Speakers

Alissa Knight is a former black hat hacker turned filmmaker, author, and cybersecurity expert. After being arrested at 17 for hacking a government network, she worked in cyber warfare for the U.S. Intelligence Community and later authored the bestselling Hacking Connected Cars. She's now an award-winning Hollywood director and producer and runs 9 companies under Knight Group.

Christopher Steffen, CISSP, CISA, is the Vice President of Research for information security/risk and compliance management for Enterprise Management Associates, a technology industry analyst and consulting firm. He serves as co-chair for the Zero Trust working group for the Cloud Security Alliance. He holds multiple certifications, including CISSP and CISA. 

Dr. Chase Cunningham is a leading cybersecurity expert with over 20 years of experience, specializing in Zero Trust architecture and advanced cyber defense. He has been akey strategist for the US DoD and developed the industry-standard Zero Trust framework during his time at Forrester Research. Dr. Cunningham's extensive career includes significant roles with the U.S. Navy in cryptographic systems and national defense. As a renowned keynote speaker and author of Cyber Warfare: Truth, Tactics, and Strategies, he is known for delivering actionable insights on complex security challenges, making his presentation highly relevant for public sector cybersecurity professionals.

Chuck Weissenborn is the Public Sector CTO at Dragos, a cybersecurity company providing protection to critical infrastructure that supports over 80% of the U.S. population. He supports efforts across the community to secure our Nation’s and the world's most critical assets from cyber threats. While at Dragos, Chuck has provided strategic and technical advice to the United States, NATO, and NATO member nations on topics related to critical infrastructure cybersecurity. Prior to joining Dragos, Chuck led business operations supporting the U.S. Army worldwide at Symantec (later a Broadcom corporation). Chuck is a member of the Army National Guard, where he supports numerous US Department of War organizations in efforts to defend critical infrastructure against foreign threats. In 2023, he served as the Special Assistant to the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary and Chief of Staff of the Army; in 2025 he provided support to the Immediate Office of the Secretary of War, focusing on security of national critical infrastructure. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star Medal, the U.S. Army Combat Infantryman Badge, the Signal Corps Regimental Association Bronze Order of Mercury, and many other federal and Texas state awards and decorations. Chuck is an avid supporter of several non-profit organizations and is the co-chair for the Critical Infrastructure/Control Systems cybersecurity committee at the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA). He is the former president of the Alamo Chapter of the Signal Corps Regimental Association and a former vice president of the Alamo Chapter of AFCEA. Chuck has presented on topics ranging from critical infrastructure cybersecurity to mental health and neurodivergence at international and national events, including the RSA Conference. Chuck lives in Annapolis, MD with his wife Caitlin and daughter Calleigh.

Mr. Daryl Haegley is a pioneer in operational technology (OT) cyber resilience with more than 30 years of military, federal, and commercial experience leading mission-critical cyber initiatives. As the first DoD OT Senior Executive currently focused on Air Force & Space Force OT cyber resilience, he oversees a $2B+ portfolio of critical infrastructure protection and established the Cyber Resilience Office for control Systems (CROCS). Recognized as DoD's foremost expert in control systems cybersecurity, his last assignment within the Office of the Principal Cyber Advisor to the Secretary of Defense oversaw the Department’s strategic global OT mission critical cyber efforts. Significant accomplishments include writing the report to the President addressing Cyber Physical Systems skills and training gaps leading obtaining coordination from DoD, DOE, DoT & DHS, and drafting the DoD's Control Systems Cyber Defense Reference Architecture. He is a fellow at Control System Cyber Security Association International (CS2AI), Mission Critical & Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT), Federal Advisory Committee Member at George Mason University & Advanced Technology Academic Research Center (ATARC).

Derek Doerr is a seasoned technology leader with over 30 years of experience spanning private and public sectors. As the Zero Trust Single-Threaded Leader and Security Lead for AWS US Federal, he drives strategic initiatives and maintains security culture while coordinating teams across AWS. His focus is on helping customer adopt Zero Trust architectures, security best practices, cloud governance, compliance aand threat modeling. He leads the US Federal Team’s Go-To-Market initiatives for Zero Trust and reinforces AWS's Culture of Security through the Federal Security Guardians program.

Shaw is a cybersecurity professional with over 25 years of experience in DoD cybersecurity. His prior work focused on DoD Zero Trust implementation across DoD Agencies and COCOMs.  He spent over two years working on Zero Trust implementation with the DoD’s Defense Health Agency (DHA) Medical Treatment Facility (MTF) IT staffs.  Healthcare information flows are complex and dynamic with multiple operational, regulatory, and infrastructural constraints.  Shaw was a Cybersecurity Professor with the Warfighting Acquisition University for over 10 years and a Department of Navy Technical Authority/Program Manager for the prior 17 years.  He retired from the Naval Reserve after 30 years of service and a Navy Captain.  He is an independent cybersecurity consultant.  Shaw holds a Doctor of Science (DSc) in Cybersecurity from Capitol Technology University, along with five masters degrees, a certified ISC2 CISSP-ISSEP, and a GIAC GICSP.

With over 25 years of experience as a practitioner and industry analyst, John Kindervag is considered one of the world’s foremost cybersecurity experts, best known for creating the revolutionary Zero Trust Model of cybersecurity while at Forrester Research over a decade ago.

In 2021, John was named to the U.S. President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) Zero Trust Sub-Committee and was a primary author of the NSTAC Zero Trust report that was delivered to the President. That same year, he was named CISO Magazine’s Cybersecurity Person of the Year.  

Today, as Chief Evangelist at Illumio, John is responsible for accelerating awareness and driving adoption of Zero Trust Segmentation across industries.  

Josh Woodruff is the Founder and CEO of MassiveScale.AI and creator of the Agentic Trust Framework (ATF), the first Zero Trust framework purpose-built for AI agents. He is a Cloud Security Alliance Research Fellow, co-leads the CSA Zero Trust Working Group, and serves as IANS Research Faculty.

Leading security for a global biotech giant, Josh architected the security and governance framework that took an enterprise AI deployment from zero to production in 30 days, a process that typically takes 6-12 months. The deployment earned the organization's highest innovation award and led to a multi-year enterprise agreement. He has designed Zero Trust architectures for aerospace defense contractors requiring FedRAMP High and CMMC compliance, delivered critical infrastructure security roadmaps aligned to CISA ZTMM 2.0, and introduced DevSecOps and built Cloud Security teams at Morgan Stanley and American Express.

His book, "Agentic AI + Zero Trust: A Guide for Business Leaders," features a foreword by John Kindervag, creator of Zero Trust. Josh is regularly quoted as an expert source in CSO Online and Computerworld, and speaks at RSAC Conference, IANS Forums, DOD Zero Trust Conferences, and CSA AI and Zero Trust Summits.

Ken Huang is a prolific author and renowned expert in AI and Web3, with numerous published books spanning business and technical guides as well as cutting-edge research. He is a Research Fellow and Co-Chair of the AI Safety Working Groups at the Cloud Security Alliance, Co-Chair of the OWASP AIVSS project, and Co-Chair of the AI STR Working Group at the World Digital Technology Academy.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, where he teaches a graduate course on Generative AI for Data Security.Huang serves as CEO and Chief AI Officer (CAIO) of DistributedApps.ai, a firm specializing in generative AI-related training and consulting. His technical leadership is further reflected in his role as a core contributor to OWASP's Top 10 Risks for LLM Applications and his participation in the NIST Generative AI Public Working Group.

Key Books:

- Securing AI Agents: Foundations, Frameworks, and Real-World Deployment , Springer, October, 2025
- Agentic AI: Theories and Practices; Springer, July 2025
- LLM Design Patterns; Packt, May 2025
- Beyond AI: ChatGPT, Web3, and the Business Landscape of Tomorrow; Springer, 2023
- Generative AI Security: Theories and Practices; Springer, 2024
- Practical Guide for AI Engineers (Volumes 1 and 2 by DistributedApps.ai, 2024)
- The Handbook for Chief AI Officers: Leading the AI Revolution in Business; DistributedApps.ai, 2024
- Web3: Blockchain, the New Economy, and the Self-Sovereign Internet; Cambridge University Press, 2024
- Web3 Applications Security and New Security Landscape: Theories and Practices; Springer, 2024
- Blockchain and Web3: Building the Cryptocurrency, Privacy, and Security Foundations of the Metaverse (Wiley, 2023)

A globally sought-after speaker, Ken has presented at events hosted by RSA, OWASP, ISC2, Davos WEF, ACM, IEEE, Consensus, the CSA AI Summit, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation, and the World Bank. He is also a member of the OpenAI Forum, contributing to global dialogue on secure and responsible AI development.

Explore Ken’s books on Amazon

Kevin E. Greene is a nationally recognized cybersecurity strategist with expertise in Zero Trust and threat-informed defense. He has led cyber initiatives at DHS, MITRE, OpenText, and BeyondTrust, shaping policy, advancing R&D, and mentoring future leaders.

Mikko Hypponen is a global security expert who has been working in security research since 1991. He is currently the Chief Research Officer at Sensofusion in Finland. Mikko has published his research in The New York Times, Wired, and Scientific American. He has lectured at Oxford, Harvard, and MIT, and at the Finnish National Defence Courses since 2002. He has keynoted at DEF CON, RSA and Black Hat conferences and he's an official TED Speaker. Mikko is also a best-selling international author.

Nick Espinosa has been on a first-name basis with computers for more than 25 years. He’s been passionately building computers and programming in multiple languages since he was 7 and secured his first IT job when he was 15. He went on to found Windy City Networks, Inc. when he was 19 and the company was later acquired in 2013. In 2015, Nick set up Security Fanatics, a cybersecurity and cyberwarfare consulting firm committed to relentlessly developing customized online defense strategies for clients all over the world.

Paul Coggin is senior principal cybersecurity analyst with Dynetics. He is responsible for architecting and securing large complex tactical, critical infrastructure and service provider networks.

His expertise includes tactical, service provider, and ICS\SCADA network infrastructure hacker attacks, and defenses, as well as large complex network design and implementation. His experience includes leading network architecture reviews, vulnerability analysis, and penetration testing engagements for critical infrastructure and tactical networks.

Paul is a Cisco Systems certified Instructor #32230, certified EC-Council instructor, and certified SCADA security architect. He has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, a master’s in computer information systems, and a master’s in information assurance and security. He is currently pursuing a master’s in system management. In addition he holds a wide array of certifications from Cisco, EC Council, ISC^2, and others.

Philip Griffiths - Head of Strategic Sales with NetFoundry, CSA Zero Trust Networking co-lead and co-author of Software-Defined Perimeter v3, Zero Trust Microsegmentation Guidance, and more.

Philip Griffiths is the Head of Strategic Sales at NetFoundry, where he leads global go-to-market strategy and drives adoption of the company’s cutting-edge, Zero Trust-based networking platform. He co-leads the Cloud Security Alliance Zero Trust Networking Working Group, co-authors multiple industry papers, and is a frequent speaker at conferences, podcasts, and events, including the DoD Zero Trust Symposium.

Philip has more than 15 years of leadership experience working with enterprises, industrial OEMs, and technology partners to accelerate secure digital transformation by replacing legacy connectivity models with agile, identity-first networking. Before joining NetFoundry, he held a variety of strategic roles at Atos IT Services, partnering with C-suite executives to execute large-scale digital transformation initiatives. He lives in Cambridge with his wife and two daughters.

A recognised voice in Zero Trust networking, critical infrastructure/OT, and secure application connectivity, Philip is known for his ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear business value. His work emphasises customer-centric innovation, partner ecosystem growth, and the transformation of traditional network strategies into high-velocity, software-defined approaches.

A specialist in information & cyber security, cloud services, enterprise risk, technology risk and business resilience with significant experience in multiple industries and multiple geographies - from in depth engineering to Board-level management. 

Remy S. Faures is the Global Head, Manager Information Security at the World Bank Group, bringing expertise in information security and risk management.

Within the World Bank Group's global financial environment, Remy has progressed to Global Head, Manager Information Security. Their responsibilities include overseeing global information security strategy and managing international teams. As Senior Information Security Officer, they focused on analyzing security threats and implementing security protocols. Their work supported financial operations within the international finance sector.

Prior to joining the World Bank Group, Remy contributed as a System Engineer at France.fr, managing system infrastructure and ensuring system stability.

Remy holds a Master's degree from Telecom Lille 1, demonstrating applied knowledge of information security principles.

Mrs. Renata C. Spinks-McNeal is the CEO of tech-start-up company, "CyberSec International" whose mission is to provide boutique cybersecurity support to operations as well as consultative support.

She previously served as the Assistant Director/Deputy CIO of the Command, Control, Communications, and Computers (C4) Department in the Headquarters Marine Corps Senior Executive Service (2021-2023) and the Nation's first Cyber Technology Officer at Marine Forces Cyberspace Command (MARFORCYBER); (2018-2021). 

Her drive to revolutionize cyber, information technology and business transformation is evident in the initiatives she led.  As the Asst IT Director/Deputy CIO of IC4, she also served as the Senior Information Security Officer for the US Marine Corps.  

Prior to her USMC Senior Executive Service appointment, Ms. Spinks' accomplished technical advances using computer forensics and human intelligence to investigate human trafficking and child exploitation; innovated in the US Treasury Big Data Analytics Office of Financial Research and advised the CIO and ACIOs on Web Application Development at the IRS.  Prior to her federal service, she is also a US Army Medical Command Combat Veteran.

Ms. Spinks-McNeal holds a BS in Information Systems, a MS in Technology Management and is pursuing her Doctorate in Cybersecurity.

Her tenure in the Senior Ranks evolved her as the go-to executive and earned her the reputation of getting things done with excellence.  She leads with a People First mindset.  Ms. Spinks-McNeal's love for cyber and pattern of excellence progressively elevates her and is evident in her ascension to Senior Executive now CEO; at an unprecedented pace.

Some of her decorations include nomination for Entrepeneur of Impact 2025, CIO VIEWS 10 Most Influential People in the Business World 2024,  Washington Executive Top Cyber Execs to Watch in 2023; DefenseScoop 50,  2023 GRACEHOPPER Tech in Government Award, 2022 FedScoop 50, 2022 Fed100, 2022 Meritalk Cyber Defenders Award, 2021 Leading for Impact Award,  2021 State of NC HBCU Living Legend Award, and 2020 Stars and Stripes Becoming Everything You Are (BEYA) SES of the Year. 

She is an avid community service STEMINIST, is the founder of the NonProfit Organization --“Rising Footsteps” and gives back to the HBCU community by serving as a Volunteer for Education and Curriculum development.

Steve is a security architect at Microsoft. He started his career through trial by fire that is MSP life. He pivoted to securing everything from waste facilities and transportation infrastructure to huge financial services organizations, and even mixed in some industry analysis in for good measure. He’s passionate about coming up with security solutions that make colleagues happy and bad actors cry.