Speakers

Over the last year, Vishal Amin has built and led the Security Solutions business growth for Microsoft Federal. Microsoft Federal is comprised of 11 Account Team Units (ATU) across 3 Organizational Units (OU) to include Defense, Civilian and the Intelligence Community, the Security Solutions group consists of Cybersecurity professionals and technical specialists focusing on Microsoft’s Security, Compliance and Identity (SCI) growth supporting our US Federal customers globally. Microsoft Federal’s Security Solution area focuses on the SCI growth of federal organizations on their journey to digital enablement and transformation. As an industry expert, Vishal has worked closely with C-level decision makers of Fortune 100 businesses, major government agencies, and public sector organizations to deliver on critical customer outcomes relating to cybersecurity to include the current White House Administrations Executive Order on Cybersecurity and Microsoft’s commitment to SCI in enabling security for the United States Federal Government. Throughout his career, Vishal has served a number of agencies and organizations through various capacities as recognized sales leader, technical specialist and Cybersecurity thought leader, with a proven track of building and leading high-performing teams focused on security business outcomes.

Prior to joining Microsoft, Vishal focused on Cybersecurity growth at NTT Data within their Public Sector business, collaborated with Okta as the face of their Global Identity Initiative and built and led a team of security specialists in the Americas for Patriot Consulting Technology Group, focusing on Microsoft Security as a platform while expanding the capability of Microsoft’s channel strategy for security. Vishal spent the first 20 years of his career in various leadership roles within the Department of Defense and the United States Marine Corps. During his distinguished Military career, Vishal served as a Fighter Pilot and led organizations within the Joint Special Operations community. In addition to his professional accomplishments, Vishal invests his time with several non-profit and philanthropic organizations globally, and continues to volunteer as a mentor and leadership facilitator with the Travis Manion Foundation and The Honor Foundation. Both organizations are grounded in character and leadership development for personal and professional growth focusing on youth
and senior public sector leaders.

Vishal is a graduate of multiple top level and advanced schools, has a degree from California Polytechnic University, Pomona, and resides in San Diego, California.

A technology writer and editor for more than 40 years, Armstrong served on the launch team for FCW in 1987 and has served in both editorial and business roles in the intervening years. She served as President of Virginia’s Center for Innovative Technology from September 1999 until August 2002 when she returned to FCW as publisher and then as President of the 1105 Government Information Group. She was part of the team that created the Federal 100 in 1990 and has been involved in its selection and celebration ever since, except for two of the years she was at CIT.

Bio will be posted soon!

Bio to be posted soon!

Josh has more than 20 years in IT experience and has architected identity and privilege access management solutions for over 3 million user accounts. He joined BeyondTrust in 2018 as a Senior Solutions Engineer and was quickly selected to lead the team. Prior to BeyondTrust, he was a senior Solutions architect for Quest Software. He began his career by founding a managed service provider (MSP) at 12.  He held multiple industry certifications by 14, making him the youngest in the nation to do so. That MSP went on to become successful, and ultimately his launching point into Public Sector architecture and support.

Tim Brown joined SolarWinds in 2017 as vice president of security and is now the
CISO for SolarWinds, overseeing internal IT security, product security, and security
strategy. After the SUNBURST attack in December 2020, Tim Brown led the
response and remediation efforts. Tim has spoken to thousands of customers and
has been instrumental in all customer remediation support and services. He has
worked closely with the SolarWinds ® CEO in designing the future state of security
and their “Secure by Design” philosophy. This new philosophy on software design
will not only benefit SolarWinds but the industry as a whole, and it sets a
precedent for responses to future cyberattacks. As a former Dell Fellow and CTO, Tim deeply understands the challenges and aspirations of the person responsible for driving digital innovation and change. Tim has over 25 years of experience, and his trusted advisor status has taken him from meeting with members of Congress and the Senate to the Situation Room in the White House. He’s also an avid inventor and holds 18 issued patents on security-related topics.

Mr. Caron is the Chief Information Officer (CIO) / Assistant Inspector General of Information Technology (AIG/IT) for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as of May 2021. Mr. Caron has over 24 years of information technology (IT) experience.  He began his career in the US Army working in hands-on technical positions serving for 7 years.

Previously he has served as the Director of Enterprise Network Management (ENM) within the Directorate of Operations in the Bureau of Information Resource Management (IRM) at the Department of State (DOS) since June 2016. 

 Mr. Caron then spent 2 years as a contractor with the federal government, where he acquired more refined technical skills and a more detailed understanding of IT operations.  He joined the federal government at the Department of State (DOS) in 2003 as a Systems Administrator.  He has held multiple positions at the DOS, moving from managing small technical groups leading up to Director for ENM.

One of his most significant accomplishments was acting as the technical liaison during a major cyber security event at the Department. His leadership allowed the Department to resolve the incident as quickly and effectively as possible with minimal impact to the mission.

As the Director of ENM, Mr. Caron was personally responsible for the leadership of the largest office within the IRM bureau. This included managing the financial portfolio of over $200 million and prioritization of work across a wide range of disciplines.  In this role he was responsible for the network and authentication infrastructure for the Department, led the re-engineering of the Department’s primary Identity and Access Management solution, formed teams to address key security efforts needed to mitigate future potential cybersecurity attacks through collaborative efforts, led the redesign of the Department’s Active Directory significantly improving security and responsible for the engineering and management of all the Department’s global network infrastructure and perimeter security infrastructure.

Mr. Caron is a co-chair on the CIO’s Innovation Counsel for Zero Trust as well as co-chair for ATARC.org Zero Trust Working Group. He previously chaired ATARC.org Trusted Internet Connection (TIC) 3.0 Working Group which resulted in 8 vendor proof of concepts being delivered to government participants.

Mr. Caron received his associate degree (Magna Cum Laude) in Computer Information Systems, Network Administration from the Northern Virginia Community College.  At the Department of State, he also has received training in Executive Potential Program from the USDA Graduate School in 2009 and Advanced Leadership Skills in 2014.  He received his certification in May 2020 as a Forrester Zero Trust - Strategist (ZTX-S) and received his Federal IT Security Manager Certification (FITSP-M) in 2017.  Mr. Caron has received numerous individual awards for his exceptional service since 2004.

Drew Church is a Global Security Strategist at Splunk where he helps customers solve challenging cybersecurity problems. Prior to joining Splunk, he spent almost ten years as a civil servant working for the Department of Defense across many roles, most recently as a cybersecurity operations manager for the Department of the Navy. Drew is also a commissioned officer in the United States Navy Reserve.

Chris DeRusha is the Federal Chief Information Security Officer. DeRusha was the Chief
Information Security Officer for the Biden for President campaign. Prior to joining the
campaign in June 2020, he served as the Chief Security Officer for the State of Michigan.
DeRusha has extensive experience managing cybersecurity and critical infrastructure
programs and operations both in the public and private sectors. DeRusha led Ford Motor
Company's Enterprise Vulnerability Management program and has over eight years of
Federal Government experience working both at the Office of Management and Budget and
the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. He holds a Master’s in Security Studies from
Columbia University and a Bachelor’s in Business Administration from James Madison
University.

Steven Hernandez is an information assurance expert serving the past twenty years in a variety of contexts and missions. He has worked on the front lines in operations centers and led research teams attempting to balance security, privacy, and mission delivery considerations. Transforming risk management in international manufacturing, healthcare, non-profits, and governments at the federal, state, and local levels is extensive through his professional portfolio. Leading tactical, day-to-day security operations as well as guiding and influencing broad security initiatives such as the US government's FedRAMP program across large organizations with international presence are areas he’s frequently called upon to support. Presently he is the Chief Information Security Officer and Director of Information Assurance Services at the U.S. Department of Education. Steven also serves as the co-chair of the US Government Federal CISO Council and government chair of the ACT-IAC Cybersecurity Community of Interest. Prior to his position at Education, he held a variety of roles at the Office of Inspector General, US Department of Education including CTO, CIO, CISO, Senior Official for Privacy and Chief Services Engineering Officer. He is an inaugural member of the United States Scholarship of Service Hall of Fame. He served on the Board of Directors for the International Information Systems Security Consortium (ISC) 2 , served on the U.S. (ISC) 2 Government Advisory Board for Cybersecurity (GAB), judged for the Government Information Security Leadership Awards (GISLA) and contributed to its Executive Writers Bureau. Mr. Hernandez is the lead author and editor of the third edition of the (ISC)² Official Guide to the CISSP CBK, the (ISC)² Official Guide to the HCISPP CBK, and several published works regarding international information assurance.

Beau Houser is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Department of Commerce. He is responsible for managing and executing cybersecurity responsibilities in support of critical and complex business programs including the decennial census, demographics and economic statistics. Prior to joining the Census Bureau, Mr. Houser served as the CISO for the U.S. Small Business Administration. He has also served as the Deputy CISO for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services.

Mr. Houser holds a Master’s Degree in Cyber Systems from the Naval Postgraduate School and a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology from Barry University. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with a concentration in Engineering.

Chris Jensen is the Public Sector Business Development Manager at Tenable, where he develops and supports strategic cybersecurity initiatives and 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, business development and capture.

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 until his retirement in 2008. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Chris also holds a J.D. from The George Washington University Law School.

Kumar leads DOE’s mission to address cyber, physical, and natural hazards and threats to the U.S. energy infrastructure. Kumar has over 15 years of experience in grid modernization, cybersecurity, and emergency response within the energy sector.

Most recently, Kumar was the principal manager for cybersecurity engineering and risk management at Southern California Edison. There, he led a team that addressed cyber threats to critical infrastructure at one of the largest electric utilities in the United States.

Kumar previously served as director of preparedness and exercises for CESER’s Infrastructure Security and Energy Restoration division and as senior advisor for policy and strategy at CESER. In those capacities, he led the development of national-level policies, strategies, and programs related to energy sector hazards and threats.

Kumar has also held industry positions at the American Public Power Association as director of engineering and operations and at Memphis Light, Gas, and Water as a power systems engineer.

Grayson is the Director of Consulting and Professional Services for Trustwave Government Solutions. He has more than 20 years of experience in information security and digital technology, working as an Avionics Technician, Systems Administrator, Network Administrator, Security Systems Architect, Private Consultant, Incident Responder and Team Leader.  Grayson is an elected board member of the CREST organization and carries multiple certifications such as GCFA, CISSP and CMMC.

James is a veteran security professional with Gigamon and has worked with some of the largest companies pre and post breach. He has provided guidance to organizations on methods to build out secure Access and Visibility plans during these times of consistently evolving network and security landscapes. As a Field CTO at RSA Security James spent his time speaking to executives about building a mature cybersecurity posture and what it takes to achieve usability and compliance. James is a standing member of the High Tech Criminal Investigations Association and volunteers with police investigations in high tech crimes.

Adam Mazmanian is executive editor of FCW. Before joining the editing team in 2015, Mazmanian was an FCW staff writer covering Congress, governmentwide technology policy and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Prior to joining FCW, Mazmanian was technology correspondent for National Journal and served in a variety of editorial roles at B2B news service SmartBrief. Mazmanian has contributed reviews and articles to the Washington Post, the Washington City Paper, Newsday, New York Press, Architect Magazine and other publications.

As the Enterprise Cloud Management Office Director, Mr. Puckett serves as the principal advisor to the CIO and other Senior Army Leaders on the Army's Cloud strategy.  He is responsible for assisting in the development of strategy, use, and optimization of Cloud resources, including the areas of cybersecurity, data protection, commercial capabilities, and ensuring network support to the current and future Army force.  He will also develop Armywide planning and assist with execution of Cloud planning, migration, operation, and incorporation of advanced services and capabilities across the Army’s four information mission areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, and Data Protection.    

Just prior to joining the Senior Executive Service, Mr. Puckett was the Federal Chief Technology Officer at a cloud native services provider where he focused on advising Department of Defense and other Federal Agencies on how to enhance their mission effectiveness through the adoption of leading-edge open source technology and modern software automation capabilities.  

Prior to that experience, Mr. Puckett performed in a number of roles as a civil servant with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA).  As the NGA’s cloud integration lead, he helped design, build and accredit the agency’s Unclassified Cloud environment.  He was the advisor to senior leadership for technical enhancements and agency priorities related to infrastructure and application modernization, and led the agency in developing an enhanced ability to accept and deploy new applications and services, while simultaneously incorporating high levels of security.  

Before his service with NGA, Mr. Puckett again was in a support role with private industry, providing lead engineering expertise for servers and network systems, and systems administrator training for the Joint IED Defeat Office, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Department of State.    

Mr. Puckett holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Management Information Systems from Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.   

Jim Richberg’s role as Fortinet’s Field Chief Information Security Office for the Public Sector and Vice President of Information Security leverages his 35 years’ experience leading and driving innovation in cybersecurity, threat intelligence, and cyber strategy.
During his US Government career, Mr. Richberg served as the National Intelligence Manager for Cyber, the senior Federal Executive focused on cyber intelligence within the US Intelligence Community (IC). He led creation and implementation of cyber strategy for the 17 departments and agencies of the IC, set integrated priorities on cyber threat, and served as Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) on cyber issues.
He helped create and implement the multi-billion dollar whole-of-government Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) that generated new government cyber capability and enhanced cybersecurity in the private sector and critical infrastructure under Presidents Bush and Obama.
Since joining Fortinet, Mr. Richberg has been named a “Fed 100” and a “Pinnacle” awardee for his influence on technology in the Federal government, a “StateScoop 50” leader for driving innovation in state IT, and was nominated as a “Security Pioneer” for his sustained contribution to cybersecurity. He is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Cybersecurity Leadership Community, the CNBC Technology Executive Council, and the Forbes Technology Council. He currently focuses on helping organizations manage risk and improve IT efficiency and security in the face of increasing operational complexity.

Chris Riotta is a staff writer at FCW covering government procurement and technology policy. Chris joined FCW after covering U.S. politics for three years at The Independent. He earned his master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, where he served as 2021 class president.

Troy K. Schneider is President of GovExec 360.  Until 2022, he was the Editor-in-Chief of both FCW and GCN, two of the oldest and most influential publications in public-sector IT.  Both publications (originally known as Federal Computer Week and Government Computer News, respectively) were acquired by GovExec in 2021.  Prior to that acquisition, Mr. Schneider was General Manager of Public Sector 360, the government-focused business unit of 1105 Media.Prior to joining 1105 Media, Mr. Schneider was the New America Foundation’s Director of Media & Technology, and before that was Managing Director for Electronic Publishing at the Atlantic Media Company, where he oversaw the online operations of The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal,The Hotline and The Almanac of American Politics, among other publications. The founding editor of NationalJournal.com, Mr. Schneider also helped launch the political site PoliticsNow.com in the mid-1990s, and worked on the earliest online efforts of the Los Angeles Times and Newsday. He began his career in print journalism, and has written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, WashingtonPost.com, Slate, Politico, Governing, and many of the other titles listed above.Mr. Schneider is a graduate of Indiana University, where his emphases were journalism, business and religious studies.

Gina Scinta is Thales TCT's Deputy Chief Technology Officer (CTO). In this role, Gina serves as the company’s technology evangelist. Her mission is to help Thales TCT’s U.S. Federal Government customers learn effective ways to solve their mission critical cyber security challenges. Gina also leads several strategic initiatives for the company such as the collaboration with NIST National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, ACT-IAC, and more.

Gina has over 30 years of experience in the technology community. Prior to joining Thales TCT, Gina served as a Senior Solutions Architect with Thales Digital Identity & Security. In this role, she focused on providing solutions for protecting data using world class encryption and key management for data at rest in data centers and cloud infrastructures.

Allen Whipple is a passionate employee of HPE who enjoys the ever-changing world of IT. During his 13-year tenure with HPE he has held the following positions: partner business manager, HPE VMware alliance manager, HPE SMB Sales and Marketing Manager, NA Compute Options category manager, and currently HPE NA Server Management and Server Security solution business manager.  Allen enjoys enabling and working with all HPE partners, customers, and vendors!

Allen graduated from Weber State University with a bachelor’s degree in Professional Sales. He enjoys working on is 1947 Jeep CJ2A, hiking, fishing, camping, sports, and spending time with his wife and four children.
 

Robert Wood is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services (CMS). He leads enterprise cyber security, compliance, privacy, and counter intelligence functions at CMS and ensures the Agency complies with secure IT requirements while encouraging innovation.

Mr. Wood has over 10 years of experience in information technology, information security and
management consulting.

As information technology has grown more complex with the advent of innovative technologies
that enable rapid collection, storage and distribution of vast amounts of information and data, so too has the importance of safeguarding the privacy of health and other sensitive information collected by CMS. Our Agency is entrusted with the health information of over 100 million Americans, and it is our fundamental responsibility as stewards of this information to ensure its confidentiality is protected.  Robert leads CMS's efforts to ensure we meet the standards of excellence demanded by that stewardship responsibility, and protect it from bad actors both foreign and domestic.

Prior to CMS, Mr. Wood has built and managed several security programs in the technology
sector. He was also formerly a Principal Consultant for Cigital where he advised enterprises
about their software security programs. He also founded and led the red team assessment practice with Cigital, focused on holistic adversarial analysis, helping organizations identify and manage risks from alternative perspectives.

Mr. Wood has a B.S. in Information Management & Technology from Syracuse University.

Chris Usserman is a Director of Security Architecture and subject matter expert with Infoblox. Chris brings over 30 years’ experience in the U.S. intelligence community, and applies that experience by helping clients understand and incorporate cyber business intelligence to mature client cyber security programs. Chris’ focus is on the U.S. Government, and extends that public/private partnership to enhance the security posture of multiple sectors and communities of interest. Chris has been invited to speak on the subject of DNS and cyber security at global conferences. Prior to Infoblox, Chris was Senior Director, Applied Intelligence as well as Director, Government Programs at iSIGHT Partners (FireEye) for over three years. Chris was also a Lead Research Scientist at Lockheed Martin’s Advanced Technology Laboratories and served 14 years in the U.S. Air Force.