The West Michigan Cyber Security Consortium is a multi-jurisdictional and public/private partnership whose purpose is to enhance the prevention, protection, response, and recovery to cyber security threats, disruptions, and degradation to critical information technology functions.
The WMCSC was formed in 2010 to improve cyber security information sharing among businesses, emergency management professionals, law enforcement, and the broader communities inside the Department of Homeland Security’s Region 5 and Michigan’s Region 6.
The Consortium began with approximately 25 individuals from Information Technologies Management Association (ITMA), which represented large and small businesses in West Michigan. As of December 2018, membership included 700 individuals that reach across the 13 Michigan’s Region 6, as well as representation from Allegan, Kalamazoo, Lansing, Detroit, Traverse City, and other areas across the state and region.
The Consortium is led by a steering committee that meets quarterly to plan member meetings and activities, review projects, and make budgetary decisions.
Ashley DeGroff, Secretary
Barb Hiemstra, Co-Chair
Stacy Madden, Co-Chair
Anthony Tuttle, Co-Chair
Tim Becker
Jared Bloomberg
Ed Bobola
Nikolai Gevorkyan
Faith Heikkila
Rose Johnson-King
Abraham Jones
Tiffany Kim
Brian Kowalczk
Jim Kuiphof
The West Michigan Cyber Security Consortium was founded to provide the following services to the greater IT and cyber communities of Region 6:
Determine key cyber security issues encountered by local, state and national entities
Provide educational opportunities related to the key cyber security issues
Develop cyber security guidelines or templates that can be utilized by any entity
Promote networking between IT representatives
Help members assess their existing cyber security preparedness, identify mitigation plans, and connect with resources
Determine a secure information-sharing system for cyber-related issues
Develop benchmarks for achieving key goals and objectives
Drawing heavily from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) voluntary cybersecurity Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure, the key goals and objectives of the WMCSC are to provide support for the following cyber security tasks:
