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

Bryan Singer

Bryan Singer is an industrial cybersecurity executive and U.S. Army veteran specializing in operational technology and industrial control systems incident response, currently serving as Global Incident Response Lead for OT and ICS clients at Accenture. With decades of experience spanning manufacturing, defense, healthcare, and critical infrastructure, he has built a reputation as a leading authority in cybersecurity architecture, threat detection, and risk management. Bryan has held influential positions across industry and standards bodies, including serving as Chairman of the ISA-62443/ISA-99 Industrial Control Systems Security Standards committee, and contributing to security strategy for major utilities and infrastructure organizations. His technical expertise covers system design, penetration testing, network security, and a wide range of programming and enterprise technologies.

Global Incident Response Lead for OT and ICS Clients
Accenture

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

Kristen King

Kristin King is a Cybersecurity and Operational Technology risk management expert specializing in food, agriculture, zoo, and aquarium infrastructure. She is the founder of AnzenSage and co-founder/CEO of AnzenOT, helping industries that grow, feed, and inspire the world protect what matters most. With experience spanning environmental management, gorilla research, and more than 25 years in technology, Kristin brings a grounded, systems-based approach to her work. She also hosts the award-winning Bites & Bytes Podcast and is the author of the forthcoming Wiley book Securing What Feeds Us: Cybersecurity in Food and Agriculture.

CEO, AnzenOT & AnzenSage
Vice President - Food Cybersecurity, CSAFI

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 is Chair of the Requirements Working Group for TEIA and a senior adviser to JERA, Japan's largest power generation company and a TEIA founding member. Passionate about open standards in IT and OT, he brings four decades of experience across entertainment, industrial and enterprise engineering to the challenge of securing interoperable operations in energy.

His past contributions span a broad range of domains: digital news radio broadcast systems for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, sonar systems for the Australian Navy, and diagnostic systems for US nuclear fusion research. He was recognised with an Academy Award for the Fairlight Digital Audio Dubbing system, and more recently developed fusion and grid research clusters for DoE Labs at Los Alamos (LANL) and the National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR, formerly NREL).

Since joining JERA, Bruce has been working with the TEIA Requirements Working Group to develop and drive adoption of TEIA specifications across the founding membership, which includes E.ON, Origin Energy, GS Energy, and Intertrust Technologies. He brings expertise in secure embedded computing and AI solutions from the cloud to the edge and end-point.

Bruce is also active in the startup sector, with several exits of his own and ongoing roles mentoring new ventures to seize emerging opportunities in the energy transition.

Chair of Requirements Working Group
Trusted Energy Interoperability Alliance
and CDIO Advisor, JERA Japan

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

Jevin Kasselman

Jevin Kasselman is an accomplished executive leader in the electric cooperative industry with nearly three decades of experience in technology modernization, cybersecurity, and operational strategy, currently serving as Director of Information Technology at Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc. Having joined the cooperative in 1998 and serving in his current leadership role since 2012, he is responsible for the operation and maintenance of the organization’s network and communications infrastructure, including voice and computer systems critical to daily operations. A CISSP-certified professional, Kasselman brings an enterprise-wide perspective to strengthening reliability, security, and performance, with a strong track record in leading complex initiatives across infrastructure, information assurance, and broadband systems.

Director - Information Technology
Wheatland Electric Cooperative, Inc.

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 the OT Incident Response Lead at GuidePoint Security, specializing in industrial incident response, critical infrastructure protection, and cyber risk management. She started her career 13 years ago in Emergency Management and Community Risk Reduction, concentrating on physical and cyber-physical threats. She went back to school to earn her bachelor’s degree in Homeland Security with a focus on cybersecurity and infrastructure security. She has worked in a variety of roles including the Global OT Security Leader for two critical manufacturers, as well as consulting roles specializing in OT incident response and incident management. She bridges her worlds of emergency management and OT cybersecurity through the ICS4ICS since its formation, serving as the Incident Commander, Facilitator, and Subject Matter Expert. Additionally, Mary is an exam development SME for the upcoming CompTIA SecOT+ exam. She currently holds her GICSP and GPEN certifications.

Senior OT Incident Response Lead
GuidePoint Security

Benjamin Lampe

Benjamin Lampe is an Operational Technology (OT) engineer, architect, and cybersecurity researcher currently serving as an Instrumentation and Control Engineer at Idaho National Laboratory. With a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Idaho, he brings over a decade of experience spanning industrial control systems, IT infrastructure, and cybersecurity.

Benjamin began his career at the Naval Nuclear Laboratory, where he spent nearly ten years advancing from control systems engineering into enterprise architecture and IT leadership, gaining expertise in PLC/HMI systems, building automation, Linux-based platforms, and enterprise technologies including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, and VMware. Notably, he led the development and implementation of the Operational Technology Technical Strategy for the U.S. Naval Reactor Program, a framework still in use nationwide. His work today focuses on advancing cyber-informed engineering and securing critical infrastructure systems.

Instrumentation & Controls Engineer
Idaho National Laboratory

Larry James

Larry D. James is a retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant General and a globally recognized leader in space operations, aerospace innovation, and intelligence.

He is CEO of KAIperShield Inc, which utilizes Mission Resilience Imaging (MRI) to map entire OT/ICS architectures and apply NIST SP 800-160 to brownfield environments. He also serves as Strategic Advisor to the SmartSat Cooperative Research Centre in Adelaide and as Professor of Practice in Space Innovation at Monash University, where he advances research, education, and industry collaboration in the space sector. Prior to relocating to Australia in 2024, Larry spent over a decade as Deputy Director and Chief Operating Officer of Jet Propulsion Laboratory, overseeing major NASA programs in planetary exploration, Earth science, and astronomy. His 35-year Air Force career included senior leadership roles in intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as command of major space and satellite operations. A Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy with advanced degrees from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, James is also a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and a prominent contributor to the global space community.

CEO
KAIperShield Inc