Jim Hietala, CISSP, GSEC, is the Vice President, Security for The Open Group, where he manages all IT security and risk management programs and standards activities.

Previously Jim provided research and consulting services to IT security and compliance vendors. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, and he recently authored a comprehensive course on IT risk management. He participates in the SANS Analyst/Expert program, having written several research whitepapers and participated in several webcasts for SANS. He has also published numerous articles on information security, risk management, and compliance topics in publications including The ISSA Journal, Bank Accounting & Finance, Risk Factor, SC Magazine, and others.

An industry veteran, he has held senior leadership roles at ControlPath, Avail Networks, Alternative Technologies, eSoft, Qwest, Concentric Network, and Digital Pathways. He previously developed and launched the industry's first remote access VPN service (Concentric RemoteLink) and encrypting ISDN router (Network Express), and launched a compliance and risk management software start-up, ControlPath, in the IT-GRC market.

He holds a B.S. in Marketing from Southern Illinois University.