Presented by Dr. Cheryl Cooper, CISSP, President, & Naeem Babri, Vice President • WiCyS Kansas City

The convergence of business continuity, information security, and organizational resilience forms the cornerstone of cyber resilience, enabling entities to prevent, endure, and recover from cyber threats. This presentation delves into the enhancement of ransomware resilience, with a spotlight on fortifying the Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain. Amidst the escalating prevalence of ransomware, which inflicts substantial financial and operational harm, the presentation will outline strategies to strengthen defenses. The emphasis will be on preemptive actions and incident management, covering backups, recovery processes, containment, and the imperative of employee training on phishing and secure password practices.

Looking ahead, the session will explore the emerging threat of AI-driven ransomware attacks and discuss strategies for future-proofing networks against these sophisticated threats.

There will be three main deliverables:

1. A comprehensive guide to implementing the Lockheed Martin Cyber Kill Chain for ransomware threat mitigation.
2. A strategic playbook for integrating artificial intelligence in cyber defense mechanisms.
3. An actionable framework for employee education and incident response to enhance organizational cyber resilience.

Dr. Cheryl Cooper has over 25 years of experience within the technology and cybersecurity industries, and on top of that, Dr. Cooper served in the U.S. Navy as a Telecom Technology Controller. Under her belt, she holds a doctorate in Computer Science with a concentration in Information Assurance, a Master’s of Science in Criminal Justice with a Specialization in Cybercrime, and multiple certifications– Information System Security Professional (CISSP) under the governing body of the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), a Certified Data Privacy Solution Engineer (CDPSE) under the governing body ISACA, and a Certified Information Systems Security Auditor (CISSA).

  Presented by Mauricio Daher, Technical Expert, Data Intelligence and Content Solutions • Hitachi Vantara

Post Quantum Encryption, and how products need to adapt in this brave new world. There is a lot of talk about Generative AI, LLMs, GTP, but if we cannot secure our data - confidentiality, integrity, and availability - perimeter, then nothing else matters. This session will dive into security topics relevant to the landscape of data management technologies we have on-hand today from the top storage solution companies. The challenges for the next five years will require game-changing innovation to keep up with an exponentially expanding threat surface. The winner will be the one to secure the future for the rest until the next bubble comes along.

Currently, Mauricio is a Technical Expert for Data Intelligence and Content: A technical leader in support of Hitachi Vantara’s content business for the Americas. This involves providing technical guidance, and solutions crafting to the sales teams across the organization, working hand in hand with the solution sales specialists.

Before joining HDS, Mauricio was the Regional Solutions Advisor for Dell in the Northeast, focusing on Compellent and EqualLogic storage solutions, and supporting 5 systems engineers from a knowledge management, measurement, and orientation perspective. Prior to Dell, Mauricio was AVP of Data Protection for RBS Citizens Bank based in Rhode Island where he provided strategic leadership in the bank’s data protection architecture and the creation of a service catalog and storage economics model for production storage and BURA. Before RBS Citizens, Mauricio was a Principal Consultant with Glass House during which time he delivered some two dozen strategic engagements in storage and data protection to companies spanning segments like government, airlines, healthcare as well as financial institutions. Before Glass House, Mauricio ran a delivery practice at McData that implemented SAN-based storage and tape virtualization solutions to a variety of enterprise clients such as Wells Fargo, Bank of New York, and a dozen smaller companies.

Mauricio holds an S.M. in Civil and Environmental Engineering with a focus on Information Systems from M.I.T. and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Boston University.

  Presented by Todd Bertchume, Technical Marketing Engineer • Forescout

Specialized threats targeting OT environments have been around since at least 2010, with the reports of Stuxnet. Recognizing the criticality of these devices, Threat Actors have continued evolving, continuing to target OT devices, many of which are inherently insecure-by-design. Research, such as Vedere Labs’ OT:ICEFALL research project and Project Basecamp by Digital Bond from 10 years ago showed how significant the scope of vulnerable devices are that are pervasive in critical infrastructure systems. Today’s SOC needs to not only see those devices and the risks they pose while also ensuring accurate detection of the threats uniquely targeting those OT environments they’re deployed in. This session will explore this unique threat landscape and the capabilities required to combat the threats and automatically mitigate the risks specially targeting Operational Technology environments.

Todd Bertchume is a Technical Marketing Engineer at Forescout. He brings over 23 years of experience in the networking industry working on the partner, customer, and manufacturer side of the business. He holds many industry certifications in networking and security. Over the years, he has helped many customers building data centers and spent the last few years specializing in securing assets in the health care industry.