SecureWorld Denver 2019

Rhett served the Federal Reserve, and while there, led regular Enterprise Risk Management discussions between the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury with a focus on cybersecurity. He is a former NSA cryptoanalyst and a U.S. Army veteran, having served multiple joint intelligence communities, both foreign and domestic government agencies in international locations.

Rhett is a public speaker on the topic of privacy and identity theft prevention. He lectures on cybersecurity and cryptography topics at University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and Flatiron School. He also serves on the SecureWorld Advisory Council. Rhett earned a Master of Business Administration from LeTourneau University and holds the CISSP credential.

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.

Mohamed Malki, director of enterprise security architecture and HIPAA officer, has been key in transforming the State of Colorado’s security landscape. He’s been critical in building Colorado’s cybersecurity plan, designing Colorado's public cloud architecture and building the requirements for Colorado's Blockchain center of excellence. Mohamed holds multiple degrees, speaks four languages, and has more than 50 certifications, including CSA CCSAK, ISACA CCAK, ISO/IEC 27001 lead Implementer and Auditor Instructor, AWS Cloud Architect, CISSP, CISM, PMP,Google GCP Architect, and Certified Ethical Hacker. A certified security trainer, Mohamed has helped hundreds of individuals achieve various certifications and proactively offers sessions for employees. Mohamed was recognized as “State Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2019," the state leader who demonstrates a passion and focus on keeping systems secure and thinking about security in the big picture of state IT. More at: https://statescoop.com/2019-statescoop-50-awards-recognize-state-it-leaders-projects

Siam Luu has worked information security for over 8 years beginning as an analyst, graduating to an engineer, and currently is employed as a security architect. He has worked in both the public and private sectors in a myriad of different careers and locations in both technical and non-technical roles. At present, he has his CISSP certification and graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. His current goals are to help organizations improve their security program creating a more effective defensive strategy.

Bryce Verdier (CISSP, CEH) is currently a Senior Software Developer at GroupOn. In previous roles, he’s also been a Systems Engineer with an automation and DevOps minded focus, and an Information Security Engineer, focusing on host-based security.

Special Agent (SA) Christopher A. Calarco has been in law enforcement for 25 years. He was previously a local and federal prosecutor, and has been an Agent for the FBI for over 20 years. SA Calarco has investigated a number of matters to include reactive violent crimes, gangs, organized crime, fraud and major theft. SA Calarco was also a member of the FBI’s Art Crime Team. He has worked in the Los Angeles Field Office, Denver Field Office and at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in different capacities to include Field Agent, Associate Division Counsel, Squad Supervisory Special Agent and Unit Chief. SA Calarco currently works on national security matters and is the Private Sector Coordinator in Colorado and Wyoming.

As a technical project leader for over 20 years, Susan Bond has delivered solutions across several industries including Energy, Technology, Logistics Real Estate, and Higher Education. Susan was the Technical Lead for the implementation of network, cybersecurity, visualization, SCADA, and analytics infrastructure during construction and transition to operations of the Department of Energy's $100M+ premier energy systems research facility at NREL. Currently, Susan is an Operational Technology (OT) Lead on a large cybersecurity program and the President of InfraGard Denver Members Alliance.

Chris McMahon is a Special Agent for the United States Secret Service. Prior to joining the Secret Service, Chris was a Prince George’s County, MD Police Officer. Chris is a well-seasoned criminal investigator specializing in cyber-enabled financial fraud, money laundering, credit card/ID fraud among other crimes. Chris began his Secret Service career out of the New York Field Office spending time between the Fraud Squad and Electronic Crimes Task Force where he earned the designation NITRO Agent for specialized training in network intrusions. While in the New York Field Office, Chris ran point on several large-scale multi-national criminal investigations targeting transnational organized crime groups. Chris is currently assigned to the U.S. Secret Service, Global Investigative Operations Center (GIOC) where he specializes in Business Email Compromise schemes and account takeovers focusing on the international nexus of cyber-enabled financial crime.

Sam Masiello has been working with email, messaging, and fighting internet pollution for over 25 years. Prior to The Anschutz Corporation, he served as the CISO at Gates Corporation, where he was responsible for the company's data security, risk, and global compliance initiatives. Before that, he was CISO at TeleTech, where he oversaw the protection of employee, consumer, and customer data for all of the organization's clients, which included many Fortune 500 companies.

Sam has also been the Chief Security Officer, Head of Application Security, and Head of Security Research at companies such as Groupon, Return Path, and McAfee. He currently serves as Director-at-Large of The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), National Advisory Board Member for SecureWorld, and is an Executive Board Member of Colorado Cyber. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG), the Steering Committee of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), and a member of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

Cindi Carter is a global, multi-industry Cybersecurity and Information Technology Executive who consistently seeks the optimal outcome for any endeavor. As a transformational leader from startups to enterprises, she excels at building cybersecurity practices in highly-regulated industries, turning strategic goals into actionable outcomes, and highly collaborative engagement across the organization for managing cyber risk.

At Check Point Software Technologies, Cindi is a Chief Information Security Officer in the Office of the CISO, leading Check Point's Healthcare Center of Excellence where human safety is essential to care.

Cindi is the founding President of Women in Security - Kansas City, was honored in SC Media magazine’s “Women to Watch in Cyber Security," and was also featured in Cybersecurity Venture’s book, “Women Know Cyber: 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime.” She presents at conferences worldwide, holds several recognized IT, security, and project management certifications, and has a Master of Science degree in Information Technology.

Aleta Jeffress is the Chief Information and Digital Officer for the City of Aurora. She has over 20 years as a successful executive business leader and technologist building relationships between business and technology to enable digital transformation and market growth. She drives innovative strategies for business and IT leadership, and has developed teams for Cybersecurity and Project Management Offices from the ground up. Her career began in startup software companies where she started in a call center environment and moved through private and public sector organizations in the areas of software quality, development, product management, and ultimately leadership.

Jessica Raymond is the IT Security Manager for Weld County Government where she had the opportunity to build the security program from the ground up over the last 5 years. She is responsible for information security in a 360 degree fashion including designing, implementing, and maintaining security infrastructure, compliance and audits, governance, risk management, security awareness, incident response, vulnerability management, threat prevention, budgeting, forecasting, project management, and more.

Prior to working for Weld County Government, Jessica was a Senior IT Security Analyst for the University of Northern Colorado for 5 years and was part of the IBM Managed Security Services division as a member of the Security Operations Center for 7 years. She worked professionally in the Information Technology field for the past 25 years.

In addition, Jessica serves on the Product Advisory Board for the MS-ISAC. She holds the CISM, CISSP, and C|CISO certifications.

Mary Haynes is the Vice President of Network Security Operations at Charter Communications. Mary currently leads the network security program for Charter’s core networks and Spectrum services, including High Speed Internet, Telephony, and Video products. Mary is also responsible for Charter’s Customer Security Operations, Law Enforcement Response Team, Abuse management and botnet remediation programs.
Mary actively participates in a leadership role in numerous security organizations and associations, including the National Communications and Telecommunications Association (NCTA), Communications Information Sharing Analysis Center (ISAC), Communications Sector Reliability and Interoperability Council Working Groups and Infragard. Mary is currently serving as the Communications Deputy Sector Chief for Denver Infragard. As the founding member of Women In Security – Denver, the largest ISSA Special Interest Group.
Mary has been in the information security field since 1996 and has served in security leadership positions for Evergy, CenturyLink, Sprint, Birch Telecom and AT&T. She graduated Summa Cum Laude from Baker University with a degree in Business Administration.

As a Security Evangelist at Radware, Mr. Winward is responsible for developing, managing, and increasing the company’s security business in North America.
Ron’s entire career has been deeply rooted in internet and cybersecurity. For over 20 years, Ron has helped design complex solutions for carriers, enterprises, and cybersecurity providers around the world.
Ron is an industry-recognized expert in the Mirai IoT botnet and its modern variants. Ron conducted the industry’s first complete analysis of the Mirai attack vectors, producing forensic examples for public distribution of each attack and the specific impact each attack had on networks. His work on IoT attack analysis has been presented at conferences worldwide and has been referenced by NIST.
Prior to joining Radware, Ron was Director of Network Engineering for a global datacenter provider and ISP. In this role, Ron oversaw the growth and development of a global network infrastructure that delivered services to other ISPs, hosting providers, and enterprises around the world. During this time, Ron assisted some of the world’s top businesses in mitigating cyberattacks on their infrastructure, cultivating an extensive knowledge in DDoS attack methodologies.
Ron holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business and has earned many technical certifications throughout his engineering-focused career. Ron acutely understands the impact of technology and security on business and is enthusiastic about their interrelation.

As a security practitioner of 30 years, Jack's experience began in the 80s with commercial and military venues, and expanding in early days of the Internet. It continued to be shaped by the growth of malware and data breaches as global threats against business, nations, and individuals. While developing some of the earliest proactive IPS systems ( proto-SIEM) on an extensive international network (DEC's Easynet) he was able to analyze and evolve response systems by observing the nature and techniques resulting in data exposure.

His present focus is global information growth and the profitable criminal practices and State actors constantly assaulting data, inevitably with profound impact. Recent work in MSSP and financial sectors continues to expose him to the bleeding edge of data loss affecting every user of this global data repository. His current position, Senior Security Engineer at Pulte Financial, offers constant exposure to threats engineered to steal financial and PII content and continues to sharpen his sense of appropriate Incident Response, CSIRT defense activities, and the continual need to protect individuals funds and privacy.

As a regular presenter for ISSA and ISACA, he's focused on sessions addressing information exposure, attack methodologies, and integrating threat content and TTPa to quick response defenses, but now is concerned with practical approaches to tailored tactical response, SOC operations, and personal data privacy.

Rhett served the Federal Reserve, and while there, led regular Enterprise Risk Management discussions between the Federal Reserve and U.S. Treasury with a focus on cybersecurity. He is a former NSA cryptoanalyst and a U.S. Army veteran, having served multiple joint intelligence communities, both foreign and domestic government agencies in international locations.

Rhett is a public speaker on the topic of privacy and identity theft prevention. He lectures on cybersecurity and cryptography topics at University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) and Flatiron School. He also serves on the SecureWorld Advisory Council. Rhett earned a Master of Business Administration from LeTourneau University and holds the CISSP credential.

Emmy-winning journalist Bruce Sussman spent more than 20 years on TV screens in Portland, Oregon. During his "second career," he became fascinated by cybersecurity while working with CISOs at Gartner. He joined SecureWorld in 2017 to help grow its media division. Currently, he hosts the Remote Sessions daily web conference series and SecureWorld podcast published each Tuesday, and oversees news content for secureworldexpo.com. Sussman graduated from the University of Missouri School of Journalism back in the dark ages. Message him on LinkedIn if you'd like to connect!

Jesse Hood is a Director at Darktrace, the world’s leading cyber AI company. Jesse has helped many enterprise organizations and SMB’s throughout Colorado and the neighboring states deploy cyber AI to detect and stop emerging threats. He works with businesses across a range of industries, including finance, healthcare, biopharma, local government, oil & gas, energy, critical infrastructure, legal firms, and more. During Jesse’s tenure at Darktrace, the company has grown to over 3,000 customers and has been the recipient of numerous achievements, including: Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies 2018, Forbes Cloud 100 2018, and the CNBC Disruptor 50 2018.

Jaymin Desai is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E , CIPM) and the Third Party Risk Offering Manager at OneTrust—the #1 most widely used privacy, security, and third-party risk technology platform. In this role, Desai oversees a global professional services team of privacy certified consultants focused on formulating efficient and effective responses to data protection requirements. His team advises many of the world's leading organizations on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and ePrivacy (Cookie Law) solution implementations with extensive experience building and scaling enterprise-level privacy programs. He holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Abhijit Solanki is the founder of Whiteboard Venture Partners, an early stage venture capital firm helping entrepreneurs achieve their whiteboard dreams.

Chris Mandelaris is the Chief Information Security Officer of Elevations Credit Union. He has over 16 combined years’ experience in IT and Information Security. He received his Bachelor of Science from Central Michigan University and Master’s Degree Information Technology - Walsh College of Business Chris has earned CCISO, CISM, CISA, CRISC, PMP, ITILv3, Six Sigma, MCSA, MCP, CNA, Network+, A+ certifications and is an active member of PMI and ISACA organizations. Previously Chris has worked for Ford Motor Credit, Flagstar Bank, Electronic Arts, Dell, First Tennessee Bank and Bank of America taking on increased roles and responsibilities globally.

Sam Masiello has been working with email, messaging, and fighting internet pollution for over 25 years. Prior to The Anschutz Corporation, he served as the CISO at Gates Corporation, where he was responsible for the company's data security, risk, and global compliance initiatives. Before that, he was CISO at TeleTech, where he oversaw the protection of employee, consumer, and customer data for all of the organization's clients, which included many Fortune 500 companies.

Sam has also been the Chief Security Officer, Head of Application Security, and Head of Security Research at companies such as Groupon, Return Path, and McAfee. He currently serves as Director-at-Large of The Coalition Against Unsolicited Commercial Email (CAUCE), National Advisory Board Member for SecureWorld, and is an Executive Board Member of Colorado Cyber. He has previously served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Messaging, Malware, and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group (M3AAWG), the Steering Committee of the Online Trust Alliance (OTA), and a member of the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG).

As the Director of Product Security at Collibra, Clint Sowada is responsible for delivering secure applications and protecting customer’s data. He has been in the security industry for nearly a decade and has proven track record in building secure SDLC programs at companies that range from endpoint protection to large scale cloud service providers. Prior to joining Collibra, Clint built and managed teams of security professionals at VMware, ServiceNow, Malwarebytes, and SecureAuth. He comes from a technical background specializing in penetration testing, and currently resides in Denver, Colorado.

Randall’s career started as a Law Enforcement Officer. With the technical aptitude, he moved into technology, starting as an MCSE on Windows NT 4.0. Over the next 22 or so years, he evolved to become the Enterprise Chief Information Security Officer for Denver Health and Hospital Authority. He also teaches cybersecurity courses for Harvard and Regis Universities. As an ISSA Distinguished Fellow, Randall’s mission is to give back to our profession, to mentor, teach, speak, and write. Security is his vocation, avocation and passion. Randall has presented at many security conferences, including Rocky Mountain Information Security Conference, Denver Evanta CISO Summit, SecureWorld, and the Louisville Metro Information Security Conference.

Merlin Namuth has spent over 20 years focused in security. His experience includes building and running numerous security programs, program management, managing incident response teams, computer forensics, compliance, architecture, and engineering complex security solutions. Namuth serves on the cyber risk advisory board at Pepperdine University where he also guest lectures. Merlin serves on the Board of Directors at iEmpathize, a nonprofit focused on educating people about human trafficking. He has presented at several conferences, including RSA domestically and internationally, as well as RMISC, OWASP, and ISSA. He holds the PMP, CISSP, GCFA, and GCIH certifications.

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.

Mohamed Malki, director of enterprise security architecture and HIPAA officer, has been key in transforming the State of Colorado’s security landscape. He’s been critical in building Colorado’s cybersecurity plan, designing Colorado's public cloud architecture and building the requirements for Colorado's Blockchain center of excellence. Mohamed holds multiple degrees, speaks four languages, and has more than 50 certifications, including CSA CCSAK, ISACA CCAK, ISO/IEC 27001 lead Implementer and Auditor Instructor, AWS Cloud Architect, CISSP, CISM, PMP,Google GCP Architect, and Certified Ethical Hacker. A certified security trainer, Mohamed has helped hundreds of individuals achieve various certifications and proactively offers sessions for employees. Mohamed was recognized as “State Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2019," the state leader who demonstrates a passion and focus on keeping systems secure and thinking about security in the big picture of state IT. More at: https://statescoop.com/2019-statescoop-50-awards-recognize-state-it-leaders-projects

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.

Mohamed Malki, director of enterprise security architecture and HIPAA officer, has been key in transforming the State of Colorado’s security landscape. He’s been critical in building Colorado’s cybersecurity plan, designing Colorado's public cloud architecture and building the requirements for Colorado's Blockchain center of excellence. Mohamed holds multiple degrees, speaks four languages, and has more than 50 certifications, including CSA CCSAK, ISACA CCAK, ISO/IEC 27001 lead Implementer and Auditor Instructor, AWS Cloud Architect, CISSP, CISM, PMP,Google GCP Architect, and Certified Ethical Hacker. A certified security trainer, Mohamed has helped hundreds of individuals achieve various certifications and proactively offers sessions for employees. Mohamed was recognized as “State Cybersecurity Leader of the Year 2019," the state leader who demonstrates a passion and focus on keeping systems secure and thinking about security in the big picture of state IT. More at: https://statescoop.com/2019-statescoop-50-awards-recognize-state-it-leaders-projects

A technology focused senior level IT security professional with an excellent balance of business experience and knowledge of systems/network security. Always conducting oneself with integrity and ethical behavior following the motto of “Always do the right thing.”

Janelle Hsia is a trusted advisor for strategic and tactical decision making within organizations of all sizes. She brings a diverse background with strong leadership, technical, and business skills spanning 20 years of experience in the areas of project management, IT, privacy, security, data governance, process improvement, and software development. Her passion is creating comprehensive data governance programs for SMEs which blends security, privacy, and risk disciplines together. Her experience includes Director of Privacy and Compliance, Deputy Information System Security Officer, and Board of Directors for the Colorado Chapter of Cloud Security Alliance (CSA). She holds the following certificates CIPM, CIPP/E, CISA, PMP, and GSLC.

Preston Bukaty is an attorney and consultant working for IT Governance USA. He specializes in data privacy GRC projects, from data inventory audits to gap analysis, contract management, and remediation planning. His compliance background, and experience with operationalizing compliance for a variety of industries, give him a strong understanding of the legal issues presented by international regulatory frameworks. Having conducted over 3,000 data mapping audits, he also understands the practical realities of project management in operationalizing compliance initiatives.

Preston’s legal experience and passion for technology make him uniquely suited to understanding the business impact of privacy regulations like the GDPR and CCPA. He has advised more than 250 organizations engaged in businesses as varied as SaaS platforms, mobile geolocation applications, GNSS/telematics tools, financial institutions, fleet management software, architectural/engineering design systems, and web hosting. He also teaches certification courses on GDPR compliance and ISO 27001 implementation, and writes on topics related to data privacy law.

Preston lives in Denver, Colorado, much to the envy of friends and family. Prior to working as a data privacy consultant, he worked for an international GPS software company, advising business areas on compliance issues across 140 countries. Preston holds a juris doctorate from the University of Kansas School of Law, along with a basketball signed by Hall-of-Fame coach Bill Self.

Chris McLaughlin is the Information Security Officer at Johns Manville, a Berkshire Hathaway company. JM is leading global manufacturer of insulation, roofing and glass fibers products. Chris has over 20 years of security and infrastructure experience leading the vision for a highly complex manufacturing environment. Chris has a passion for industrial security and has developed a center of excellence around industrial control systems that brings engineering and IT teams together to work towards common goals. Chris holds an MBA from the University of Colorado.

Scott Reynolds is the Industrial Security Manager at Johns Manville. He has over 14 years of Industrial Engineering experience and is an active member of the OT / IT community. Scott has held leadership roles in the International Society of Automation (ISA) for the last four years and is currently an Executive Board Member. Scott has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Maine and an MBA from The University of South Dakota.

Dale is currently the Chief Security Officer of Zayo Group, Inc, a global telecommunications service provider based in Boulder, Colorado. Dale is an accomplished and experienced corporate security executive with 31 years of experience in developing critical global security programs, having worked in Federal/State Law Enforcement and with Internet Service Providers (ISP). Dale brings a practical capability to integrating security into the culture of the business, enabling the company to be more flexible, with demonstrable results. He is an experienced leader in creating high performance teams, designing innovative security solutions, handling global regulatory environments, and managing highly technical global personnel. Dale was recently awarded the 2019 top global CISOs by the CISO Platform.

Alex Wood is currently the CISO for Uplight and has more than 18 years of experience in information security. Previously, he has had managerial, program, and technical roles at several major companies in different verticals. Additionally, Alex has served on the Board of Directors for ISSA International and is a host of the Colorado = Security podcast. Alex is a CISSP and has an MAS in Information Security from the University of Denver.

Craig Spiezle is the founder and managing partner of AgeLight Advisory Group, a professional services firm focused on online and digital services. Craig is a recognized authority on trust and the convergence of privacy and security promoting ethical privacy practices, end-to-end security and the importance on moving from a compliance mindset to stewardship. Craig is the Charmain emeritus of the Online Trust Alliance, an initiative of the Internet Society. He frequently briefs international policy makers driving awareness of best practices by both the public and private sectors and importance of internet governance. Craig has championed security best practices to help protect consumers while promoting innovation and the role of meaningful self-regulation. Prior to OTA, Craig spent over a decade at Microsoft focused on security and privacy enhancing technologies and standards. Craig chairs the Online Trust & Integrity Council and is on the board of the Identity Theft Council, editorial board of SC Magazine and a member of InfraGard, the IAPP and the APWG.

As VP Risk Management & Partner Relations Mr. Danks is responsible for understanding and managing business risks in the context of cybersecurity and privacy across Huawei USA businesses and toward external stakeholders. Further, he is responsible for developing and enhancing partner relationships towards key external stakeholders across academia, channels partners, industry, and suppliers utilizing his broad understanding of Huawei’s local and global business operations.
Mr. Danks joined Huawei’s USA operations in 2009 holding various senior level positions in Huawei’s carrier network and consumer products businesses covering operations, cybersecurity and risk management in Huawei’s customer facing solutions and services. Most recently Mr. Danks has driven a program to operationalize the NIST Cybersecurity Framework as an organizational assessment model for Huawei’s consumer facing cloud services operations and platforms globally.
Mr. Danks career spans 30 years in the telecommunications industry in both the vendor and operator environments. Prior to joining Huawei, he spent 18+ years with Ericsson preceded by several years with Rogers Communications. At Ericsson, Mr. Danks held key international positions in Canada, United States, United Kingdom and Sweden. Mr. Danks focus during much of his career was in the telecom services arena expanding into the cybersecurity, privacy and risk management space. Mr. Danks has proven success building and developing highly effective organizations focused on process driven business results supporting customer and partner success. Throughout his career risk management of operations and networks has been a significant factor contributing to success of the organizations under his responsibility. His diversified mix of global experience provides him with a broad understanding of the challenges facing the Information and Communication Technology industry today.

Bruce Potter is the CISO at Expel. Previously, Bruce co-founded Ponte Technologies, a cybersecurity research and engineering company. He also served as the senior technical advisor to the members of President Obama’s Commission on Enhancing National Cyber Security, and co-founded the Shmoo Group in 1996.

David is the leader of Husch Blackwell’s national privacy and data security practice group. Accredited by the International Association of Privacy Professionals as a Fellow of Information Privacy, Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States, and Certified Information Privacy Technologist, David brings to the table a deep engagement with the subject matter and demonstrated excellence in handling privacy and cybersecurity matters for clients. David regularly counsels clients on complying with existing and emerging privacy and information security laws, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, the California Consumer Privacy Act, and other emerging state privacy and information security statutes.

Serge Borso is the founder and CEO of SpyderSec, an organization specializing in penetration testing, security awareness training, and OSINT. He also resides on the board of directors for the Denver OWASP chapter and teaches with the SANS Institute. He is an expert in a variety of information security fields, having served in many roles in the IT and security industries over the past 15 years. As an active member in the information security community, Serge has trained over 1,000 students, presents regularly at various speaking engagements, and his quotes can be read in various industry publications.

Greg Sternberg is a Security Architect at Sungard Availability Services, CISO for ISSA, Denver and Affiliate Faculty at Regis University. He works at incorporating security into the SDLC and securing architectures. He has published and blogged on security and architecture topics and presented at SecureWorld, RMISC, ISC(2) and the Open Group Security Conferences. He holds CISSP, CISM and TOGAF certifications, has a Masters in Software Engineering and Management, is a member of ISACA, ISC(2), InfraGard and a board member of the Denver chapter of ISSA.

Colonel Gelhardt, at the pinnacle of his military career was selection to work at The White House as the CIO, supporting President Clinton, the VP, the White House Staff, and the U.S. Secret Service managing all the classified automation and telecommunications. Colonel Gelhardt is a combat veteran. Colonel Gelhardt is a well-known speaker and the author of “My time at the Clinton White House”. Since retiring from active service, Colonel Gelhardt has volunteer with many different service organizations. Currently he is the Chief Information Officer for the Georgia State Defense Force and all volunteer force keeping your state safe.

Carlin Dornbusch is an innovative leader in Cybersecurity and Data Privacy. His company, American Cyber Security Management, brings proven methods, best-in-class tools, and deep knowledge of data privacy and security standards to every client engagement. ACSM excels at creating custom privacy and security programs to meet the demands of modern threats and emerging compliance. Carlin’s background in technology, security, operations, and management give him a well-balanced approach to solving business problems and maximizing Return on Investment. Having worked for some of the most rapidly growing technology and solutions companies in the world, Carlin and his teams have developed hundreds of business leading solutions including; digital transformation, workforce productivity, IT simplification, business automation, customer service, and market expansion. A consultative approach has been the mainstay of Carlin’s methodology ever since leaving corporate employment in 2006. Carlin’s focus on people, process, and technology allows him to improve operational efficiency and help businesses modernize their workplace. His methods and techniques are industry leading and high leveraged by Focused Clouds’ clientele. You can find Carlin as an active member in the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), and International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) organizations in Colorado. He founded and oversees the ever expanding GDPR/Privacy MeetUp. Carlin also holds an active Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certificate from ISC2.

Burak is one of the co-founders and the technical lead at Cloud Privacy Labs. He has more than 25 years of experience as a software engineer and recently left his position at Red Hat as Principal Software Applications Engineer. His work includes large scale back-end applications for distributed environments and open-source tools for enterprise data management, identity management, configuration automation, and infrastructure-as-code.

Jaymin Desai is a Certified Information Privacy Professional (CIPP/E , CIPM) and the Third Party Risk Offering Manager at OneTrust—the #1 most widely used privacy, security, and third-party risk technology platform. In this role, Desai oversees a global professional services team of privacy certified consultants focused on formulating efficient and effective responses to data protection requirements. His team advises many of the world's leading organizations on General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and ePrivacy (Cookie Law) solution implementations with extensive experience building and scaling enterprise-level privacy programs. He holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Alex Wood is currently the CISO for Uplight and has more than 18 years of experience in information security. Previously, he has had managerial, program, and technical roles at several major companies in different verticals. Additionally, Alex has served on the Board of Directors for ISSA International and is a host of the Colorado = Security podcast. Alex is a CISSP and has an MAS in Information Security from the University of Denver.

Chris is a seasoned IT Strategist with 20 years of leadership experience in Project & Program Management, Technology & Infrastructure, and Security & Governance. He creates and scales internal technology operations for sustained hyper-growth, builds security operations for Managed Security Provider and spearheads Compliance certification programs across industry verticals including PCI, HITRUST, SOC, SSAE 16 and ISO 27001. Chris and his teams have enabled global market access to business objectives in secure environments. As the CISO of Ntirety formerly Hostway | HOSTING, he’s responsible for compliance and security strategy and implementation while guarding the business. He’s dedicated to transforming complex problems into effective information security controls and driving revenue growth.

Brenden Smith is the Chief Information Security Officer at FirstBank. Having spent the last 10 years at FirstBank he is passionate about their community involvement and “Banking for Good” philosophy. In his current role Brenden is focused on aligning security with the needs of the business to help drive better business outcomes through better partnership. His passions include dark web research and the ever evolving space of data privacy.

Merlin Namuth has spent over 20 years focused in security. His experience includes building and running numerous security programs, program management, managing incident response teams, computer forensics, compliance, architecture, and engineering complex security solutions. Namuth serves on the cyber risk advisory board at Pepperdine University where he also guest lectures. Merlin serves on the Board of Directors at iEmpathize, a nonprofit focused on educating people about human trafficking. He has presented at several conferences, including RSA domestically and internationally, as well as RMISC, OWASP, and ISSA. He holds the PMP, CISSP, GCFA, and GCIH certifications.

Michael Stephen is a 20+ year Cybersecurity and Privacy professional who has worked in multiple industries including telecommunications, healthcare, state and local government, finance and restaurant. His experience includes designing, building and supporting security solutions, and successfully implementing compliance and privacy programs to support business goals. He holds active certifications CISSP, SABSA, prior multiple Cisco network and security, and his last position was Privacy & Security Officer at Connect for Health Colorado.

Justin Schluessler has served with Compassion International, a global child development non-profit, for 21 years. Starting in IT and then transitioning to Risk Management, Justin was the organization’s very first information security employee—building a comprehensive security and compliance program from the ground up. In his current role as Data Protection Officer, Justin is responsible for leading a global data protection program addressing information security and privacy risk in thirty-eight countries.

Proving the value of protecting data for employees, beneficiaries, and donors motivates Justin every day. Proving that technologists can tell stories without inflicting fatal boredom is just an added plus.

Scott Hogg is CTO and a co-founder of HexaBuild.io, an IPv6 consulting and training firm. He is a CCIE #5133 and CISSP #4610 with over 25 years of network and security experience. He is the author of the a Cloud Guru course, “Rapidly Deploying IPv6 on AWS.” Scott is Chair Emeritus of the Rocky Mountain IPv6 Task Force (RMv6TF), and a member of the Infoblox IPv6 Center of Excellence (COE). He has authored the Cisco Press book on IPv6 Security, and also writes for NetworkWorld.com.

Craig Swinteck has a comprehensive background in IT operations and cybersecurity, with a career spanning across entrepreneurship, small businesses to global corporations, serving the public in local and federal government, and providing cybersecurity guidance in challenging industries such as Finance, Healthcare, and Manufacturing. Craig’s passion is to coach people to choose to be the best version of themselves. He is a devoted mentor in both professional and personal life, avid athlete in numerous sports, and sees the challenging realm of cybersecurity as a great complement to the footsteps of his family of aviators, doctors, entrepreneurs, teachers, and world travelers.