SecureWorld Government Virtual Conference 2023

Michael Gregg is the state of North Dakota’s Chief Information Security Officer. The state CISO is responsible for establishing and leading the strategic direction of cyber security for the state and advising the governor and legislators on key cyber issues.

With Michael’s cyber experience span being over a period of two decades, he has been a pioneer of helping people interested in becoming IT professionals as well as seasoned IT professionals achieve by sharing knowledge by means of authoring over 25 IT cyber security books. He enjoys contributing his time and talents where there is a need to help others learn and grow by holding board, committee, and advisory positions for non-profit organizations. He holds a Bachelors degree, Masters degree, and many security certifications.

Stephen Dougherty has over a decade of investigative experience. His career as a Financial Fraud Investigator in support of the federal government has played a pivotal role in criminal investigations, surrounding cyber-enabled financial crime, money laundering, human trafficking, identity theft, healthcare fraud, embezzlement, tax/government program fraud, dark web crimes, among others. Stephen’s main area of expertise is combatting money laundering in all its forms. Aside from this, Stephen has been proactive in identifying new and future trends in the world of financial crime. Such trends include the cyber security nexus of financial crimes and its ever-growing relationship in major financial crimes such as Business Email Compromise and the rise of the dark web and the use of virtual currency as a vehicle for facilitation of financial crimes. Stephen has been a leader and a mentor to other investigators teaching them how to uncover fraud internally and externally. Stephen is currently an investigator contracted to the U.S. Secret Service’s Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) in Washington D.C.

Passionate about addressing the problems related to cybersecurity and technology of the future. People speak about innovation, but Yolanda encourages innovation from workplace entry to developing new tools, solutions, and techniques. As a former U.S. Department of Defense civilian for more than 20 years, she has been "doing cyber" before we had the term, but started "doing innovation" since high school, where she worked at NASA and Exxon USA.

At Raytheon BBN Technologies, she supports the president with developing strategies to grow how BBN Technologies supports the Intelligence Community needs of today and the needs the IC will have in the near future. At BBN, the workforce is passionate and thrives in producing solutions to hard challenges and developing beyond state-of-the-art research and development. It's a dynamic environment with a constantly evolving portfolio of new projects, always aimed at solving tough problems for our customers. BBN's portfolio consists of these topics: advancing research with DNA, bio-technology, quantum, cybersecurity, AI/ML, acoustics, space, 5G, human language technologies, and secure computer networking devices.

As an experienced Electrical Engineer from Vanderbilt University, she demonstrated a history of providing strategic leadership to support the Intelligence Community through technology (microelectronics, cellular communications, high speed fiber networks, radio frequencies [RF], SCADA, satellites, cyber security, cloud technologies, and computer software development).

Jason Kikta is the Chief Information Security Officer at Automox. He previously served for over 20 years in the United States Marine Corps, which included seven years at U.S. Cyber Command designing and managing the national counter-APT and counter-ransomware missions.

Steven F. Fox provides security guidance to ensure risk-informed compliance with federal standards and requirements as a Deputy CISO for the State of Washington. He brings a cross-disciplinary, international perspective to the practice of information security, combining his experience as a security consultant, an IT Audit leader, and a systems engineer with principles from behavioral/organizational psychology to address security challenges.

As Washington State’s Enterprise IT Policy Manager, Samantha Zee shepherds the IT policy updates and waiver requests. She previously managed a 24/7 answering service, leveraging the latest technology to encourage human connections serving government, private, and non-profit clients. She earned her MBA while serving as Western Washington University’s Travel Program Specialist, leading a campus-wide effort to replace the electronic travel system. She loves seeing tangible improvements in everyday actions, learning how to use new tools and systems, and feeling chaos resolve into functional organization. In her spare time, she makes art, practices yoga, bikes, and hikes with her family.

Christian Espinosa is the CEO & Founder of Blue Goat Cyber and a Cybersecurity Professor at Maryville University. He holds over 25 certifications, including the CISSP, CCISO, and PMP. Christian is a U.S. Air Force veteran with a BS in Engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy and an MBA from Webster University. He holds multiple patents on cybersecurity attack and defense. Major recent projects include penetration testing and assessments of commercial aircraft, medical device penetration testing, and numerous incident response projects. When Christian isn’t protecting us from cybercriminals, he climbs mountains, travels the world, teaches outdoor wilderness survival, and competes in Ironman triathlons.

Lisa Plaggemier is Executive Director at the National Cybersecurity Alliance. She is a recognized thought leader in security awareness and education with a track record of engaging and empowering people to protect themselves, their families, and their organizations. Lisa is a University of Michigan graduate (Go Blue!) and while she wasn’t born in Austin, Texas, she got there as fast as she could.

Mr. Stanton Gatewood is the U.S. DHS/CISA - R4 Cyber Security Coordinator - State of Georgia. He is the former Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Georgia and Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia and the University of Georgia.

Stanton has more than 35 years of experience in cybersecurity program management and strategic planning, executive leadership, including the U.S. military, state, local, federal governments, higher education, and several top 10 global corporations. He has also served as the Vice President for Information Technology and the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for Albany State University. He has built two centers of excellence, one for cryptography and one for cyber awareness and training.

Allison Prout is Senior Counsel at Constangy, where she represents clients, including SaaS providers, data aggregators, and healthcare-covered entities, in complex technology transactions with a specialized focus on data privacy and security contractual requirements. She develops and implements contracting procedures for clients, including international businesses that span multiple legal jurisdictions. With business goals in mind, Allison also works with clients to develop data security and privacy programs to address compliance with data protection regulations, including the GDPR, CCPA, and other state, federal, and global privacy laws.

Sarah serves as a vice chair of the Constangy Cyber Team and practices in New York. She leads the provision of compliance advisory services for the Cyber Team, advising clients on strategies to mitigate risk associated with data privacy and security through business-oriented approaches. Sarah has more than 15 years of experience working in the privacy law area. She is a former privacy officer, a former state regulator, and has extensive experience serving as outside counsel for businesses in the fields of health law, data privacy, regulatory compliance, and risk management. She is well-versed in advising clients on the scope and applicability of domestic and international data privacy laws. A former Assistant General Counsel with the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation, Sarah regularly interfaces with state and federal agencies in response to investigations, enforcement actions and compliance audits. Sarah holds the Certified Information Privacy Professional for European law (CIPP/E) credential. She received her J.D. from the University of Buffalo and is admitted to practice in New York and Vermont.

Founder of a strategic risk consultancy after serving 26 years in the US Air Force, Cedric Leighton oversaw numerous critical intelligence missions throughout his career. He served at US 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.

Currently, Cedric advises multinational businesses on cyber attacks and the management of complex global strategies to reduce risk and unpredictability.

VJ Viswanathan is a seasoned technology executive recognized and awarded for innovation, business capability transformation and thoughtful mentorship. Most recently, VJ is the founding partner at CYFORIX, a global cybersecurity research, advisory & strategic consulting firm delivering solutions to public and private sectors. He also serves as the CEO at TORQE, a specialized advisory firm focused on analytics, automation and convergent technologies. VJ is the co-host of ELEVATEINTEL, a podcast series at the nexus of technology, social and defense.

With over 25 years of pioneering Enterprise technology, Cyber Security, Privacy, Compliance and Risk Management experience, VJ has a detailed track record of designing, implementing and leading highly successful programs, products & services at multinational Fortune 100 brands spanning CPG, Telecom, Media, Supply-chain, Health care & Finance segments. As a strategic thought leader, VJ has delivered the first of its kind "Supply Chain Security" & “Omni-channel Risk management” frameworks. As a published author and featured keynote speaker at global industry events, he approaches disruptive digital paradigms with innovation, creativity and active collaboration with his key industry peers, researchers, national & international law enforcement and defense groups.

VJ is an active mentor at various incubators & accelerators groups, serves as an advisory Board member for growth stage companies. As a strategic adviser to VC & PE firms, he specializes in developing market analysis, competitive product road map and guides in opportunity mapping. As a Board member and subject matter advisor to CEOs and Corporate directors, VJ evaluates and audits enterprise technology and cyber security program for veracity and operational effectiveness.

VJ is passionate about animal rights and giving back to the technology & security industry. He has created a rescue & foster care group for large breed dogs. He is actively engaged with academic institutions and purpose driven professional groups like ‘Minorities in Cyber security’, where he serves as the Board member and chair of mentorship programs to develop the next generation talent through coaching and facilitating scholarships for technology & cyber security education.