2026 Presenters

Chris Sistrunk

Chris Sistrunk, PE is a Technical Leader with Mandiant, part of Google Cloud Security, where he leads and supports global OT and ICS consulting efforts focused on securing critical infrastructure. He brings more than two decades of hands-on experience in industrial control systems, incident response, and SCADA environments, including over 11 years at Entergy as a senior engineer and subject matter expert for Transmission and Distribution SCADA systems. Chris has led work in ICS security assessments, digital forensics, and incident response, and is widely recognized in the industrial cybersecurity community for his deep technical expertise and practical, operations-driven approach. A licensed Professional Engineer in Louisiana and senior member of IEEE, Chris is also the founder of BSidesJackson and a co-founder of BEER-ISAC, reflecting his long-standing commitment to information sharing and community building within critical infrastructure security.

Technical Leader, OT
Mandiant, Google Cloud Security

Liliane Scarpari

Liliane Scarpari is an accomplished Security Solution Engineer and Senior Compliance & Security Technology Specialist at Microsoft, with a strong background in cybersecurity, compliance and digital forensics. She is a PhD candidate in Cybersecurity Management (NSU) and holds professional certifications including CISA and Cyber Auditor, and is recognized as one of the Top Women to Follow in Security (DARYUS 2023–2025) for her impact in information protection and governance. Over nearly 15 years she has built deep expertise through roles including long-term partnership work with ExxonMobil Brasil. Today, Liliane actively contributes to the cybersecurity community through thought leadership, presentations and published insights on data protection, AI security, eDiscovery and compliance.

Security Solution Engineer
Microsoft

James Harmening

James Harmening is a seasoned cybersecurity and risk management leader with decades of experience spanning government, consulting, and technology services. He currently serves as Director of Cybersecurity & Risk Management at the Illinois Commerce Commission, where he leads incident response, cyber threat intelligence, and enterprise security initiatives protecting critical regulatory operations. Jim brings a strong technical foundation with a B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois Chicago, complemented by deep hands-on expertise developed through 25 years as president of an IT consulting firm and earlier work supporting statewide voter registration systems for the Illinois Secretary of State.

Director - Cybersecurity & Risk Management
Ilinois Commerce Commission

Blake Gilson

Blake Gilson is a Strategy Manager at ExxonMobil, shaping global IT strategy and execution. He holds a BBA in Management Information Systems from the University of Houston Honors College and is Alumni Chair of the DOE/Idaho National Laboratory OT Defender Program. Blake holds multiple GIAC certifications, is a 2x CompTIA Subject Matter Expert, and specializes in securing computing and process technologies.

Industrial IT Cybersecurity Operations Manager
ExxonMobil

Julian Durand

Julian is Intertrust’s senior vice president of product management and chief security officer where he is responsible for owning the IoT product and overseeing security practices for the company. He has over 30 years of experience in bringing breakthrough products to market at a massive scale and is a named inventor in IoT, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and virtual SIM technologies.

Before joining Intertrust, Julian brought SaaS and PaaS products to market for construction telematics and real time cyber risk analysis at TeMeDa and CyberLucent respectively, taking both companies to profitability from initial seed funding startups. At Qualcomm Julian led product security, virtual SIM development and the company’s first efforts in IoT, doubling revenue for the first three years and catalyzing what is now a billion-dollar business. Prior to that, he was the technical lead for Nokia’s first music phone. A passionate advocate for refugee rights, Julian’s first job was with the UNHCR, where he created an online database which to this day is the seminal information source for national refugee determination processes.

Julian holds a B.Eng from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, an MBA from the University of Southern California (USC) and is a Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP).

General Manager, Secure Systems
and Chief Security Officer
Intertrust

Carter Manucy

Carter Manucy is a long-time utility cybersecurity practitioner and Senior Director of Cybersecurity at NRECA, where he leads national programs supporting cyber resilience for electric cooperatives across the United States. Prior to NRECA, Carter spent more than 27 years at Florida Municipal Power Agency, progressing from Manager of Information Technology to Cybersecurity Manager and ultimately IT/OT & Cybersecurity Director, where he built and operated NERC-aligned security programs, secured industrial control environments, and led enterprise IT and OT infrastructure initiatives. In parallel, he has served for nearly two decades as Chief Geek Officer at INSS, LLC, advising organizations on practical, risk-based security solutions. Carter is a respected leader in cyber mutual assistance, NERC and regional reliability groups, and public-private collaboration, and is a recipient of the E-ISAC Mike Assante Electricity Security Service Award for his lasting impact on the security of the North American power sector. He is based in Florida and is an alumnus of University of Central Florida.

Senior Director, Cybersecurity
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA)

Bruce Tulloch

Bruce Tulloch has nearly four decades experience as a professional engineer and entrepreneur. He is the Director of Intelligent Systems at Mayman Aerospace, Senior Technology Advisor to JERA, and co-founder of MetaChip BitScope. He is an enthusiastic mentor to, and investor in startups and other businesses working in the infrastructure, energy and defence sectors.

Bruce has founded several companies and collaborated with many others to develop products, software and services ranging from Academy Award winning Digital Audio Dubbing systems for the US film and television industry, digital news radio broadcast systems for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, sonar systems for the Australian Navy, diagnostic systems for US nuclear fusion research, and MRI diagnostic systems for Siemens Oncology. He has overseen the development of educational clusters for several US universities and developed two large research clusters for US Department of Energy at Los Alamos National Laboratories (LANL) and National Renewable Energy Laboratories (NREL).

As a senior member of Jetpack Aviation team, Bruce was involved in the development of the worlds only true turbine powered JetPack. He is now a director at Mayman Aerospace developing Skyfield Razor, a unique high performance AI/ML controlled VTOL platform derived from Jetpack Aviation's technologies.

Director at Mayman Aerospace
Senior Advisor at JERA

Patrick Miller

Patrick Miller shares over 35 years of IT/OT experience through his consulting services as an independent security and regulatory advisor for the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource sectors. He is currently President and CEO of AMPYX CYBER, an industrial security consulting firm based in Portland, OR USA.

Mr. Miller is an internationally recognized public speaker on the subjects of critical infrastructure protection, process and industrial control system (ICS/OT) cybersecurity, information technology (IT) cybersecurity, regulatory compliance (leading global expert on NERC CIP), audit and privacy. He is an active volunteer and member of several critical infrastructure security working groups. Patrick has been commended with a number of professional awards for his successful work in building information sharing functions and cybersecurity programs.

Patrick is also the US Coordinator and Professor for the Industrial Cybersecurity Center, or CCI (Centro de Ciberseguridad Industrial) based in Madrid, Spain and an instructor for the Cyber Information Security Leader (CISL) course in Copenhangen, Denmark - as well as a former instructor for the SANS ICS456 training on the NERC CIP standards.

President and Chief Executive Officer
Ampyx Cyber

Matthew Luallen

Matthew E. Luallen is the Lead Research Scientist for Education Translation at the Information Trust Institute at the University of Illinois where he coordinates and conducts research that addresses securing the nation’s critical infrastructure. Luallen served as a Co-Founder of CYBATI, where he led the company in further developing and expanding training services to enhance the understanding of, and provide protection from, cyber-physical threats. He also served as a Co-Founder of Dragos Security co-developing CyberLens™ for operational technology device and communications discovery and analysis. He was a Co-Founder of Encari, a NERC CIP cybersecurity consulting firm helping the US and Canadian power grid defend strategic assets from cyber-physical attacks. He was also an Information Security Network Engineer and Architect at Argonne National Laboratory.

Lead Research Scientist for
Education Translation
Information Trust Institute
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Vivek Ponnada

Vivek Ponnada is an OT security and critical infrastructure growth leader who serves as SVP, Growth & Strategy at Frenos, focused on helping organizations assess, prioritize, and defend industrial environments using autonomous OT security assessment approaches. He brings global experience across sales, marketing, business development, and services for control systems and cybersecurity solutions, including leadership roles at Nozomi Networks (Regional Sales Director and Technology Solutions Director) and earlier work spanning ICS security and product/market innovation. Vivek co-leads the Top 20 Secure PLC Coding Practices initiative, translating engineering realities into actionable security guidance for practitioners. He holds an MBA from UT Austin’s McCombs School of Business, is a Chartered Engineer (IEI), and maintains credentials including GICSP and ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert, alongside active involvement in industry communities such as CS2AI (Fellow) and advisory/peer groups supporting ICS security advancement.

Senior Vice President - Growth & Strategy
Frenos

Jason Bowen

Jason Bowen is a global information security executive and cybersecurity strategist focused on cyber defense, compliance, and resiliency. He currently serves as the Statewide Chief Information Security Officer for the Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT), where he drives unified cybersecurity outcomes through strong agency partnerships and a mission-driven, public-service mindset. Previously, Jason spent seven years at Protiviti, progressing from Associate Director to Managing Director and leading large-scale security transformations, governance and operating model work, third-party risk management delivery, and incident response readiness across multiple industries. Earlier in his career, he held senior security leadership roles at SunGard Financial Systems (now part of FIS) as Group Security Officer for Global Trading, and at Aon as Director of Global Infrastructure Security, overseeing programs such as vulnerability management, DLP, security architecture, and audit/regulatory readiness. He also serves on the Advisory Board for Illinois State University’s Center for Cybersecurity Research and Education, supporting the next generation of cyber talent and resiliency leaders.

Statewide Chief Information Security Officer
Illinois Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT)

Ramesh Reddi

Ramesh Reddi is an independent cyber and information security consultant based in Raleigh, North Carolina, with more than 25 years of experience delivering security strategy, architecture, and implementation across the financial services, energy, utilities, and industrial sectors. He has led and advised major initiatives in data protection, encryption, tokenization, zero trust, OT and IoT security, and cloud security, with recent work focused on enterprise-wide sensitive data discovery and protection programs for large U.S. utilities. Ramesh has held senior cybersecurity leadership and advisory roles with organizations including BB&T, PG&E, Exelon, IBM, HP, and Unisys, where he built and led cybersecurity teams, expanded security and privacy practices, and helped secure smart grid and critical infrastructure systems. He has contributed to the development of NIST smart grid cybersecurity standards, serves on advisory and taskforce groups including Protect Our Power and IEEE P2418.5, and brings international experience from assignments in Europe and Canada. Ramesh holds an MS in Computer Science from University of Pennsylvania and an MBA in High Technology Management, along with certifications including CISSP, cloud and zero trust credentials, and automotive cybersecurity standards (ISO/SAE 21434 and UNECE WP.29).

Chief Technology Officer
CybersecBCML

Sai Molige

Sai Molige is a seasoned threat-hunting and detection engineering leader currently serving as Senior Manager of Threat Hunting at Forescout Technologies, where he leads intelligence-driven hunting operations across endpoint, network, and cloud environments. With more than six years of hands-on experience in threat hunting, incident response, and digital forensics, Sai is known for translating adversary behavior into scalable, hypothesis-driven detections aligned to frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK. He has led and mentored high-performing teams, delivered threat-hunting services for dozens of global clients, and contributed to major investigations involving ransomware, supply-chain attacks, and zero-day exploitation. A GIAC Advisory Board member and holder of multiple GIAC certifications (GCDA, GCIH, GCFE, GNFA), Sai is also an active community contributor—publishing research, speaking at industry events such as DEF CON Blue Team Village, and volunteering his time to advance practitioner-focused security education and nonprofit initiatives.

Senior Manager, Threat Hunting
Forescout Technologies

Tim Gale

Tim Gale is a Director of Industrial Cybersecurity at 1898 & Co., bringing over 30 years of expertise in deploying Industrial Control Systems (ICS) across various sectors. He is a certified ISA/IEC 62443 Cybersecurity Expert and Instructor. He is recognized for his contributions to significant publications such as the DOE’s “Cyber Informed Engineering Implementation Guide” and the “ICS Security Top 20 Practices.” Tim leads a dedicated team that develops robust security and resilience strategies for operational technology environments, utilizing ISA/IEC 62443 and Cyber Informed Engineering (CIE) principles throughout all project phases. His extensive experience positions him as a thought leader in enhancing cybersecurity measures within critical industries.

Director, Industrial Cybersecurity
1898 & Co. | A part of Burns & McDonnell

Jacob Kitchel

Jacob Kitchel is an experienced security leader specializing in critical infrastructure, enterprise, and operational technology environments. He currently serves as Senior Manager at Invenergy, where he focuses on operations technology and transmission operations, helping build and strengthen security programs across complex, large-scale environments. With a background in security architecture, monitoring, vulnerability management, penetration testing, and regulatory and framework-driven security, Jacob is recognized for his expertise in industrial control systems, including SCADA, EMS, and DCS/PCS, as well as global enterprise networks. He is also a long-time community organizer, having led BurbSecWest and SCADASides to foster collaboration and technical exchange within the security and ICS communities. Jacob holds degrees in Industrial Technology and Computer Technology from Purdue University and is based in the Naperville/Chicago area.

Senior Manager
Invenergy

Beth Windisch

Beth Windisch is an executive leader in homeland security, strategy, risk, and operations with nearly two decades of federal and state government experience. She currently serves as Deputy Director at the Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS), where she helps lead statewide emergency management and homeland security strategy. Previously, she was Chief of Staff for Region 5 at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), overseeing coordination across six Midwestern states. Her federal career includes senior leadership roles within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including Regional Prevention Coordinator for the Center for Prevention Programs & Partnerships, External Affairs Officer for Operation Allies Welcome, Senior Risk Analyst in the Office of Inspector General, and earlier policy leadership positions in health affairs and private sector engagement. Beth is also Adjunct Faculty in Security Studies at Sam Houston State University and a 2022 Emerging Leader with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. She holds master’s degrees from the Naval Postgraduate School and National Defense University and is a Senior Executive Fellow of Harvard Kennedy School Executive Education.

Deputy Director
Illinois Emergency Management Agency
and Office of Homeland Security (IEMA-OHS)

M. K. Palmore

M.K. Palmore is a cybersecurity executive, leadership advisor, and former FBI senior leader with more than three decades of experience spanning military service, federal law enforcement, and global technology leadership. He currently serves as Founder and Principal Advisor of Apogee Global RMS, where he advises organizations on leadership, risk management, and cybersecurity strategy.

Palmore began his career as a commissioned officer in the United States Marine Corps after graduating from the United States Naval Academy. He later joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he spent over two decades as a Special Agent and executive leader, culminating in his role overseeing one of the FBI’s premier cybersecurity investigative teams in San Francisco.

Following his government service, Palmore transitioned to the private sector, holding senior cybersecurity leadership roles at major global technology companies, including Palo Alto Networks and Google Cloud. In these positions, he helped organizations navigate digital transformation, strengthen cybersecurity posture, and manage enterprise risk in an increasingly complex threat landscape.

As CEO and Founder of Apogee Global RMS, Palmore focuses on guiding executives and organizations through complex strategic decisions while developing the next generation of technology and cybersecurity leaders.

Founder and Principal Advisor
Apogee Global RMS

Wei Chen Lin

Wei Chen Lin is a cybersecurity and policy professional in the Greater Chicago area who combines legal expertise with technical security experience. He currently serves as a Cybersecurity Advisor with the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he supports initiatives to strengthen critical infrastructure security and cyber risk management. Previously, he spent more than seven years at the Illinois Commerce Commission in a series of leadership and advisory roles, including Policy Advisor for Cybersecurity & Risk Management, Special Assistant to the Executive Director, and Legal and Policy Advisor to the Chairman, helping shape cybersecurity policy and regulatory strategy for Illinois utilities and infrastructure sectors. Wei holds a JD with a Health Law Certificate from DePaul University College of Law, where he served as Editor of Articles, Notes, and Comments for the DePaul Law Review, and a BS in Information Assurance and Security Engineering from DePaul University. He is also a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP).

Cybersecurity Advisor
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency

David Emmerich

David Emmerich is a seasoned IT leader and systems architect currently serving as Principal Cyber-Physical Range Architect at the University of Illinois’ Information Trust Institute. With more than two decades of experience in enterprise IT, he specializes in designing and managing complex computing environments that support advanced research and cybersecurity experimentation. His expertise spans enterprise system architecture, Microsoft and Linux server infrastructure, directory services, networking, and large-scale testbed development. Prior to his current role, Emmerich held multiple technical and leadership positions at the University of Illinois and Eastern Illinois University, where he led IT user services, managed major infrastructure projects, and improved campus technology operations through strategic planning and process improvements. Known for his collaborative approach, he works closely with faculty, students, and technical teams to build flexible research platforms and deliver reliable IT solutions that enhance institutional capabilities.

Principal Cyber-Physical Range Architect
Information Trust Institute
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Mary Gannon

Mary Gannon is a global OT/ICS cybersecurity leader and Senior OT Incident Response Lead at GuidePoint Security, specializing in industrial incident response, critical infrastructure protection, and cyber risk management. An ICS4ICS Incident Commander and subject matter expert, she brings extensive experience across consulting and enterprise leadership roles, including Global OT Security Manager at Crane NXT, Principal Consultant at CrowdStrike, OT Cybersecurity Manager at Beam Suntory, and Senior Industrial Consultant at Dragos. She holds GPEN and GICSP certifications and earned her Bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security from American Military University, graduating summa cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, with focused expertise in cybersecurity and infrastructure protection.

Senior OT Incident Response Lead
GuidePoint Security