Dear Members of the ISC2 Chennai Chapter,
Greetings and Best Wishes for a Happy, Prosperous, and Cybersafe New Year 2026.
As an event filled and successful year 2025 comes to an end, it gives us great pleasure to communicate and share with you, the reflections of 2025, Community Outreach & CSR initiatives, Recognition, Membership, support for Professional Development and as well the Target & Goals for the year 2026.
Reflections of 2025: A Year of Progress and Engagement
The year was marked by our sustained efforts to spread cyber awareness among future generations and to contribute meaningfully to our members through monthly knowledge sessions.
The Chapter successfully conducted Knowledge Sharing Sessions across all the months of the Year 2025, 9 Professional Development Meetings, 2 Workshops and 1 Conference, thereby offering 38 CPE Credits in total for the year 2025. These sessions were presented by leading subject matter experts on current and emerging topics in cyber technology and security. The feedback collected from the participants on the sessions were used to facilitate continuous improvement.
On 22 February 2025, the chapter organised a grand one-day Conference at Madras Management Association (MMA), Chennai. The conference, attended by around 120 participants, centred on the theme “Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity.” Eminent cybersecurity professionals delivered sessions on advanced topics in cyberspace and cybersecurity. The Chapter expresses heartfelt gratitude to our sponsors: Indian Bank, KPMG, Tamilnadu Mercantile Bank, Auriseg Consulting and Animotrones Technologies, whose support were instrumental to the event’s success. The Chapter also thanks City Union Bank, Qadit Systems, Royal Sundaram, Karur Vysya Bank for nominating 5 or more of their officials for the Conference.
An interactive workshop titled “Transforming Digital Risk Protection Through Artificial Intelligence” was conducted by CyberXtron P Ltd on 26 July 2025 at Madras Management Association, with participation from over 80 members.
Another workshop was held on 8 November 2025 at Hotel Maris, Chennai, focusing on “Establishing and Operationalising a Data Privacy Office for an Organisation”, led by Mr Solomon Sagayaraj, a renowned cybersecurity expert. This hands-on session guided participants in building their own Data Privacy Office framework.
Community Outreach and CSR Initiatives
Our Chapter continues to promote cybersecurity awareness in society through various CSR initiatives.
The Chapter is pleased to announce the establishment of the student wing of ISC2 Chennai Chapter in three premier colleges: RMK College of Engineering & Technology (RMKCET), RMK Engineering College (RMKEC) and RMD Engineering College (RMDEC) by coordinating with the RMK group of educational institutions, Gummidipoondi, Chennai.
The following three exclusive sessions were conducted for the student members to promote ISC2 objectives and encourage them to pursue ISC2 certifications, supporting their early career development.
● Introduction to ISC2 Professional Certifications for RMKCET students – 8 March 2025
● ISC2 Chennai Chapter Student Wing Inauguration and Induction of Student Members from the three pioneer colleges of RMK group – 13 September 2025
● CC Certification Overview for students of all three colleges – 22 October 2025
The Chapter expresses its sincere gratitude to the management and cybersecurity faculty of these colleges for their excellent support and coordination in forming the first student wing of ISC2 in India.
Recognition and Membership Growth
Each year, the Chapter recognises the outstanding speaker with the “Star Speaker of PDM” award. This annual honour, instituted by Dr K Ramasubramaniam, our Founder President, includes a citation and gift voucher. For 2024, Mr D. Swaminathan was celebrated at our Annual Conference for his presentation titled “Introduction to AI Standards.”
Our professional membership grew to 180 in 2025 from 130 in the same year, and continues to expand, although we had set a target of 250 for 2025. The current membership does not yet fully represent the strength of security professionals in Chennai or the number of ISC2-certified professionals in the region. In 2026, we will renew our focus on membership growth and encourage all members to renew their subscriptions on time and urge their professional colleagues to join the Chapter as subscribed members.
Professional Development and Support
As planned at the beginning of the year, our Chapter provided 38 CPE credits in 2025 through PDMs, workshops, and the conference, improving upon the 31 CPE credits offered in 2024. CPE certificates were issued to all eligible subscribed members for every PDM, as well as to all participants of the workshops and conference.
Our Chapter’s WhatsApp group and LinkedIn page continue to be the dynamic channels of communication for our members.
To support those pursuing ISC2 certifications, the Chapter provides guidance to aspirants on content, processes, and preparation strategies. We coordinate study buddy groups among aspirants and the success of these groups depending primarily on the participants’ dedication and commitment. The Chapter would continue to facilitate these groups and provide all feasible support to help ensure success in certification endeavours.
Targets and Goals for 2026
As the Chapter prepares itself for the New Year 2026, It is pertinent to outline our targets.
● A one-day physical conference on 28 February 2026. Further details will be shared soon.
● Increase professional membership to 250 by 2026.
● Promote cyber awareness for future generations through more collaboration with educational institutions and cybersecurity groups.
● Organise more CSR initiatives, physical and virtual PDMs, and workshops with CPE and knowledge enhancement opportunities for members
Acknowledgements
As we move forward, the chapter remains committed to deliver increasing value and benefits to our members.
I, along with our Chapter Board colleagues Mr. A. Vijayakumar, Mr. K. S. Lakshminarayanan, Mr. Santhosh Mohan, Ms. Ayswarya Sathish, Mr. S. Senthilvel and Ms. Neha R. Singh, express our sincere gratitude to all the members, presenters, and supporters for your unwavering support towards the progress of the Chapter and solicit your continued support for all our future professional endeavours.
Wishing the cybersecurity community a great year ahead towards creating awareness, building and maintaining impenetrable defences, resilient networks, and successful threat mitigations. May your codes remain secure, your vigilance unwavering, and your contributions to a safer digital world be celebrated.
With Regards,
Vijayakumar KM
President
ISC2 Chennai Chapter