Who we are, who guides us, and the person who started it all.
Cyber Houston researches and shares cybersecurity knowledge so the Greater Houston region can work safely, securely, and privately. Here is our mission, the board that governs it, and the founder whose vision began it.
01 · Our mission
Public education is the most direct path to a more secure region.
Cyber Houston researches and shares knowledge in the field of cybersecurity so that businesses and individuals across the Greater Houston region can carry out their daily work in a safe, secure, and private way. We do that through public education: a flagship conference, regular sessions, free research, and scholarships for the next generation.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security recognizes Cyber Houston as an Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO), reflecting our role in helping the region share and act on cybersecurity knowledge.
02 · Our story
From a task force to an independent nonprofit.
Cyber Houston grew out of a cybersecurity task force convened by the Greater Houston Partnership. For six years the programming, including the annual Cyber Summit, ran as a program of Blue Lance, a local cybersecurity company.
As demand for the work outgrew that arrangement, Cyber Houston became an independent nonprofit so the education could belong to the whole region and reach a wider public.
03 · What we believe
Cybersecurity touches every business in Houston.
It is no longer a specialty that lives in one department, from the energy companies on the ship channel to the small firms that keep the city running.
Education is the most direct way to make the region more secure, and it should be open to the people who need it, not locked behind a price tag or a job title.
04 · How we are organized
A Texas nonprofit, run for the public good.
501(c)(3) public charity
A Texas nonprofit corporation and a federally recognized public charity.
Board-governed
Governed by a board of directors and run with the help of officers and volunteers.
Funded by the community
Corporate sponsorships, Summit ticket sales, and donations keep the work free.
Our board
The people who steer the mission.
Cyber Houston is governed by a volunteer board of directors, drawn from across Houston’s security, business, and academic community, who guide the work and hold it to its public purpose. Listed alphabetically.
In memoriam
Umesh Verma
1957-2022 · Founder of Cyber Houston & the Houston Cyber Summit · Founder & CEO of Blue Lance
Cyber Houston exists because Umesh Verma believed cybersecurity knowledge should belong to everyone, not just the few who could afford it.
His life
The man who built this community.
After beginning his career at Brown & Root and Shell Oil, Umesh followed an entrepreneur’s conviction and founded Blue Lance, a Houston cybersecurity company, growing it over three decades into a leading developer of security governance, audit, and compliance software used by organizations around the world.
Long before ‘cyber’ was a boardroom word, he saw that the region’s businesses needed somewhere to learn from one another. He created the Houston Cyber Summit and convened the experts, executives, and students who would shape the field here. That work became Cyber Houston, which carries his mission forward: vigilance, shared.
His generosity reached well beyond cybersecurity. A dedicated advocate for people living with diabetes, he served the American Diabetes Association as chair of its Houston Community Leadership Board and, in 2020, as chairman of its national board of directors.
Umesh Kumar Verma passed away on December 26, 2022, after a courageous battle with cancer, surrounded by his family. Every session, every scholarship, and every person who learns to defend their business a little better carries his work forward.
Be part of the mission.
Sponsor, volunteer, or simply show up to learn. Each one helps keep the Greater Houston region ready.