Shannen Rossmiller
The events on 9/11 hardened our hearts. But for Shannen Rossmiller, it fueled a patriotic fire.
She was born on a family farm at the height of the Vietnam War, in a remote corner of Montana known for its majestic mountains and Minuteman missile silos. In this contradictory setting, between chores and classes, the young Shannen began the hobby of reading true-crime books -- especially involving serial killers.
Graduating high school with honors at 16, she was immediately drawn toward law while attending college. That led to paralegal work, then to the bench. In the year 2000 at the age of 29, the now mother of three became the youngest female judge in American history.
On September 11th, Shannen would suffer both physical and emotional trauma. On the same fateful day terrorists attacked the USA, Shannen fell in a home accident. Stuck in bed with a broken pelvic bone for six weeks, she just stared at the repetitive TV images of jihadist mass-murder -- wondering how anyone could hate so much. Then destiny -- and determination -- took over.
Armed with her criminal-justice background, the judge absorbed more than 50 books on Middle Eastern culture -- including the Koran. Then, to understand the holy-war rantings on websites, she taught herself to read and write the Arabic language. Emboldened to go further, Shannen decided she could no longer take a passive interest in the evil messages online. She created various male Muslim personalities for cover and fearlessly began "trolling" for terrorists in the Internet's jihadist chat rooms.
Realizing her unique combination of talents and online methods could be used to snare the West's new enemies, Shannen volunteered to help authorities take them down. At first, her out-of-the-box Internet stings and no-nonsense country attitude raised eyebrows in official Washington. But grateful federal agents and overseas operatives quickly saw success, and adopted her as one of their own. The judge's pioneering undercover work helped to launch a new field of espionage, called "cyber-counterintelligence."
Since 9/11, Shannen has worked with authorities on more than 200 undercover operations around the globe -- involving everything from jihadist cells, to weapons caches, to bomb plots. The results: Three extremists have been convicted in the USA, while another dozen high-profile terrorists have been detained abroad.
After six years of court duty, Shannen retired from the bench in 2006 to accept the position of senior civil-litigation specialist for the Montana Attorney General. But despite ongoing threats to her and her family, she continues her critical work as a cyber-spy.
In a private ceremony in October of 2006, an international organization of Middle East experts honored her with its first-ever award for heroism. And web bloggers continue to post their accolades -- as one recently put it -- "Shannen Rossmiller is what America should be made of."
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
The topics for Shannen Rossmiller's presentations are the result of more than a dozen years of civil and criminal litigation (including a six-year bench assignment), plus her pioneering efforts in the new field of "cyber counter-intelligence."
Penetrating Minds of Mayhem
Based on Shannen's upcoming book and tells of her journey from farm mother of three, to local judge, to the world's most successful cyber-spy. Hear how she bottled up her rage over 9/11 and funneled it into action -- putting her unique talents, legal background, and raw Montana gumption into a laptop for a new kind of living-room war. This gripping-but-folksy presentation features just-declassified details and visual aids from Shannen's global chat-room stings, along with the takedowns that followed. Audiences should be warned -- they may just walk away with a revitalized, can-do American spirit.
Web Security -- Getting Down to Business
Demonstrates that, like the everyday products born from NASA's R&D days, the greatest Internet threats to commerce are spawning from the War on Terror. Since 2001, Shannen has discreetly tracked the latest web dangers and their maniacal sources -- from worms, viruses, back doors, to "weaponized" software. Upgrade your business network vigilance with her exclusive summary of threats -- before the next-worst-thing goes "commercial." And based on her law expertise, learn when, where and how to counter-strike the illegal online moves of a corporate competitor.
Incorporating the Can-Do Spirit
Reveals to audiences how the old fashioned values of common sense, sacrifice, and doing the right thing have guided Shannen’s whole life -- and why, in this post-9/11 world, everyone should consider the same mantra. With lessons-learned stories and self-depreciating humor, she’ll reveal how stubborn, farm-born idealism helped her forge through mounds of red tape, three-star egos and political walls to create the new field of “cyber-counterintelligence.” Inspired guests will learn that patriotism isn’t pinned to the lapel, but embedded in hearts and minds. And they’ll be left with a new sense of duty -- fit for America’s boardrooms, classrooms and the dinner table.
The events on 9/11 hardened our hearts. But for Shannen Rossmiller, it fueled a patriotic fire.
She was born on a family farm at the height of the Vietnam War, in a remote corner of Montana known for its majestic mountains and Minuteman missile silos. In this contradictory setting, between chores and classes, the young Shannen began the hobby of reading true-crime books -- especially involving serial killers.
Graduating high school with honors at 16, she was immediately drawn toward law while attending college. That led to paralegal work, then to the bench. In the year 2000 at the age of 29, the now mother of three became the youngest female judge in American history.
On September 11th, Shannen would suffer both physical and emotional trauma. On the same fateful day terrorists attacked the USA, Shannen fell in a home accident. Stuck in bed with a broken pelvic bone for six weeks, she just stared at the repetitive TV images of jihadist mass-murder -- wondering how anyone could hate so much. Then destiny -- and determination -- took over.
Armed with her criminal-justice background, the judge absorbed more than 50 books on Middle Eastern culture -- including the Koran. Then, to understand the holy-war rantings on websites, she taught herself to read and write the Arabic language. Emboldened to go further, Shannen decided she could no longer take a passive interest in the evil messages online. She created various male Muslim personalities for cover and fearlessly began "trolling" for terrorists in the Internet's jihadist chat rooms.
Realizing her unique combination of talents and online methods could be used to snare the West's new enemies, Shannen volunteered to help authorities take them down. At first, her out-of-the-box Internet stings and no-nonsense country attitude raised eyebrows in official Washington. But grateful federal agents and overseas operatives quickly saw success, and adopted her as one of their own. The judge's pioneering undercover work helped to launch a new field of espionage, called "cyber-counterintelligence."
Since 9/11, Shannen has worked with authorities on more than 200 undercover operations around the globe -- involving everything from jihadist cells, to weapons caches, to bomb plots. The results: Three extremists have been convicted in the USA, while another dozen high-profile terrorists have been detained abroad.
After six years of court duty, Shannen retired from the bench in 2006 to accept the position of senior civil-litigation specialist for the Montana Attorney General. But despite ongoing threats to her and her family, she continues her critical work as a cyber-spy.
In a private ceremony in October of 2006, an international organization of Middle East experts honored her with its first-ever award for heroism. And web bloggers continue to post their accolades -- as one recently put it -- "Shannen Rossmiller is what America should be made of."
MOST REQUESTED TOPICS:
The topics for Shannen Rossmiller's presentations are the result of more than a dozen years of civil and criminal litigation (including a six-year bench assignment), plus her pioneering efforts in the new field of "cyber counter-intelligence."
Penetrating Minds of Mayhem
Based on Shannen's upcoming book and tells of her journey from farm mother of three, to local judge, to the world's most successful cyber-spy. Hear how she bottled up her rage over 9/11 and funneled it into action -- putting her unique talents, legal background, and raw Montana gumption into a laptop for a new kind of living-room war. This gripping-but-folksy presentation features just-declassified details and visual aids from Shannen's global chat-room stings, along with the takedowns that followed. Audiences should be warned -- they may just walk away with a revitalized, can-do American spirit.
Web Security -- Getting Down to Business
Demonstrates that, like the everyday products born from NASA's R&D days, the greatest Internet threats to commerce are spawning from the War on Terror. Since 2001, Shannen has discreetly tracked the latest web dangers and their maniacal sources -- from worms, viruses, back doors, to "weaponized" software. Upgrade your business network vigilance with her exclusive summary of threats -- before the next-worst-thing goes "commercial." And based on her law expertise, learn when, where and how to counter-strike the illegal online moves of a corporate competitor.
Incorporating the Can-Do Spirit
Reveals to audiences how the old fashioned values of common sense, sacrifice, and doing the right thing have guided Shannen’s whole life -- and why, in this post-9/11 world, everyone should consider the same mantra. With lessons-learned stories and self-depreciating humor, she’ll reveal how stubborn, farm-born idealism helped her forge through mounds of red tape, three-star egos and political walls to create the new field of “cyber-counterintelligence.” Inspired guests will learn that patriotism isn’t pinned to the lapel, but embedded in hearts and minds. And they’ll be left with a new sense of duty -- fit for America’s boardrooms, classrooms and the dinner table.
