2024 NYS Cybersecurity Conference Presenters

Dave Ahn

Centripetal

Currently the Chief Architect and VP at Centripetal, Ahn is a technology innovator in informatics, security and privacy. He has been awarded patents in both cybersecurity and healthcare, which served as foundations for the growth of his endeavors. Prior to joining Centripetal, he held leadership roles at two technology-transfer startups that commercialized breakthrough research into successful outcomes.

Jeffrey Baez

Splunk

Jeffrey's greatest satisfaction in life comes from bringing people together, solving complex problems and making a measurable impact. Technology is a wonderful tool, but it really is about empowering people. Before joining Splunk, Jeffrey served as the first CISO for the New York State Department of Financial Services, and later the first CISO for the New York State Board of Elections. During his tenure, he helped ratify a governance charter establishing the Secure Elections Center, led a series of statewide tabletop exercises, and has spoken at numerous conferences including the National Cybersecurity Summit and annual MS-ISAC Conference. Jeffrey now serves as a Security Advisor for Splunk where he advises executives in the financial services industry and public sector on best practices for establishing and improving their cybersecurity programs in a meaningful way.

Richard Baker

Arctiq (formerly DynTek Services, Inc.)

Richard Baker, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist for Arctiq, is a results-oriented cybersecurity executive with more than 24 years of experience in safeguarding sensitive information and infrastructure for government agencies and enterprise clients. Throughout his career, he has built and led high-performing security teams, implemented robust security programs and spearheaded initiatives to mitigate cyber risks and ensure enterprise resilience. Mr. Baker holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and has a deep understanding of the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape. He is skilled in cyberthreat detection, vulnerability analysis, incident response and security architecture design. His expertise extends to data security, access control and compliance with industry regulations and standards.

Samantha Baltzersen

FBI Albany

Supervisory Special Agent Samantha Baltzersen began her career in 2004 in the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. She worked as a digital forensic examiner on the Computer Analysis Response Team for seven years in the New York, Washington and Portland Field Offices. SSA Baltzersen has worked both criminal and national security cyber investigations since 2013. In June 2020, she became the supervisor of the Albany Field Office Cyber Squad and Computer Analysis Response Team. She earned several GIAC certifications in cybersecurity, digital forensics, incident response and reverse engineering of malware, including the GSEC, GCFE, GCFA, GCIA, GCIH, GCED, GCCC, GASF, GPEN and GREM certifications.

Kiran Bhujle

SVAM International Inc.

Kiran oversees SVAM’s Security Advisory Group and is a lecturer at Columbia University for the IT Risk Management and Data Privacy and Strategic Communication course for the Enterprise Risk Management graduate program, a member of the Cybersecurity Advisory Board for Harvard Business Review member, and an executive member of the Forbes Technology Council. He serves on the Board of Directors for Green Guerilla, a non-profit organization. He holds various certifications, such as CISA, CRISC, CDPSE and CMMC RP, and he participates in the Education and Cybersecurity conferences.

Mark Bonsack

Axoflow, Inc.

Mark Bonsack is the Director of Sales Engineering at Axoflow, where he continues his passion for "Getting Data In" and observability. A 10-year Splunk veteran, he was one of the original authors of Splunk “Connect for Syslog.” Mark's 20+-year career in security, networking, and data analytics has only heightened his quest for the ultimate telemetry pipeline that allows SIEMs and other analytics tools to perform at their best. He also enjoys family time with his growing cache of grandkids, as well as travel and fitness.

Brian Callahan

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Dr. Brian Callahan is the Graduate Program Director and Lecturer in the Information Technology and Web Science program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is the Director of the Rensselaer Cybersecurity Collaboratory, where his research interests include business and social cases for cybersecurity, the intersection of generative AI and cybersecurity, the intersection of quantum computing and cybersecurity, and improving security knowledge for everyday people. He teaches a variety of cybersecurity courses ranging from red teaming to cloud security, and is the faculty coach and sponsor of RPI's premier CTF team. He can be found online at briancallahan.net.

David Cohen

Cribl

David Cohen is the first Solution Engineer hired (in by Cribl to help 2021) to help Public Sector customers improve their ability to get more value out of Observability Data.  Since joining, he has helped over dozens of customers regain Choice, Control and Flexibility in how they manage their Observability data.  Prior to joining Cribl, he spent 12 years as a Solution Engineer at APM and Database companies, and over 15 years building enterprise software for biometric, monitoring and integration solutions.  He also loves to travel and no longer considers an 8 hour flight as a "long flight".

Amy Crawford

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

Amy Crawford is Director of Market Planning for the LexisNexis Risk Solutions Government division and is focused on developing technology, fraud prevention and detection, and investigations solutions for customers in the federal, state, and local public sectors. Amy is a senior product and market strategist with more than a dozen years of experience, specializing in providing an optimal experience for the end user. Her background extends to mapping the complete customer workflow, in order to ensure that end users experience secure and seamless equitable access while strengthening program integrity. She also believes strongly in providing actionable data and analytics for customers across the country. Amy currently lives in Atlanta, Georgia with her spouse and five dogs. In her spare time, she studies mindful meditation and plays the drums.

Tim Davis

Center for Internet Security, Inc.

Tim Davis is a Senior Elections Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) Analyst at the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), which operates in conjunction with the Multi-State Information Sharing & Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) as a division of the Center for Internet Security. The MS/EI-ISAC CTI team's mission is to collect, analyze and deliver actionable threat intelligence tailored to operators and decision-makers responsible for defending state, local, tribal and territorial government organizations. In his four years in this role, Timothy provides actionable intelligence to elections offices and communicates critical cybersecurity concepts to diverse audiences, with the goal of improving cybersecurity across the United States. Timothy has a master’s degree in cybersecurity and has the GCIH, GCTI, GOSI and GSLC certifications.

Aundre Dudley

CDWG

Aundre currently serves as a Solutions Architect Team Lead for CDW's Cybersecurity practice, where he is responsible for helping CDW's customers build and optimize their cybersecurity programs by positioning leading tools, solutions and services to fill gaps in their current capabilities. Aundre has more than 20 years of cybersecurity experience, starting with his time as an active-duty marine. He currently holds a Master of Science Degree from Bowie State University and has earned two Cisco-Certified Internet Expert Certifications in Security and Data Center.

Eric Dull

Deloitte

Eric Dull is a Managing Director and AI Fellow at Deloitte, leading applied research in computer security and applied analytics for Department of Defense and Intelligence Community clients with more than 21 years of applied research and prototyping in Modeling and Simulation, applied graph analytics, behavioral analytics, AI, and high-performance computing. He holds a BA and MS in computer science.

Sebastian Dunne

Red Hat

Sebastian Dunne is a Principal Specialist Solution Architect for Ansible Automation at Red Hat. He has nearly thirty years of experience building and managing IT services, and specializing in systems architecture, data security, and effective cloud architectures.

Adam Ford

Zscaler

Adam Ford is Chief Technology Officer for State & Local Government and Education for Zscaler. Prior to this role, Adam served as Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Illinois for the past five years. In this role, he had responsibility for cybersecurity for agencies, boards and commissions under the Governor. During his tenure, the State of Illinois modernized and grew its security practice to protect systems and data that drive critical services to Illinois residents. In addition to serving state agencies, Adam oversaw State and Local security partnership and collaboration efforts including operation of the Illinois Election Cyber Navigator program in coordination with the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Illinois State Police. Adam joined the Office of the CISO as Security Engineering Manager in 2017 and also served as Deputy CISO prior to becoming CISO. Before coming to security, he spent more than 15 years in data center and wide area network engineering and architecture roles with the Illinois Department of Innovation and Technology and the Illinois State Police. Adam was named the 2023 NASCIO Thomas M. Jarrett State Cybersecurity Leadership Award winner in 2023 and received a 2023 StateScoop 50 State Leadership of the Year Award. He earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in political science from Illinois College and a Master of Science in cybersecurity and information assurance from Western Governors University.

George Freeman

LexisNexis Risk Solutions

George is a subject matter expert for customers in the government space. George provides illustrated use cases and workflow designs to mitigate identity cyber fraud resulting from increasing use of stolen identities, fake identities and malicious BOTs. Workflow solutions include data-driven digital identity risk assessment with physical identity verification and step-up authentication via LexisNexis Risk Solutions physical identity products. George works with various LexisNexis Risk Solutions business development teams to scope identity solutions from rapid shifts in various internet threat landscapes. Use cases include solving state agency public benefits web portal fraud, integrating with leading identity and access management (IAM) vendors, and work-from-home remote access fraud.

Rashaan Green 

Google  

An unconventional Path to Cybersecurity Leadership.  Rashaan Green's journey to cybersecurity leadership defies convention. From washing dishes in high school to currently spearheading a Google Public Sector cybersecurity program, he's amassed over a decade of IT and cybersecurity experience, ascending from a Help Desk Tech to Principal Security Service Engineering Manager at Microsoft.

Despite facing obstacles, including dropping out of ninth grade, Rashaan's determination led him to Job Corps, where he gained computer repair skills and earned his GED. Progressing through roles at various companies, he encountered barriers due to the lack of a college degree. Undeterred, he pursued higher education at Western Governors University, obtaining Bachelor's and Master's degrees in cybersecurity, propelling him to his current position.

Beyond his professional achievements, Rashaan is committed to mentoring at-risk youth and non-traditional students, encouraging them to pursue fulfilling careers in cybersecurity and inspiring others to break through limitations and forge their own paths. 

F. Paul Greene

Harter Secrest & Emery LLP

F. Paul serves as chair of the firm’s Privacy and Data Security and Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies Practice Groups. He has been widely recognized as an authority at the intersection of technology, data protection and business, and he advises clients on how to maximize the benefit of their technology while minimizing risk. F. Paul has obtained industry leading certifications in the data protection field, has been recognized as a Fellow of Information Privacy by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and was inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of the Ponemon Institute in 2017. F. Paul regularly speaks and publishes internationally on data protection and AI subjects, including frequent columns in the New York Law Journal. F. Paul’s dual background as an academic and commercial litigator brings added depth to his advice. His doctoral work focused on themes of identity, text generation and simulation that are core to concerns surrounding AI development and deployment. On the litigation front, he is deeply experienced in issues surrounding forensic investigation, e-discovery, internal investigations and technology.

Kevin Geil

Deep Seas

Kevin Geil worked for more than a decade developing the information security program at New York's Olympic Regional Development Authority, and he moved to the private sector in 2021 as in incident response specialist. Kevin now leads a team of security specialists as a Cybersecurity Services Manager at DeepSeas. Kevin is a recognized GIAC Security Expert, holds multiple cybersecurity certifications, as well as a master's degree in information security engineering from the SANS Institute.

Christie Hall

NYSTEC

Christie has more than 25 years of experience in information technology and cybersecurity and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). She provides security and compliance consultation to various state agencies with expertise in Health Information Exchange. Christie enjoys building and maturing security and compliance programs while supporting her clients.

Alex Holden

Hold Security, LLC

Alex Holden is the founder and CISO of Hold Security, LLC. Under his leadership, Hold Security played a pivotal role in information security and threat intelligence, becoming one of the most recognizable names in its field. Mr. Holden researches minds and techniques of cybercriminals, and he helps our society to build better defenses against cyberattacks.

Dr. Dave Huff

Western Governors University

Dave has been with Western Governors University since 2006 and is currently serving as an Associate Dean and the Director of the Network Engineering and Security, and Cloud Computing academic degree programs. These programs serve nearly 8,000 full-time undergraduate students. Prior to joining WGU, Dave managed large-scale software development projects and has consulted on SMB networking, knowledge management and corporate training initiatives. Dave also has a great deal of experience in developing and operating automotive supply chain and manufacturing support systems. Dave received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from Wayne State University. His other degrees include an M.S. in information systems and telecommunication from the University of Colorado, an MBA from the University of Detroit Mercy, and a Bachelor’s of Science in logistics from Penn State.  Dave holds current Cisco CCNA and CompTIA Cloud+ certifications. He has been a Lead Security Auditor for the British Standards Institute and a Certified Information Professional with the Association for Information and Image Management (AII).

Jeff Janies

Deloitte

Jeff Janies is a Specialist Leader in Deloitte’s Government and Public Services practice. He leads teams in the development and delivery of data science approaches that support cyber operations. He has more than 18 years of experience in developing and delivering mission-driven analytics-based approaches to support cyber operations in everything from data enrichment, transformation, and loading to behavioral modeling of network traffic for detection of malicious activity. He holds a B.S in computer science from Louisiana State University, an M.S. in computer science from the University of South Carolina, and a CISSP.

Christopher Jensen

Tenable

Christopher (Chris) Jensen is the Public Sector Business Development Executive at Tenable, where he develops strategic cybersecurity initiatives and supports programs in federal, state and local markets. Prior to joining Tenable in 2017, Chris served in a broad range of leadership roles in public sector IT contracting, including business operations, contract and program management and business development. Chris began his professional career as an officer in the U.S. Navy. After leaving active service, he continued to serve in the U.S. Navy Reserve, retiring at the rank of captain. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Chris also holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.

Sean Kelly

Highmark Health

Sean is a dynamic and collaborative leader with 25 years of experience in information security risk and controls, consulting and audit, including 15 years in progressive leadership roles. He is a collaborative, pragmatic and decisive problem solver with a proven track record of building, developing and leading highly effective teams and programs while cultivating a culture of teamwork and professional growth.

Sean has spent the majority of his career in healthcare (10 years) and financial services (12 years), helping to establish teams and programs that help to more effectively manage cyber risks, while improving operational efficiencies and facilitating compliance with regulations such as HIPAA and Sarbanes-Oxley.

Sean currently serves as Executive Chair of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Information Security Round table and also works part-time as a reporter for the CISO Series “Cyber Security Headlines” podcast.

Sean is also a musician, outdoor enthusiast, and life-long Buffalo sports fan who loves spending time with his family and two cats.

Rose Ketchum

Semel Consulting

Rose Ketchum is a Certified HIPAA Security Professional with more than 30 years’ experience in IT and compliance. She has worked with many businesses, governments, BOCES and school districts throughout New York.

Rachael Killian

Western Governors University

Rachael is a Senior Lead Credential Integrity Strategist at Western Governors University.  Rachael dedicates her efforts to shaping the future of higher education. She carries a steadfast focus on prioritizing relevance and transparency in trusted credentials, part of a team leading the charge in spearheading innovation at WGU and in the higher education landscape.

Her professional journey is anchored in a commitment to data-informed decision making in curriculum design and authentic assessment practices. Rachael’s expertise lies in pioneering academic experiences that closely align with the demands of professional careers while upholding rigorous standards of credibility.

Driven by a commitment to purposeful change and collaboration, she focuses on facilitating the creation of standards for the use of skills, competencies and assessments that create personalized pathways and trusted credentials for students. Rachael's approach to innovation is guided by her dedication to fostering diverse perspectives in creating solutions and a systems thinking approach to problem solving.

In her pursuit of advancing Higher Education Leadership, Rachael explores cutting-edge strategies, integrating evidence-based methodologies to maximize positive student impact, working to ensure that educational offerings not only meet the demands of today's workforce but also uphold the relevance and credibility of educational credentials in a rapidly evolving landscape.

Jennifer Lauer

Deloitte Consulting LLP

Jennifer Lauer is a Managing Director at Deloitte specializing in public sector operations and consulting experience leading large-scale HR transformations leveraging cloud and on-premise ERP solutions. She is PMP, Workday HCM and EM/PM certified, and she has additional training and experience implementing Oracle PeopleSoft HCM, SAP HCM, Kronos and other on-premise and cloud solutions. Jennifer recently achieved certification in data analytics and artificial intelligence from Harvard University.

Roderick Link

FBI Albany

Roderick has served as one of the Federal Bureau of Investigation Albany Division's subject matter experts on digital forensics, cryptanalysis, network, memory and malware analysis in support of FBI operations and computer intrusion investigations. His recent major deployments include containing attackers accessing Super Bowl 2020 infrastructure, combating the SunBurst backdoor at U.S. federal agencies, and assisting with the international arrest of a subject in the US Navy's largest-ever public corruption investigation.

Neal Maguire

Verizon Cyber Security Consulting Services

Neal Maguire is a Principal Consultant with Verizon’s Cyber Security Consulting Services. In this role, Neal is chiefly responsible for managing the conduct of computer forensic investigations, analysis, data recovery, case-load intelligence and IT investigative work related to delivery of the team’s book of business, including all matter related to PCI / PFI investigations, liaising with the payment card brands and providing advisory consulting services to client senior management and the C-suite. Neal is an active public speaker, discussing various topics ranging from high-level best practices to C-suite executive briefings. He has been a contributing author to the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report and routinely presents the report and its findings to audiences and at conferences on a global basis.  Neal holds a MBA from the Hagan School of Business at Iona University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Fordham University.     
 

Yogesh Malhotra

Global Risk Management Network, LLC

Dr. Yogesh Malhotra (‘Yogi’) is the Chairman & CEO of the Silicon Valley-Wall Street-Pentagon-Global Digital CEO Practices Pioneer, and New York venture capital and private equity firm, Global Risk Management Network LLC. The firm covers MIT-Princeton Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Deep Learning (DL), Natural Language Processing (NLP), cyber, crypto, Quantum and Risk Computing Faculty-SME

He serves as Faculty-SME for management, leadership and executive education programs, such as MIT computer science and artificial intelligence Lab, MIT Sloan School of Management, and Princeton University Quant Finance and Trading industry Conferences for Finance Wall Street Quant Leaders. While serving as invited Chief Scientist on the Pentagon DoD-wide CIO Senior Advisor team with clients such as USAF Secretary and JAIC CTO, with his New York State award-winning USAF-Air Force Research Lab venture as MVP for DoD-wide AI-ML enablement, he was invited for interviews as a potential candidate for the U.S. Air Force top-Science role of Pentagon USAF Chief Scientist. Dr. Malhotra is profiled in Who's Who in America®, Who's Who in the World®, Who's Who in Finance & Industry®, Who's Who in Science & Engineering® since 1999.

Patrick Matthews

LRQA

Patrick Matthews is a “chaotic good” security consultant that tends to get distracted with hardware and looking to hide from being tracked. Over his career, he has held positions in most areas of IT, such as a programmer, SOC operator, network and system administrator. He currently holds a number of industry certifications that allow him to get too many LinkedIn requests from headhunters. When he’s not on his computer, he pretends to be a farmer and beekeeper.

Robert Mayer

US Telecom

Robert Mayer is Senior Vice President of Cybersecurity & Innovation with the USTelecom Association (USTelecom) with responsibility for leading cyber and national security policy and strategic innovation initiatives. He is the current chairman of the Communications Sector Coordinating Council (CSCC), which represents the broadcast, cable, satellite, wireless and wireline industries, as well as coordinates public-private initiatives with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other U.S. government entities. Mayer also serves as co-chair of the Department of Homeland Security’s ICT Supply Chain Risk Management Task Force, which is now in its third year and focuses on developing strategic and operational best practices to manage global supply chain risk. He also co-leads the Counsel to Secure the Digital Economy (CSDE), which consists of 15 global ICT infrastructure providers that have joined forces to drive solutions that enhance the cyber resiliency of the global digital ecosystem. Mayer was appointed to the FCC Communications Security Reliability and Interoperability Council (CSRIC V), after having led a 100-person team of cybersecurity professionals that produced a landmark report to adapt the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to the broadcast, cable, satellite, wireless and wireline industries.

Prior to USTelecom, Mayer served as the top telecommunications official for New York State as Telecom Director of the New York Public Service Commission. In that capacity, he led several major initiatives including regulatory reform efforts and he created a new agency department that focused exclusively on network reliability and public safety matters. Prior to this appointment, Mayer was the lead regulatory practitioner in the Telecommunications and Cable Group at KPMG Consulting and was also a senior manager with Deloitte Consulting. Prior to consulting, Mayer worked as an analyst in the international telecommunications divisions of Chase Manhattan Bank and JP Morgan. Mayer served in the US Air Force supervising intelligence and communications operations at NATO Headquarters, Southern Europe in Italy. He received his B.A. from University at Albany, his M.A. in information management from Central Michigan University, his MBA from Boston University, and his J.D. from New York Law School.

Carl Mazzanti

eMazzanti Technologies

Carl Mazzanti is the Co-Founder and President of eMazzanti Technologies, CISSP, and four-time Microsoft Partner of the Year, leading one of the premier IT consulting services for businesses throughout the New York metropolitan area and internationally. The firm manages the cybersecurity coverage for more than 400 active organizations, ranging from professional services firms to high-end global retailers. eMazzanti is all about delivering powerful, efficient, cybersecurity tools and outsourced IT services, such as computer network management and troubleshooting; threat hunting; PCI DSS compliance; security awareness implementations; mobile workforce technology; malware remediation; cloud computing and business continuity; and disaster recovery. For more information visit emazzanti.net or call 201-360-4400.

Michael Melore

IBM

Michael Melore is a CISSP IBM Public Sector Security Ambassador, Sr. Cyber Security Advisor, Certified Information Systems Security Professional, author, frequent national public speaker and moderator, FBI InfraGard committeeman, and recognized subject matter expert in security and threat intelligence, identity access governance and authorization. He is also a pioneer in identity and access management, access governance, and authentication. His past consulting roles include: lead architect for many of the world’s largest authentication and authorization infrastructures (including two of the first individual billion-user authentication infrastructures); founder/moderator for 24 nationwide (1500+ security executive members) CISO/Security Leader Round Table Chapters across the US (a.k.a. SecRT); and champion, host and evangelist of regularly scheduled cyber range threat simulation exercises, cyber training and education.

Preston Miller

Palo Alto Networks

Preston Miller, a Director at Palo Alto Networks’ Unit 42, is an accomplished cybersecurity professional with deep subject matter expertise in digital forensics and incident response, as well as experience leading high-level, complex investigations. He has co-authored several books on digital forensics, including “The Python Digital Forensic Cookbook,” which was named Digital Forensics Book of the Year by Forensic 4:cast. Preston joined Unit 42 in 2021 after six years at Stroz Friedberg, where he managed complex incident response and digital forensic matters for clients across a wide range of industries. He helped establish Stroz’s mobile device working group and provided expert testimony on forensic analysis in the cases he worked. As a graduate student, Preston worked with the West Virginia State Police Digital Forensics Unit, where he developed a digital evidence database and assisted analysts by inventorying evidence, preparing evidence for preservation and analysis and maintaining case logs.

Nilesh Mistry

F5

Nilesh Mistry has been in the Information Technology field for more than 29 years. He is currently a Principal Solutions Engineer at F5, Inc. and is specialized in cybersecurity solutions. He has designed, architected and recommended state-of-the-art solutions for a variety of customer environments and business needs. He has spoken and presented at many industry events and evangelized cybersecurity. When he is not working or learning new and evolving technology, he spends his time playing the bass.

Kambiz Mofrad

SVAM International Inc.

Kambiz Mofrad (Kami) is a highly successful senior executive and subject matter expert in cybersecurity, technology, artificial intelligence, and data privacy, with many years of leadership and implementation experience. He focuses on resolving complex enterprise and regulatory issues. Kami holds a dual role at SVAM International, serving as Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Cyber Security Architect, helping numerous government agencies and private companies address complex cybersecurity issues. Having served at Citigroup in various risk management and technology leadership roles for nearly three decades, Kami boasts an exceptional track record of surpassing corporate goals and objectives. Throughout these years, he demonstrated solid, comprehensive, and global capabilities in technical development, information security, supplier risk, operational management, data management, and best-in-class technology solutions for institutional and global accounts. Kambiz has deep expertise in the areas of cybersecurity, application development, IT infrastructure management, fraud, IT financial management, and business continuity. He has also implemented multiple regulatory mandate solutions and has a great understanding of compliance related to enforcement actions and industry-recognized standards, including ISO 27001, HIPAA, FFIEC, NIST, SOC 2, and GDPR.  Kambiz spent the early part of his career working for AT&T Bell Laboratories as a member of the technical staff, designing and implementing complex applications and infrastructure and IT security solutions. His clients included FAA, American Express, American Airlines, New York Life, Mead Data Central, and multiple government agencies.

Sean Murray

NYSTEC

Sean Murray is an information security consultant with 25 years of experience across a broad range of information-security-related areas. He has worked in virtually all aspects of assessing and implementing cybersecurity and is accomplished at building security into the design, specification and coding of software applications, including cloud and artificial intelligence applications. Sean has extensive experience working with New York government entities and is intimately familiar with the security issues and requirements of managing protected health information, as well as other forms of personally identifiable information.

Sameek Pathak

Deloitte Consulting LLP

Sameek Pathak is a Cyber Security specialist Leader at Deloitte, specializing in Government and Public Sector practice leading cyber security for large-scale ERP and HR transformations leveraging cloud and on-premise ERP and HCM solutions. Sameek also specializes in implementation and assessment of SAP security and controls, Governance, risk and compliance (GRC), HR Transformation security and Identity and Access Management (IAM) solutions. Sameek is SAP Security certified along with ISACA’s CISA and CRISC certifications.

Robin Purnell

Trend Micro Inc.

Robin Purnell currently works as a Senior Security Engineer at Trend Micro. With almost two decades of experience, he has made significant contributions to the global security landscape, partnering with organizations worldwide to tackle their most pressing security challenges. His expertise spans diverse industry sectors, including corporate, public sector, education and government agencies. One of Robin’s primary objectives is to empower businesses through continuous education, ensuring they are well-equipped to proactively address security concerns within their operational environments. His aim is to guide organizations in making informed, strategic decisions rather than viewing security as a mere checkbox requirement.

Younus Rashid

Cyber Castellum Corporation

Younus has over two decades of experience serving the cybersecurity needs of clients both in private and public sectors at various capacities. He has led and supported cybersecurity programs, developed robust risk management processes, and identified thousands of vulnerabilities in software applications, including zero-days. He currently supports clients in addressing security challenges, battling hackers, meeting compliance requirements, and advising C-suite executives on cybersecurity, facilitating their understanding of the ever-evolving risk environment in today’s world.

Scottie Ray

Cloudflare

Scottie Ray is a constant learner and Principal Solutions Architect for Cloudflare's Public Sector team. For nearly 30 years, he has worked with customers as they navigated shifting technology paradigms in virtualization, application modernization and the adoption of modern cloud architectures. Today, he is focused on helping organizations drive their digital transformation efforts while developing strategies to increase the pace of innovation, reducing cyber risk, and ultimately, delivering superior outcomes for those initiatives.

Brian Reilly

Brian Reilly is a security engineer focused on application security, penetration testing, offense and vulnerability research. He enjoys working with product teams to build and deploy secure software. His professional experience has included various roles within the financial services, technology, higher education and state/local government sectors. He holds degrees from Georgetown University and the George Washington University.

Jim Richberg

Fortinet

Jim Richberg’s role as Fortinet’s Head of Cyber Policy and Global Field CISO leverages his nearly 40 years of experience driving innovation in cybersecurity and threat intelligence. Prior to joining Fortinet, Jim served as the US National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, the senior Federal Executive focused on cyber intelligence within the $80B+/100,000 employee US Intelligence Community (IC). He led the creation and implementation of cyber strategy for the 17 departments and agencies of the IC, set integrated priorities on cyberthreat, and served as the senior advisor to the Director of National Intelligence on cyber issues. He brings a broad enterprise-level approach to cybersecurity honed as a member of the executive team that oversaw implementation of a whole-of-government US Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative for two presidents.

Randy Rose

Center for Internet Security

Randy Rose is the current Vice President of Security Operations & Intelligence at the Center for Internet Security (CIS) where he leads the analytical and operational missions for the Multi-State and Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing & Analysis Centers (MS- and EI-ISAC, respectively). He has spent most of his career in public service, from the local level to the Federal level, supporting both the Department of Defense (DoD) and the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). He served as NY state’s first penetration assessor for local governments and schools. He led Europe’s largest Security Operations Center (SOC) for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) and directed efforts to build the DoD’s first dedicated Cyber Threat Intelligence department at the Navy Cyber Defense Operations Command (NCDOC). Randy has specific experience leading global incident response operations, implementing new operational technologies, discovering innovative solutions to save costs, and developing programs to assess cyber risk for municipally-owned Operational Technology.

Randy holds his CISSP, GSTRT, GCTI, and GREM, as well as a Master’s of Science in Cybersecurity and a Bachelor’s in Forensic Anthropology. He is a recent graduate of the Tuck Executive Education program at Dartmouth. He moonlights as the bassist in NY original rock band Gracies Paris, which can be heard on all major streaming platforms.

Barry Rosenberg

Palo Alto Networks

Barry Rosenberg is a cybersecurity systems engineer at Palo Alto Networks. He has more than six years of information security experience working with clients on architectural design, technical solution strategy and customer enablement. He brings deep technical expertise in security operations, threat detection and response, and automation strategy. Earlier in his career, Barry was a senior IT consultant at IBM. Managing large, global IT implementations gave him an appreciation for the daily realities and complexities experienced by large organizations.  In his current role at Palo Alto Networks, he primarily works with public sector organizations, helping state and local governments, as well as educational institutions, to secure their citizens, communities, and stakeholders against cyberthreats.

Zlatko Saric

Crowdstrike

Zlatko Saric is currently working as the strategist for the Field CTO, Americas at CrowdStrike. Saric is an industry veteran and has played a role in many prominent startups that were successfully acquired and/or IPO’ed. With 16 years of experience assisting clients with tightening their security posture with respect to endpoint, firewall, EDR/XDR technologies. Zlatko’s favorite part about the job is learning from clients and helping them successfully overcome cyber security challenges.

Mike Semel

Semel Consulting

Mike Semel is recognized as a thought leader in the IT, compliance and business continuity industries. He is the President and Complianceologist at Semel Consulting, focused on regulatory compliance and Business Continuity planning. Mike is a CMMC Certified Assessor (CCA), CMMC Certified Professional (CCP), CMMC Registered Practitioner, Certified Security Compliance Specialist, Disaster Recovery Institute Certified Business Continuity Professional & Certified Cyber Resilience Professional, Certified HIPAA Security Professional, and Certified Health IT Specialist. He has owned or managed MSP companies for more than 30 years; served as Chief Information Officer (CIO) for a hospital and a K-12 school district; and managed operations at an online backup company. Mike is the only expert who consulted with CompTIA on the original Security Trustmark (2008), the Security Trustmark Plus (2014), and the Cybersecurity Trustmark (2023). He is the best-selling author of “How to Avoid HIPAA Headaches.”

Shahryar Shaghaghi

SVAM International Inc.

Shahryar is a senior executive and board member in technology and risk management, focused on cybersecurity and data privacy programs and has more than 30 years of experience across a wide range of organizations in various leadership roles. Currently he is Professor of Practice at Columbia University, focusing on IT risk management, third-party risk, and strategic communications courses for the Enterprise Risk Management graduate program.

Shahryar was a partner and practice leader in technology and risk management with major management consulting organizations, including Deloitte, Kurt Salmon, BDO and CohnReznick. As the Executive Vice President and Head of IT Risk Management at Citigroup, he led the largest risk and compliance implementations in the history of the bank and achieved a “satisfactory rating” from OCC and FRB. Shahryar served as the senior advisor to the Federal Reserve Bank of NY to oversee and review all FRBNY’s cybersecurity program policies, standards and frameworks for the FRBNY’s internal audit. He led the New York City Department of Education’s cybersecurity assessment and enhancement programs. Shahryar has had several virtual/interim CIO/CTO/CISO roles for various mid-market clients.

As a member of AICPA’s Center for Audit Quality (CAQ) and Assurance Services Executive Committee (ASEC) Cybersecurity Working Group, Shahryar co-developed SOC for Cybersecurity (SOC 3) attestation framework.

Walt Sokoll

Deloitte Consulting LLP

Walt Sokoll is a Principal at Deloitte specializing in HR transformation projects, including the implementation of new HR service delivery models and technology. Aside from implementation projects, he has a wide range of additional consulting experience, including HR service delivery assessments, software selections, business process design projects and organizational assessments.

Ben Spear

New York State Board of Elections

Ben Spear is the Chief Information Security Officer for the New York State Board of Elections, overseeing the agency's security program, as well as outreach and support for security programs at the 58 county/city boards of elections. Ben previously served as the founding Director of the Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC), securing elections through the deployment of a coordinated cyber defense suite supporting all 50 states and over 3,000 local election offices in advance of the 2018 and 2020 elections. Ben also served in various roles on the MS-ISAC intelligence team, developing innovative new ways to identify and present current cyberthreat trends to SLTT constituents and providing expertise on critical infrastructure security.

Shoshana Sugerman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Shoshana Sugerman is an undergraduate student at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, majoring in Information Technology and Web Science with a focus in information security. She began working on the Benefits and Limitations of Generative AI for Cybersecurity Awareness Training Research project in January 2024. Since then, she has been devoted to exhibiting the nuances of using generative AI to ensure that its use is practical, secure and efficient.

Nicholas Tankersley,  Sr.

Cribl

Nicholas "Tank" Tankersley is the Sr. Director of Product Management at Cribl where he has led their flagship telemetry pipeline product Cribl Stream as well as their cloud platform, edge collection and data lake product strategies. He has 10 years of experience in enterprise data management with a deep background in IT, Security and Observability data.

Jason Teplitz

Crowdstrike

Jason Teplitz has spent 23+ years working for Cybersecurity software manufacturers, including Check Point, Citrix, Symantec & CrowdStrike, in Sales Engineering & Sale Engineering Management, Architecture and Consultative roles.  Jason possesses expertise in several areas of Cybersecurity including Network, EndPoint, SIEM and Mobile technologies, but his latest roles have focused on EndPoint and Incident Response.  Mr. Teplitz lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, but is originally from the Chicagoland area.

Jason Trunk

Island

Jason Trunk serves as Enterprise Architect at Island with more than 20 years experience with emerging technologies including user experience, server-side code optimization, network decryption and front-end browser performance. Jason's prior roles include Field CTO for AppDynamics (now Cisco), Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase owning application monitoring, Vice President at BigPanda, and technical leadership positions at AWS, Mercury Interactive, Quest Software and CA Technologies.

Srinivas Tummalapenta

IBM Consulting

Srinivas Tummalapenta is the Chief Technology Officer for IBM Consulting Cybersecurity Services, an IBM Distinguished Engineer, and Master Inventor. As the CTO for Cybersecurity Services, he partners with product vendors as well as service offering, strategy, sales, solution design and delivery teams to define technical strategy and solutions. Srini works with the team at IBM Cybersecurity Services to design, deliver and scale hybrid cloud security solutions throughout their client base. Srini has twenty patents in security analytics; threat monitoring and response; AI and blockchain, as well as several filing disclosures under review.

Alex Vulovic

Arctiq (formerly DynTek Services, Inc.)

Alex Vulovic is a Principal Architect at Arctiq and is an expert in digital transformation strategy. He has more than a decade of experience helping companies drive outcomes and manage risk in their IT transformation and adoption programs. A member of the Bar Association of Ontario, Alex has J.D.s from law schools in both Canada and the United States, as well as a masters degree in corporate law from the University of London.

Michele Warner

NYSTEC

Michele Warner is a senior principal consultant with IT experience focused on privacy, eDiscovery and quality assurance. Earlier in her career, she worked for Rational Retention, where she held positions as a quality assurance analyst testing eDiscovery and document-management software, as well as a client manager for the eDiscovery platform. Previously, Michele was a staff attorney with Boies, Schiller & Flexner, LLP. Since passing the bar exam, she has taken several HIPAA, healthcare and privacy-related continuing legal education classes. She is a member of the New York State Bar Association and the International Association of Privacy Professionals, and she has given several presentations focusing on privacy. Michele holds CIPP/US, CIP and FIP certifications.

Alexandra Weaver

Semperis

Alexandra has twenty years’ experience supporting Active Directory in a wide variety of organizations, from government to some of the world's best-known companies. After 8 years supporting the Bureau of Land Management's Active Directory, she moved to Intel to support their worldwide corporate and manufacturing forests. After some time in financial services IT, she moved to Nike where she also supported their worldwide production forest. 

Her experience has included merger & acquisition projects where she migrated newly acquired companies into an existing Active Directory infrastructure, an Identity and Access Management implementation & migration project, upgrading domain controllers and associated downstream dependent applications and providing Active Directory support. Active Directory is Alexandra’s first tech passion, and she enjoys deep diving into it as associated technologies continue to evolve.

Jeffrey Wilson

NYSTEC

Jeff Wilson is a senior principal consultant who assists clients with information security and privacy, governance and strategy, and program management. Prior to joining NYSTEC, Jeff served as the CISO for Albany Medical Center. As director of information services, he oversaw comprehensive growth and redesign of the cybersecurity program. Jeff was also responsible for the PMO, BC/DR and IT planning and budgeting for all medical center information technology investments. Previously, Jeff spent many years with the the Albany Times Union newspaper, as well as the Hearst Corporation in information technology, security, and compliance leadership positions. Jeff holds CISSP and CIPM certifications. He also served for four years as an adjunct professor at Mildred Elley College.

Mike Woodward

Center for Internet Security, Inc.

Mike Woodward is Team Lead of the Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI) team at the Center for Internet Security (CIS), which is home to the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC). As part of the MS-ISAC, the CTI team’s mission is to collect, analyze and deliver actionable threat intelligence tailored to operators and decision-makers responsible for defending state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) government entities. Mike joined the CIS CTI team in 2018 as a CTI Analyst before moving to Senior CTI Analyst, and then to his current role as Team Lead. During his tenure on the CTI team, Mike has closely tracked the SLTT government ransomware threat landscape and regularly reports on the topic. Prior to entering the cybersecurity field, Mike received his Master of International Affairs from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy (University of Albany), where he concentrated in global and homeland security.

Tyler Wrightson

Leet Cyber Security

Tyler Wrightson, CISSP is the author of two books published by McGraw Hill, “Advanced Persistent Threat Hacking, The Art and Science of Hacking Any Organization (2014)” and “Wireless Network Security: A Beginner's Guide (2012).” Tyler is the founder of Leet Cyber Security, which helps organizations solve their technical cybersecurity challenges. Leet focuses on offensive security services, such as penetration testing and red teaming to secure organizations against real-world attackers. Tyler has more than 20 years of experience in the IT security field across many industries, including healthcare and financial services, with extensive experience in many areas of technical security, including networking, systems architecture, offensive security and penetration testing. Tyler holds industry certifications such CISSP, CCSP, CCNA, CCDA and MCSE. Tyler has also taught classes for CCNA certification, hacking and penetration testing, wireless security, and network security. Tyler is the founder of ANYCon, Albany New York's Annual Hacker conference. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including NY Bankers Association (NYBA), NYS Cybersecurity Conference, Derbycon, BSides, Rochester Security Summit, ISACA, ISSA and others.

Emma Yeager

Gartner

Emma is a Senior Executive working with State and Local Government IT leaders throughout New York State. At Gartner we partner with IT executives to identify both business and technology requirements and to guide implementation and execution of Governor-directed and enterprise-wide technology strategic plans. A native New Yorker, Emma has spent 18 years empowering her clients and partners with the tools, insights, and resources to be successful.  Emma received a B.S in Business from Wake Forest University. 

Ryan Young

Vandis

Ryan Young is a CTO with a focus on cybersecurity and network access control. Ryan began his tech career in 2007 at The Masters School, working with technologies like Cisco, Juniper, Meru, Linux and Microsoft Servers. In 2012, he joined Vandis as a Wireless and Switching Engineer, later specializing in Juniper SRX and Pulse deployments. His focus shifted to role-based access control and security perimeters, leading to expertise in Aruba Clearpass and its integration across multiple platforms. Ryan’s insights into protecting organizational assets and employees led to the development of Managed Services at Vandis in 2016, where he also became the Director of Engineering Services. In 2020, Ryan took on the role of CTO, steering the company and its clients through the dynamic cyber and threat landscape, while enhancing customer's global WAN performance.