Detroit/Ann Arbor Security Community

Each week, we’ll highlight a major city in the US and cover the places and events you can go to in that area to get your security information fix. This post is part of the information security communities.

Motor City is still relevant in the security field in the Great Lakes area. Together with nearby Ann Arbor, it still hosts a bustling group of infosec professionals. Here are some local professional groups in these parts.

• ISSA Motor City – Started in 1999, this chapter of ISSA continues to grow. Meetings are every third Thursday. Check out their past meetings and events.
• ISACA Detroit Chapter – They recently established a new site. Browse upcoming chapter events, often at the University of Michigan, and the current news.
• Michigan InfraGard – Meetings for this public-private partnership are every quarter on the last Tuesday of the month. View their past meetings or contact them if you want to be part of it.

Detroit seems to be the place for the suit types but the more lax people in the community meet up in Ann Arbor. Here are some local meetings in that area.

• ARBSEC – They moved from being DC734 and now have a new site. They meet every first Wednesday at the Tech Brewery. Follow them on Twitter if you know what’s good for you.
• MI2600 – Meetings are on the first Friday of the month at Michigan Union Welker. Find out more through their extensive FAQ or squeeze yourself into the mailing list.

One thing we like about Detroit is the presence of a lot (we mean a lot) of hackerspaces.

• AllHandsActive – This space in Ann Arbor host build nights every Thursday and they are located right next to the Michigan Theatre.
• i3 Detroit – i3 stands for imagine, innovate and inspire, which they do particularly well. Read on the following for more: wiki, classes and events, media gallery. They are located in Ferndale.
• OmniCorpDetroit – They hold regular hacknites every Thursday. Get in touch with them here. The space is in Detroit’s Eastern Market. No relation to OCP, we hope.
• The Detroit Facility – This group operates out of the northwest Detroit suburbs.

Lastly, there are some interesting security events you might want to check out.

• Merit Member Conference – Launched in 1999, the Merit Member Conference has become a focal point for information sharing among Michigan’s leading IT professionals.
• SUMIT conference – An annual security event in the University of Michigan. Past speakers have included Marcus J. Ranum from Tenable Security and Deviant Ollam from The CORE Group.
• BSides Detroit – Security BSides comes into town with their security unconference! This will be on June 3 – 4.

There might be a few groups we missed. If so, feel free to chime in at the comments.