SecureWorld Charlotte 2025

Glen Sorensen is a Virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) with Cyber Risk Opportunities. He has worn numerous hats in his career, in areas such as security engineering and architecture, security operations, GRC, and leadership. He has held a variety of roles as an analyst, engineer, consultant, auditor, regulator, and information security officer for a financial institution.

Glen approaches problems with practical solutions that bring good business value and has worked across many sectors, including financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, and others. He has served as a consulting expert in a large legal case involving healthcare and cyber attack detection technology. He has been in IT and security for 15+ years, longer if you count years of misspent youth bending technology and countless hours of roleplaying games. He is a sucker for a good tabletop exercise and serves as an Incident Master for HackBack Gaming, the fun kind of TTX.

Larry Wilson was formerly the Chief Information Security Officer for Sumitomo Pharma Americas, Inc., Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and the University of Massachusetts (UMass) President's Office. In the CISO role, Larry was responsible for developing, implementing, and overseeing compliance with the SMPA / WPI / UMass Information Security Policy and Written Information Security Plan (WISP). In addition to designing and deploying the respective cybersecurity programs, Larry has developed and delivered cybersecurity training at multiple industry events, workshops, training venues, etc. Courses include Designing and Building a Cybersecurity Program, Designing and Building a Ransomware Program, and Designing and Building a Third-Party Risk Program. Larry has also worked with multiple companies in multiple industries to help design, build, and maintain their Cybersecurity Programs, Ransomware Program, and Third-Party Risk Programs.

Mike Brannon is an experienced IT professional and long-term employee at National Gypsum Company (NGC). His IT career began in 1977, and he joined NGC in 1985. Mike leads the teams that provide infrastructure and security: "We Keep National Gypsum Running."

Jane Domboski currently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for OneMain Financial. She is both an attorney and cybersecurity practitioner, having served in the public and private sectors. In the public sector, Ms. Domboski investigated cybercrime, cyber terrorism, and cyber espionage as an FBI Agent for more than 20 years. Her private sector experience includes running the global Cyber Operations for SC Johnson and Cyber Strategy, Governance, and Compliance for Deloitte Global.

Rick is VP of Information Security at Centene Corporation and CISO of the Medicaid healthplan based in Charlotte, NC.

In his prior role, Rick worked as Virtual CISO supporting international companies. During that time Rick educated corporate boards, developed and matured security programs, and created the curriculum for a Cybersecurity Master’s degree program for an International University.

Rick is a frequent speaker at cybersecurity conferences such as RSA, Secureworld, Bsides, and FutureCon, and guest on numerous cybersecurity podcasts, including The CyberWire Hashtable, CISO Series, Google Cloud, Elevate Your Career, and The Rsnake Show. Rick talks about topics ranging from cybersecurity and risk, to neurodiversity, leadership, and staffing.

He on the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) CXO Trust Advisory Council, and the Boards of his local Charlotte ISC2 and CSA Chapters. He works with several Venture Capital and go-to-market firms reviewing security technology, as well as on the Board of Advisors for several startups.

Rick is on the CIS Critical Security Controls editorial panel and was a lead author on Version 8 of the Controls. He was also on the committee to update Cloud Security Alliance CCSK v5 study guide. Rick has a Cybersecurity YouTube channel where he has videos on the 18 CIS CSC v8 Controls, and other videos on cybersecurity topics.

Rick has alternated between being a cybersecurity management consultant and CISO throughout his 27+ year cybersecurity career, and has led ethical hacking, incident response and forensics, and risk management teams.

Richard Sheinis has litigated in federal and state courts for 37 years and has been the first
chair for approximately 175 jury trials. His clients have included health care professionals and
institutions, technology companies, and global business entities.

Rich takes advantage of his litigation background to work with businesses in the areas of
data privacy and cybersecurity, employment, and technology. He works with a wide variety
of companies from small technology businesses to publicly traded companies with a global
footprint.

Rich also teaches Health Information Privacy and Security as an adjunct professor at the
University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

Josh Brown is currently the Senior Director of Cybersecurity Compliance at Ally Financial with an oversight role for cyber-threat related compliance activities as well as effective challenge and oversight of Ally’s cybersecurity threat posture. He joined Ally with his background in working broadly across the financial services sector and other industries in areas of application security, threat intelligence, business continuity, government regulation, risk assessments and vulnerability management processes.

Josh is based in Charlotte, NC with his wife, three children, chickens, dogs, cats, frogs, fish and lizards. He greatly enjoys opportunities to mentor cybersecurity professionals in their career objectives (which he often does through Charlotte’s Phish Club). In his spare time he enjoys unsuccessful attempts at growing fields of beans and corn. He holds a master’s degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University and holds certifications from ISC2 and ISACA.

Frank is an accomplished security and risk management leader with more than 23 years of experience, including 12 years leading global security & infrastructure teams for enterprise organizations. Frank has a passion for designing and implementing effective cybersecurity programs at enterprise scale in diverse environments. Frank specializes in greenfield security program development, accelerating information security program transformations (fixer uppers), and driving complex merger & acquisition integrations and divestitures for large organizations. Frank currently serves as Enpro’s first CISO, responsible for building and maturing all aspects of Enpro’s information security and regulatory compliance programs globally. Prior to Enpro, Frank held roles in the areas of security operations, security architecture & engineering, strategy, threat & vulnerability management, and regulatory compliance (HIPAA, PCI, FFIEC, DFARS) for organizations including GE, Humana, and Applebee's (franchisee). Frank is a US Army veteran who volunteers his time through mentorship, advising cyber startups, and serving on advisory boards.

Jason brings over 25 years of experience in information systems and technology. He’s held a variety of roles and responsibilities in disciplines ranging from sales to consulting to project management. Jason’s true passion is engaging with clients, both current and prospective, as well as partners and industry personas in fact-based dialogues to the betterment of the IT community. In addition, delivering premium customer experiences and technology solutions through thought leadership, passion, and expertise. Jason has been with Rubrik for 8 years and is based in Nashville, TN.

Experienced data and security professional with a demonstrated history of working in the financial services industry. Skilled in architecture design, data patterns, data services to achieve desired business outcomes, information management, data governance, and data security practices. Strong research professional with a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD focused in Information Assurance and Security.

Michael has worked in almost every level of information technology, starting in networking and network security in the late 1990s. He has provided security and infrastructure knowledge to companies in the high-tech, financial services, and manufacturing fields as well as professional development and dev-ops. Most recently he helped develop and deploy a biometric security wearable to most of the top pharmaceutical manufacturers in the world before being enticed back into financial services by the possibility of migrating a legacy enterprise to the cloud.

Matt Pour leads Island's North America Sales Engineers. Matt brings decades of Information Technology and Information Security experience from establishing ITIL practices and InfoSec programs in Fortune 500 companies to engineering/architecting InfoSec business challenges for customers of some of the world's leading technology and cybersecurity companies. Matt was previously a Field CTO at Broadcom and help technical leadership roles at Symantec, Blue Coat and IBM.

Reese D'Herckens is the Senior Director of Systems Engineering at ExtraHop, an IT security and analytics company. Reese is a long-time member of the ExtraHop team and leads the Systems Engineering team for the Americas, drawing on his 26 years of experience in IT. Reese has worked at large enterprise companies, such as The New York Stock Exchange and T.D. Securities, as well as a Chicago based high-frequency proprietary trading firm.

Julian Salinas is a seasoned Systems Engineer with extensive experience in data protection strategies, cloud initiatives, and datacenter consulting. Currently, he serves at Veeam, as a Enterprise Systems Engineer engaging with customers on Data Protection and Data resiliency as a trusted advisor in their journey. With Julian's expertise in Virtualization, Cloud, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery, this has allowed him to give an end-to-end perspective on the tech landscape. Julian’s IT career consists of 25 years of experience with companies including, IBM, VCE, DellEMC, VMware and Veeam.

With over 20 years of technical experience, Jamie is a seasoned Senior Channel Sales Engineer specializing in application and data security solutions. Combining deep technical expertise with a strong understanding of channel sales strategies, Jamie is an invaluable asset to both customers and partners in the cybersecurity landscape.

Jamie’s career spans multiple industries, including a background in energy utilities, where they managed datacenter security and operations. This hands-on experience provides them with a unique perspective on the challenges organizations face in securing applications and sensitive data. Their expertise in implementing robust security frameworks has helped businesses safeguard digital assets from evolving threats.
In their current role, Jamie excels in cultivating relationships with channel partners, driving sales growth, and providing technical guidance on cutting-edge security solutions. Passionate about empowering businesses, they leverage innovative technologies and best practices to help organizations protect their applications and data in an ever-changing security landscape.

James (Jim) is a veteran in the information security and risk space. He previously served as partner at Ernst & Young, where he helped build the company’s cybersecurity practice during his 27-year tenure. Most recently, Jim worked as CISO and head of US operations at Panaseer. He has also held positions as CTRO at AIG, CSO and CTRO at Kaiser Permanente, and managing director at JP Morgan Chase, where he was global leader of Information Risk and Resiliency, Treasury and Security Services.

Justin Armstrong is a security, privacy, and regulatory compliance consultant with over 25 years of experience in the Healthcare Industry. He worked as a vCISO at FractionalCISO, managed security at Healthcare Cybersecurity startup Tausight, and led Product Security at MEDITECH, a top three Electronic Health Record vendor. He has engaged with Hospitals in nearly 100 ransomware incidents.

Recently he founded Armstrong Risk Management to provide guidance on security, privacy, and regulatory compliance to companies large and small.

He holds the CISSP and HCISPP certifications and obtained his Masters in Cybersecurity Leadership at Brandeis University.

Sue Thomas is a Global Technology & Cybersecurity Executive with over 25 years of experience across semiconductors, finance and technology industries and specializes in Infrastructure, Security, Technology Risk, Governance, regulatory compliance , business resiliency & Data Privacy. Sue worked as Deputy CISO for Analog Devices, Director of IT Audit for financial institutions, Head of IT for KMG Chemicals and currently leads Global Supply Chain Information Security at Lenovo.

Sue dedicated her career to build and lead programs to transform IT and enhance operational resiliency, while leveraging cybersecurity as a strategic asset and implementing innovative initiatives that create value and drive revenue growth.

Sue holds an Executive MBA, master's in computer science, along with certifications in CISSP, CRISC, CISA, CMMC-RP, CSPO & PMP, which have equipped her with a deep expertise in security, risk, and governance.

Dr. Rohde, a pioneer in applying cutting-edge technologies, co-founded IBM’s Web Services and SOA Excellence Team for Europe. He later developed Cloud solutions for an international solution provider. As global Director of Research at Siemens Digital, he focused on AI, GenAI, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, and Autonomous Factories in manufacturing and supply chain. Currently, as Executive Director at AiSuNe Foundation, Dr. Rohde bridges innovative research with practical business solutions.

Brett Price is a Lead Cybersecurity Consultant for the Risk Advisory
Services practice at AccessIT Group (AITG). Brett’s Cybersecurity journey
spans over two decades in the mid to large Enterprise space, where he
seamlessly transitioned from systems administrator and network architect
roles into esteemed cybersecurity leadership positions. His tenure in the IT
and cybersecurity realms has equipped him with not only technical acumen
but has molded him into a strategic visionary. Through his deep-rooted
understanding of business risk and governance frameworks such as NIST,
ISO/IEC 27001/27005, COBIT, and CISv8, Brett has sculpted cybersecurity
narratives for enterprises, always placing an emphasis on confidentiality,
integrity, and assurance.

Rehman is the Head of Security Architecture & Engineering - Chief Information Security Architect at Netskope. Prior to joining Netskope, he led Security Architecture and Infrastructure Engineering teams at Financial Services, Biotechnology and Hospitality organizations.

Rehman is a frequent speaker at industry conferences, including presentations at RSA on cloud security strategy. He specializes in building holistic security programs, with deep expertise in cloud security, data protection, identity management, and decision sciences. Rehman is an adjunct professor at Washington University in St. Louis, he has authored and taught graduate-level courses on access control, identity management, and zero trust security.

At Netskope, Rehman leads the security architecture and engineering function to build innovative security solutions that balance business agility with robust data protection and compliance. He thrives on staying ahead of the latest technology trends and building future-proof systems to withstand emerging threats.

Jeremiah Salzberg is a security leader with over 25 years of security leadership experience in the financial, telecommunications, and manufacturing sectors. He has held security positions responsible for engineering and architecture, pen testing and incident response, as well as numerous CISO-level positions. In his role as chief security technologist for CDW, Jeremiah is charged with evaluating current and emerging security technologies to ensure that clients are able to effectively address their cybersecurity challenges, and take a forward-leaning approach to prevention, detection and response. He also engages with CDW clients to discuss their security strategies and speaks at conferences.

Philip Walley is a Senior Product Marketing Manager at Cato Networks, where he focuses on showcasing the transformative potential of Cato’s single-vendor SASE platform. With over 20 years of experience in IT and technology marketing, he has developed a strong understanding of how converged networking and security solutions can empower organizations to navigate today’s complex digital landscape. At Cato, Philip’s work is centered around helping enterprises simplify their IT infrastructures and achieve secure, high-performance connectivity. Drawing on his deep expertise in SASE, SSE, and SD-WAN, he strives to craft clear, impactful narratives that resonate with IT leaders looking for innovative solutions to modern challenges. Based in Nashville, Tennessee, Philip holds a Master’s in Information Security and Assurance from Western Governors University. His passion lies in connecting technology to meaningful business outcomes, enabling teams to work smarter and more securely.

Mike Brannon is an experienced IT professional and long-term employee at National Gypsum Company (NGC). His IT career began in 1977, and he joined NGC in 1985. Mike leads the teams that provide infrastructure and security: "We Keep National Gypsum Running."

Reanna Schultz, from Kansas City, MO, holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Cybersecurity. With over six years of professional experience, Reanna has contributed to various corporate environments, leveraging her expertise to strengthen cybersecurity practices.

Throughout her career, Reanna has worn many hats, including roles in Endpoint Security Engineering, Detection Engineering, and leading a Security Operations Center (SOC) team. In addition to her primary responsibilities, Reanna serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Central Missouri (UCM) and is also an entrepreneur.

Reanna is the founder of CyberSpeak Labs, a platform dedicated to fostering community engagement through collaboration. She hosts the podcast Defenders in Lab Coats, where she delves into cyber threats and occasionally invites passionate guests to share their insights.
Driven by her passion for cybersecurity, Reanna frequently travels to speak at events, sharing her industry knowledge and empowering others to improve their organizations' cybersecurity practices.

Mike Muscatell is a seasoned IT veteran with more than 21 years in the Information Security field. He is a certified ethical hacker (CEH). Was honored as top 100 professionals in the Information Security field by Strathmore's for 2014. Member of a number of security organizations, including InfraGard and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Cyber Committee.

Tarik Haniff is currently a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at TIAA, specializing in Network Security, Cloud Security, Endpoint Security, and Identity and Access Management. Prior to TIAA, he was a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at SAS Institute, the world’s largest privately held software company, where he specialized in Microsoft Azure Security. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and a Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity both from The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He also holds certifications from AWS, Azure, Palo Alto Networks, and Zscaler. He has six years of experience in the cybersecurity industry.

Amy Bogac was most recently the CISO and Vice President of Enterprise Security and Infrastructure at The Clorox Company. With a passion for securing great brands, Amy previously led the Global Information Security and Infrastructure department for CF Industries, was the Director of IT Security Operations for the Walgreen Company, a member of Walgreens Boots Alliance, and was also a founding member of the IT Security Department at the Kellogg Company. Amy holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management, a BA from St. Xavier University, and achieved her CISSP from ISC2 more than 10 years ago.

Martin Strasburger leads the Enterprise Security department at Duke Energy Corporation, a
Fortune 200 company, and one of the largest combined gas and electric utilities in the United
States. In this role, Martin works with company executives and the board of directors to define
the company’s security strategy across technology networks/systems, operational assets,
facilities and personnel. To implement the strategy Martin leads a team of 250 highly skilled
employees across all security disciplines.

Prior to joining Duke Energy Corporation, Martin was a Senior Director leading the
cybersecurity department at Pacific Gas and Electric Company, also a Fortune 200 company,
and one of the largest combined gas and electric utilities in the United States. In this role,
Martin built an industry leading security intelligence and operations center and significantly
increased the maturity of the overall cybersecurity program. Martin started his career in
Deloitte’s Security and Privacy Services practice. At Deloitte, Martin was a Senior Manager and
served Fortune 100 companies such as Citi, United Technologies, and JP Morgan Chase.
Additionally, Martin was a practice leader for the Identity and Access Management practice.
Martin has extensive experience in identity and access management, vulnerability
management, threat intelligence and security operations. He holds the CISSP designation.

Martin has a bachelor's degree in Management Information Systems from California State
University Chico.

As vice president, chief information security officer, Marc Varner is responsible for the global security strategy and program, ensuring all Lowe’s information assets and technologies are properly protected. He collaborates with senior technology and business leaders to implement the best security practices to protect and serve our customers and overall business. He joined Lowe’s in 2021.

Marc has over 25 years of experience in technology and has expertise in global cybersecurity strategy, security architecture and process, information security governance and controls and regulatory compliance. Prior to Lowe's, he served as vice president and global chief information security officer at Yum! Brands, where he was responsible for global cybersecurity and strategic cybersecurity planning. He previously served as vice president and global chief information security officer at McDonald’s.

Marc is on the advisory board of a number of leading cybersecurity companies and serves as a global chair for the Cyber Security Collaborative, which he co-founded in 2012.

Dr. Omondi John Opala is a seasoned executive with expertise in cybersecurity, IT governance, and leading technology teams, backed by over 20 years of experience. His professional career reflects a steadfast commitment to enhancing digital security, ethical responses to complex cybersecurity challenges, and advancing the application of AI and emerging technologies globally.

Currently serving as the Vice President of IT and Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Hanes Brands Inc., Dr. Opala leads efforts to strengthen the company’s cybersecurity posture against evolving threats. Prior to this role, he was Vice President of IT and Global Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at McCormick, where he transformed cybersecurity risk remediation and response strategies to enhance network security globally.

In addition to his corporate achievements, Dr. Opala is deeply engaged in academia. As an adjunct professor, he has taught a variety of cybersecurity and business risk-related courses, including certified ethical hacking, information security risk management, digital forensics, and business ethics. He is currently developing program curricula focused on responsive AI usage. His dedication to education is further exemplified by his numerous publications on topics such as cloud architecture, cybersecurity risk governance, and the impact of cyber warfare on enterprise networks. His work has been featured in respected journals like the International Journal of Computer Networks and Communications and presented at IEEE conferences, among others.
Dr. Opala earned a Ph.D. in Information Technology with a specialization in Information Security Assurance & Governance from Capella University. Continuously striving for excellence, he is currently pursuing further education in Business Management at Harvard University Extension School.
Driven by a passion for innovation and knowledge, Dr. Opala focuses his research on information security, cloud computing, enterprise architecture, data analytics, big data and now AI. His exploratory analyses on the influence of information security on cloud adoption and the governance of cybersecurity risks have garnered widespread recognition.

Through his leadership, scholarship, and teaching, Dr. Omondi John Opala has become a prominent figure in the fields of cybersecurity and information technology, inspiring both industry professionals and aspiring technologists.