Mark Howells Email & Phone Number

Information Security Officer for ER Solutions, an accounts receivables management and customer care company. ER Solutions and its parent company Convergent Resources Inc. are among the top five credit collections businesses in the United States.Created and managed an information security and physical security program from scratch. Responsibilities include security oversight for 5 call centers in different time zones as well as a data center located in Renton, Washington. Prepared annual security budgets and performed project management for security-related enhancements.The technical environment includes HP-UX servers, Windows-based servers and clients, Active Directory access control, interactive voice response and VoIP communications, MPLS networks and proprietary application systems.Responsible for four specific areas – Compliance, Logical Security, Disaster Recovery and Physical Security:ComplianceManaged ISO 27001, PCI, HIPAA compliance reviews and approximately 35 annual client-specific and new business reviews and audits including Fortune 500 retail, telecommunications, financial and health care clients. Managed all aspects of the annual SAS70 Type II audits performed by external auditors. Managed all aspects of the annual PCI certification including vulnerability scans by an Approved Scanning Vendor and review by a Qualified Security Assessor.Developed and obtained management approval for a suite of information security policies covering all aspects of security. Maintained these policies which include upwards of 50 pages of guidance documents. Managed the data destruction process for electronic and paper media.Logical SecurityAround the clock monitoring using Tripwire, Solar Winds Orion network monitoring, McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator, ManageEngine ADManager & Event Log Analyzer, Numara FootPrints, Cisco IDM intrusion detection and Cisco ASA firewalls.

Weyerhauser is an international Fortune 200 manufacturer. Planned, conducted, and supervised staff in audits of Weyerhaeuser systems in all lines of business and in a diverse manufacturing environment. Audited client/server, mid-range, and mainframe platforms with various operating systems. Performed new systems development reviews, data center reviews & disaster recovery reviews. Developed pro-active control consulting techniques for early adoption of new controls in evolving environments. Developed Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) review & compliance techniques. Worked extensively in the areas of information security, networks, firewalls, anti-virus, server operating systems and desktop platforms.Worked within Weyerhaeuser as a control consultant to IT Security, Disaster Recovery, IT Networks, IT Operations, IT Systems Development, EDS, Intellectual Property and Business Conduct. I have 22 years experience as an automated controls expert.

Nordstrom is a national specialty retailer. Managed the company's Information Systems Audit function. Planned, conducted & supervised staff in audits of Nordstrom's mainframe and distributed computer applications, systems, and data processing departments. Performed new systems development reviews and planned the annual IS audit activity of the Internal Audit department.

First Interestate Bank of Washington was a state-wide affiliate of a regional bank holding company. Planned, conducted & supervised staff in audits of mainframe systems, applications, new systems development and data processing departments.