As we’re approaching M3AAWG’s milestone 50th General Meeting on October 12-15, we’ve invited members – both veterans and newcomers – to celebrate the journey of M3AAWG from its humble beginnings to becoming the largest anti-abuse consortium in the world. To capture all the characteristics and memories that make M3AAWG special, we’ve asked M3AAWG founding members, former and current chairpeople, and officers to share their perspectives. In this post, we’ll share highlights of our founding story from those who helped build the organization, including the organization's conception, growth, and where we are today.

In our upcoming Member Engagement webinar series, Stephen Farrell, M3AAWG Senior Technical Advisor, will host a session detailing the state of COVID-19 contact-tracing applications and discuss their security, privacy and efficiency implications. The session will take place on Tuesday, September 15th at 8am PT / 11am ET. Professionals from M3AAWG member companies are welcome to join the session. To register, please visit the M3AAWG Engagement Series site.

With the majority of companies working remotely for the foreseeable future, and social distancing procedures still in effect, we’re entirely reliant on digital communications, particularly email. Bad actors are taking advantage of this dependence, resulting in an uptick in email-related cybercrime, such as spear phishing attacks, where criminals pose as legitimate senders with a specific request.

On August 6th, I participated in a panel discussion hosted by Infosecurity Magazine focused on technologies, strategies and tactics to fight phishing. The discussion, moderated by Dan Raywood, the publication’s Contributing Editor, and featuring Olesia Klevchuk, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Barracuda and James Gosnold, Security Practitioner, provided a comprehensive overview of the latest phishing-related threats and offered insight into how security professionals have adjusted their security approaches following the COVID-19 pandemic.