Topic: Information Security

Seminar Topics

[1 CPE] Safeguarding Kansas: A Strategic Update on Cybersecurity and Resilience

  Presented by John Godfrey • Chief Information Security Officer, State of Kansas

Join Kansas State CISO, John Godfrey, for an in-depth look at Kansas’ cybersecurity landscape, key threats, and ongoing initiatives to strengthen cyber resilience. This session will highlight recent advancements in security frameworks, interagency collaboration, and strategies to combat emerging risks, such as deepfakes and social engineering. Attendees will gain insights into policy updates, incident response improvements, and future priorities aimed at safeguarding Kansas’ digital infrastructure.

A seasoned cybersecurity executive and entrepreneurial dynamo with 18 years of rich experience, John Godfrey excels in delivering cutting-edge technology and information security strategies. Godfrey has a knack for transforming organizations through modern digital solutions, spurring business enablement, and fostering talent elevation. His unique blend of action-oriented leadership and influential communication has consistently steered executives and boards through periods of organizational metamorphosis.

Demystifying complex technology and making it comprehensible is one of his key strengths. Known for my fervor and transformative leadership, he has spoken at numerous local and national conferences, moderated sessions, featured as a podcast guest, and contributed articles to various magazines and publications.

Presently, he holds pivotal roles as a board member and advisor to boards of directors. Godfrey is actively engaged with the information security community, holding memberships in premier organizations like ISC2, ISSA, ISACA, InfraGard, and more. His academic arsenal includes several industry certifications and is currently pursuing a Doctorate in Cybersecurity with a focus on executive leadership.

[1 CPE] Has Security Awareness Been Forgotten? An Interactive Panel Discussion

  Presented by INTERFACE Advisory Council

“Just automate that process! The firewall is fine—we’ve got an AI tool watching it.”

Sound familiar? Despite significant investments in cybersecurity and advanced tools, the human element remains one of the greatest vulnerabilities in any organization. This isn’t a new problem—ransomware attacks continue to thrive due to human error.

Insider threats, whether intentional or accidental, are often at the root of security breaches. So, what proactive steps are you taking to mitigate these risks?

Join the INTERFACE Kansas City Advisory Council for an engaging discussion on defending against internal threats. Local IT leaders will share their strategies, lessons learned, and practical tips for minimizing human error in cybersecurity. Bring your questions and join the conversation as we explore what’s working, what’s not, and what more needs to be done to protect our networks from within.

Moderator: Holly Giammanco, Director of Information Security, Greater Kansas City Community Foundation

Panelists:

  • Amy Botts, Manager, Information Security Risk, Hallmark Cards, Inc.
  • Bill Kim, Chief Information Security Officer, Security Bank of Kansas City
  • Chris Smalley, Director, Information Technology, Hoefer Welker
  • Melissa Spicer, Director, Cybersecurity, Evergy

[1 CPE] Cybersecurity Defense Strategies

  Presented by Scott Beasley, Cybersecurity Solutions Architect • Comcast Business

What are the common threats organizations face and how do these threats get into the network? Join this session to learn what you can do to slow down attackers and mitigate threats when you are attacked. We’ll review the types of services organizations need to help defend against attacks and where to find them.

[1 CPE] Go Hack Yourself: More War Stories from over 150,000 Pentests

  Presented by Ramzi Harb, Sr Solutions Architect • Horizon3.ai

Join Ramzi Harb, Senior Solutions Architect, for an engaging session on “Offense-Driven Defense.” Ramzi will challenge conventional risk assessment practices and unveil how focusing on real-world exploitability and impact can revolutionize your security approach. Drawing from insights gathered across more than 150,000 autonomous pentests, he’ll share compelling stories and actionable lessons that show how viewing your cyber terrain through an attacker’s lens can uncover hidden vulnerabilities, optimize resource allocation, and strengthen your defenses against advanced threats. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a leading industry practitioner on why it’s time to “go hack yourself” and build resilience in today’s borderless threat environment.

[1 CPE] Zero Trust Segmentation: It’s Easier Than You Think

  Presented by Sumi Gorla, Director of Systems Engineering • Illumio

Regardless of how sophisticated a ransomware attack may be, the objective remains the same: exploit a vulnerability and move laterally across your network. In this session, we’ll peel back the layers and walk through simple steps to get started with Zero Trust Segmentation, including:

  • Gaining deep, real-time visibility into where your environment is most exposed
  • Identifying and closing risky ports to reduce your attack surface
  • Making the most of tools already in place—without adding operational complexity

Sumi Gorla is Director of Systems Engineering at Illumio, driving product strategy, field enablement, and customer success across US Central and LATAM. With leadership experience at EMC, Brocade, Citrix, and BigSwitch, she leads high-performing teams to solve business problems and deliver impactful solutions. Sumi bridges technical depth with clear, outcome-driven communication.

[1 CPE] Code to Cloud to SOC: The Next Evolution in Cloud Security

  Presented by JR Silverthorne, Partner Solutions Consultant, West • Palo Alto Networks

Cloud teams have become increasingly overwhelmed, and critical issues are left unresolved. The volume of Cloud-related alerts have been increasing as cloud-related threats increase in the SOC. The nature of threats and not new, with basic hygiene issues left unresolved. Why? Because neither the SOC nor the cloud team truly owns them. SOC teams lack deep cloud context. Cloud teams aren’t built for fast triage. What’s needed is a hybrid skillset—someone who thinks like a cloud engineer but responds like a SOC analyst. That talent doesn’t exist in most orgs.

What is needed are toolsets that merge Security Operations Platform with Cloud Security. A convergence that allows organizations to offer preventative and incident response within the same platform with prioritization and remediation to prevent breaches. This approach supports protection of the entire application lifecycle and dynamic runtime protection for Code to Cloud to SOC protection.

[1 CPE] Blind Spots in Cybersecurity: Identifying Hidden Risks in Your Environment

  Presented by Tanner Harrison, Systems Engineer • Fortinet

In this session, we’ll explore where hidden risks often lurk and share practical strategies to identify, address, and prevent them. From proven techniques to close security gaps to Zero-Trust and cloud-first solutions, you’ll leave with actionable insights to strengthen your defenses and build a more resilient, proactive security posture.

Key Takeaways:

  • Pinpoint common areas where security blind spots exist in organizations
  • Proven techniques to close critical gaps and reduce exposure
  • Insights for continuously monitoring and responding to evolving threats in real time
  • Practical steps for fostering a proactive, security-first culture across your organization

[1 CPE] Outsmart Cybercrime: Protection Optimized with MDR

  Presented by Jesus Lopez, Solution Architect • ESET

With the rise of cyber threats and ongoing cyber talent shortage continuing unabated, many organizations are turning toward Managed Detection and Response (MDR). So how can this service enhance an organization’s overall security posture and improve incident response? This presentation explores combatting new threats, like multi-extortion ransomware with MDR how to leverage AI-powered threat detection and response, and human expertise, to prevent new ransomware variants the significance of a prevention-first, holistic cybersecurity strategy.

[1 CPE] Achieving Ransomware Resilience and Disaster Recovery in a Multi-Cloud World

  Presented by Ken Smallwood, Systems Engineer • HPE Zerto Software

Discover how to achieve an always-on 24/7 business, ensuring that customers and stakeholders can expect uninterrupted access to their data and applications. Learn how to solve for Ransomware Resilience, Disaster Recovery, and Multi-Cloud mobility for virtualized environments, with continuous data protection (CDP) for any app, any cloud, and any threat. With the right solutions in place, your organization can seamlessly protect critical data and applications, mitigate the risk of ransomware attacks, and maintain business continuity.

Explore strategies for achieving ransomware resilience, automated disaster recovery planning and testing, and flexible hybrid-cloud capabilities that allow you to move applications and scale capacity on demand. By integrating comprehensive data protection measures, you can ensure compliance with regulatory mandates and provide robust resilience against evolving cyber threats. This approach empowers your IT team to focus on strategic initiatives by reducing the burden of manual recovery processes and ensuring rapid restoration of operations.

[1 CPE] Zero Trust in Motion: Securing East/West Traffic to Reduce Risk

  Presented by Stefanie Elle, Channel Sales Engineer • HPE Aruba Networking

Ransomware and targeted cyber security threats are on the rise. A proactive prevention strategy should use both tried and proven methodologies as well as new and emerging technologies. East West traffic identification and isolation is key in preventing malicious content from spreading, both in the Data Center and at the Campus Edge of the network. We will focus on innovative approaches to address the security compliance, performance, agility, and scalability demands of today’s highly distributed, hybrid, network environments.