Presented by CompuNet
With the arrival of a local Cato PoP, Alaska is no longer at the edge of the network—it’s becoming part of the core. This session explores what that shift means for performance, security, and the future of cloud adoption across the region
Presented by Matt Palguta, Cybersecurity Director • Bering Straits Native Corporation
The Department of War’s CMMC program has lifted off for Stage One. This session will feature updates on the program from a CMMC Lead Assessor who will be wrapping up his own program assessment just before the conference with Bering Straits. Listen in on lessons learned from assessing and guiding other organizations while building a CMMC program. The final rule brought clarity and some new wrinkles. Not all of your OS crypto modules have yet to pass FIPS Validation… Hmm, is that an Enduring Exception or an Operational Plan of Action? What are those? There will be time for questions at the end, and Matt will be available to answer additional questions after the session as well.
Matt Palguta has 20+ years of cybersecurity experience in government contracting and manufacturing. As Cybersecurity Director for Bering Straits Native Corporation, he has built their CMMC compliance program to be certified and support future compliance needs beyond CUI data. Matt’s experience includes building a security operations center for the FAA and managing global cybersecurity operations for Cummins Diesel. He teaches as an adjunct professor of cybersecurity with Ivy Tech. Matt is also the founder and CEO of Alyeska Cybersecurity LLC, a CMMC and industrial control system consultancy.
Presented by Landra Pierce, Product Strategy Technologist • Veeam
Cyberattacks are no longer a distant threat; they are a reality every IT team must be prepared for. When an attack occurs, your data becomes both the primary target and the key to recovery. Many organizations still rely on backup strategies that are designed for hardware failures or accidental deletions, rather than today’s threats, like ransomware, insider risk, and automated attacks. This disconnect creates vulnerabilities, especially when backups become an overlooked entry point in your security strategy. In this session, we will address these challenges to help you better protect your organization.
This session is ideal for IT professionals who want greater confidence in safeguarding their data and peace of mind. We will examine the most common oversights that leave organizations, including those in government, education, healthcare, and other sectors, exposed to cyberthreats. You’ll discover how teams are advancing beyond basic backup to adopt a cyber-ready approach, including topics like immutability, threat awareness, rapid recovery, and intelligent automation.
Our focus will be practical and grounded in real-world scenarios, and what truly works when pressure is high and time is limited. Because when every minute counts and trust is at stake, data resilience means more than surviving an attack. It’s about protecting what matters most and emerging even stronger.
Presented by Steven Gautier, Principal Solutions Architect • Thales
Organizations across every industry are rapidly adopting Generative AI, machine learning, and AI-powered applications to improve efficiency, automate processes, and unlock new insights from their data. However, these technologies also introduce new security challenges.
AI systems rely heavily on enterprise data, APIs, and interconnected applications, creating potential risks such as sensitive data exposure, prompt injection attacks, API abuse, and unauthorized access to AI models.
Presented by Tony Taylor, Sales Engineer • Horizon3.ai
Most security programs measure effort — not outcomes. Organizations patch thousands of vulnerabilities, deploy dozens of tools, and run annual tabletop exercises… but when an attacker shows up, none of that matters.
What matters is whether they can prove their defenses actually work.
In this talk, Horizon3.ai shares how leading organizations are using autonomous pentesting to see their environment through the attacker’s eyes — continuously, safely, and at scale. By shifting from assumptions to proof, they’ve learned to:
Cyber resilience isn’t about being perfect — it’s about getting better over time. And the only perspective that truly matters is the attacker’s.
Presented by Karissa Breen • Founder & Head of Cybersecurity Journalism, KBI.Media
Keynote presentation brought to you by Business Improvement Group
The way cybersecurity professionals consume information is undergoing a fundamental shift. For years, the industry relied on a traditional media pipeline, like vendor announcements, PR outreach, journalist coverage, and static articles. But the rise of large language models and AI-powered discovery tools is dismantling that model.
Instead of searching for articles or relying on outdated reports, professionals ask AI systems to synthesize information, explain threats and summarize events. In this new environment, AI effectively becomes the front page of the internet, determining which voices, sources and insights are surfaced.
In this keynote, Karissa Breen (KB) examines how AI is reshaping cybersecurity journalism, the rise of “reference media” that LLMs trust and cite and why credibility and original reporting matter more than ever in the algorithmically mediated game. Drawing on her experience building a modern cybersecurity media platform, Breen will explore what the next generation of cyber media looks like and how organizations can adapt to a future where AI curates the conversation and this means for staying on top of cyber content and the retention of the knowledge.
Karissa Breen, more commonly known as KB, is crowned a LinkedIn ‘Top Voice in Technology’ and widely recognized across the global cybersecurity industry. A serial entrepreneur, she is the co-founder of the TMFE Group, a portfolio of cybersecurity-focused businesses spanning an industry-leading media platform, a specialist marketing agency, a content production studio, and the executive headhunting firm, MercSec. Now based in the United States, KB oversees US editorial operations and leads the expansion of the group’s media footprint across North America, while maintaining a strong presence in Australia, and the broader global market. She is the former Producer and Host of the streaming show 2Fa.tv, and currently sits at the helm of journalism for the group’s flagship arm, KBI.Media, the independent cybersecurity media company. As a cybersecurity investigative journalist, KB hosts her globally-renowned podcast, KBKast, where she interviews leading cybersecurity practitioners, CISOs, government officials including heads-of-state, and industry pioneers from around the world. The podcast has been downloaded in over 65 countries with more than 400,000 global downloads, influencing billions of dollars in cybersecurity budgets. KB is known for asking the hard questions and extracting real, commercially relevant insights. Her approach provides an uncolored, strategic lens on the evolving cybersecurity landscape, demystifying complex security issues and translating them into practical intelligence for executives navigating risk, regulation, and rapid technological change.
Presented by Chad Alessi, Managing Director, Cybersecurity • CTG
Many organizations generate cybersecurity assessments and compliance reports, but struggle to translate them into actions that meaningfully reduce operational risk. This session explores practical strategies for turning cybersecurity insights into decision frameworks that support operational continuity and executive risk management. Drawing on experiences from critical infrastructure and healthcare environments, the talk highlights how organizations can move from compliance-driven security to true cyber resilience.
Presented by INTERFACE Advisory Council
In October 2025, Typhoon Halong caused widespread disruption across Western Alaska, testing the resilience of infrastructure, communications, and response teams. The event offered a powerful case study in organizational resilience. While many had disaster recovery plans in place, the ability to execute under pressure—while maintaining clear, reliable communication—proved to be the defining factor.
IT teams were at the center of response efforts, from restoring systems to enabling critical lines of communication for employees, partners, and communities. The experience revealed that resilience isn’t just technical—it’s operational.
In this interactive panel, regional leaders share hard-earned lessons from the field. Discover how to strengthen your response plans, run effective drills, and ensure your organization is ready when it matters most. Audience Q&A will provide an opportunity to explore challenges specific to your environment.
Panelists:
Join us during the lunch hour for Advisory Council Roundtables, an interactive opportunity to connect with council members and peers on a variety of timely industry topics. Move freely between tables, share your perspective, and gather practical insights you can take back to your organization. These conversations are informal, high-value, and designed to spark ideas and connection.
Topics:
Presented by Oscar Minks, President • FRSecure
The result of over 100 incident cases handled by the FRSecure response team in the last two years, President Oscar Minks will dive into the latest threats and response techniques you need to know—and what you can do to minimize the risk and impact of similar events. The breakdown will cover Business Email Compromise, Ransomware, and Internal Compromise. You can’t afford to miss it!