or services, and presentations at our chapter events must not be pitches for a product or service. It is fine to say who you are and what you offer when you introduce yourself, but the purpose of the talk should be to convey vendor-neutral insights.

We ask speakers for a serious commitment to making the agreed date. If a conflict arises that prevents you from participating, however, please give us as much advance notice as possible so we can make other arrangements.

Hosts

We also need places to present. Typically we look for venues near central Portland with capacity for 40 or more people and a screen or monitor for projecting slides. Usually these are conference rooms or other gathering areas that local companies generously allow us to use.

We acknowledge hosts when we publicize events on Meetup.com and in the chapter’s Slack channel, and again at the start of the event.

If you have space to offer or know someone who might, please contact any of the chapter leaders.

Sponsors

Since we usually schedule presentations after work around 5:30 or 6pm, we appreciate it when someone is willing to provide food. Attendance varies from event to event, so if you are interested in sponsoring you’ll want to contact any of the chapter leaders to identify specific opportunities.

We acknowledge hosts when we publicize events on Meetup.com and in the chapter’s Slack channel, and again at the start of the event.

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