Charlotte, NC 2016

Cedric Leighton is a CNN Military Analyst and a retired United States Air Force Colonel. On CNN, he has provided incisive commentaries on the Israel-Hamas War, the War in Ukraine, the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, and numerous other conflicts around the world. His analysis has been seen by millions of viewers around the world and provided much needed context to some of the most pressing national security issues of our time. As a U.S. Air Force officer, Colonel Leighton served at U.S. Special Operations Command, the Joint Staff, and the National Security Agency, where he helped train the nation's cyber warriors. A Middle East combat veteran, he is the recipient of numerous military awards, including the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Bronze Star. After serving 26 years as a U.S. Air Force Intelligence Officer, Col. Leighton founded a strategic risk consultancy and became the co-founder of CYFORIX, where he advises multinational businesses on developing better cyber strategies designed to reduce risk and unpredictability.

Ben Desjardins drives the development of vertical and use-case specific solutions for Radware’s Security Product Portfolio. In this role, Ben focuses extensively on the competitive landscape for anti-DDoS, Web Application Firewalls and Intrusion Prevention Systems.

Ben has extensive experience across a wide array of security technologies and disciplines, including DDoS, DNS, SSL, Threat/Vulnerability Management, IAM and PCI-DSS and he brings nearly two decades of marketing management experience to his work at Radware, including over 12 years focused on the information security and cyber threat arenas. Additionally, Ben has led global go-to-market efforts across many industries including retail, Ecommerce, financial services, public sector and healthcare/life sciences.

David Barton is the Chief Information Security Officer for Forcepoint, responsible for securing the company and sharing key learnings with customers. Barton brings to his role more than 20 years of experience in security leadership across a variety of sectors, including telecommunications, healthcare, software development, finance and government. Prior to joining the company in 2015, he spent three years as the Head of Information Security at Hireright, where he was responsible for securing the company’s information and physical assets on a global scale. Barton holds an MBA from the University of Missouri – Kansas City and a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems from Simpson College. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).