2023 TECH VALLEY CYBERSECURITY SYMPOSIUM

Presented by LogicalNet

10.03.23 | RIVERS CASINO

Are you prepared?

Excellent industry speakers! Wes and the panel were an amazing resource.

Your panel discussion was fantastic as it brought together such a wide and diverse group of seasoned individuals.

EVENT SCHEDULE

TUESDAY OCT 3, 2023

8:00–9:00am Registration, breakfast

9:00–9:05am Welcoming remarks

Tush Nikollaj, CEO | LogicalNet

9:05–10:00am Keynote

Wes Spencer, VP | CyberFOX

10:00–10:40am Industry Best Practices for Securing Your Business

Shehzad Mirza, CSO | CyberWA

10:40–11:00am Break

11:00–11:45am How to Obtain the Proper Cyber Insurance for Your Business

Brendan Hall, Senior VP | Alliant Insurance Services

11:45–12:30pm Panel Session: Emerging Threats in Cybersecurity

Moderator: Wes Spencer
Dr. Erdal Ozkaya, CIO | Xcitium
Thomas Hallisey, Digital Health Strategy Director | HANYS
Michelle Merola, Partner, Data Privacy & Security Lawyer | Hodgson Russ
Jim Peterson, Principal Solutions Advisor | ConnectWise
James Morrison, National Cyber Security Specialist | Intelisys

12:30–1:00pm Lunch

1:00–1:30pm How a Hacker Penetrates Your Business

Tyler Wrightson, Founder | Leet Cyber Security

2:00pm Closing

RIVERS CASINO & RESORT
1 RUSH STREET, SCHENECTADY, NY 12305

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

& PANEL MODERATOR

Wes Spencer
Vice President, CyberFOX

Wes Spencer is a nationally recognized technology innovator and co-founder of multiple cybersecurity companies including Perch Security which was successfully acquired in 2020. He has numerous awards including the 2020 Cybersecurity Educator of the Year by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards. Wes has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Pro Publica, Dark Reading, and many other outlets. He is the Vice President and Channel Chief for FifthWall Solutions, one of the nation’s largest insurance brokers focusing exclusively on cybersecurity insurance. Wes is also the co-host of the CyberCall with over 5,000 MSP weekly listeners.

PRESENTERS

INDUSTRY BEST PRACTICES FOR SECURING YOUR BUSINESS

Shehzad Mirza

Chief Security Officer, CyberWa

Shehzad Mirza is Chief Security Officer of CyberWa. He is also the Director of IT Security Operations for Global Cyber Alliance (GCA), a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to eliminate cyber risks around the globe. Prior to joining GCA, Shehzad was a manager in the Advisory Services practice, as part of the security monitoring group, Ernst & Young LLP.

Prior to this role, he served as Senior Director of Security Operations at the Center for Internet Security (CIS), an internationally recognized not-for-profit organization that provides cybersecurity services and support to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments throughout the United States. He was responsible for managing the security operations, which included a 24×7 security operations center (SOC) consisting of security analysts and Intel analysts providing cybersecurity and detection/notification services to all state and local governments across the United States for the Multi-State Information-Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC).

HOW TO OBTAIN THE PROPER CYBER INSURANCE FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Brendan Hall

Senior Vice President, Alliant Insurance Services

Brendan Hall serves as the Senior Vice President of Alliant Cyber, one of 14 specialized industry verticals within Alliant. With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, Hall’s role emphasizes business development, strategy, and execution.

He possesses a deep understanding of the challenges clients face in managing cyber risk and how this area of risk continues to evolve. Hall’s extensive knowledge and experience contribute to the formalization and expansion of Alliant’s cyber offerings.

Before joining Alliant, Hall held the position of Senior Vice President in the cybersecurity practice for a leading global brokerage firm. There, he was responsible for growing the practice and assisting clients with services ranging from data breach incident response to security advisory, technical testing, threat intelligence, investigations, and cyber insurance. Notably, Hall specialized in the private equity space, where he helped develop and market tailored cyber risk mitigation services, including cross-portfolio assessments, remediation advisory, and cyber diligence.

Listen to Brendan on the Alliant Specialty Podcast.

PANELISTS

Thomas Hallisey

Digital Health Strategy Director, HANYS

Tom has spent his entire career improving healthcare quality and operations through the advancement of technology. Tom began his career at EMR vendor MEDITECH and went on to spend nearly 20 years leading healthcare IT strategy and implementation at several healthcare systems in New York and Washington, D.C. He served as CIO at Cayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, Cortland Regional Medical Center and United Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Most recently, he was executive IT adviser and CIO at Hartman Executive advisers, an IT consulting firm in the Baltimore-Washington corridor.

As HANYS’ head of digital health strategy, Tom formulates and executes HANYS’ state and federal HIT regulatory and legislative advocacy agenda and provides education and collaboration to New York health systems. His work includes guiding statewide collaborative efforts to improve care through technology in areas such as virtual/telehealth, cybersecurity and clinical informatics. He further partners with government agencies, lawmakers and other organizations to advance HANYS’ HIT agenda on behalf of New York’s hospitals and health systems.

James Morrison

National Cyber Security Specialist, Intelisys

James Morrison joined Intelisys in May 2022 as their National Cyber Security Specialist after working as a Chief Information Security Officer and Distinguished Technologist – Cyber Security at Ntirety and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE).

Prior to working at HPE, James spent 22 years with the FBI as a Senior Computer Scientist, focused on cyber security. He worked on numerous national security and criminal intrusion investigations, as an active Cyber Security Expert, identifying security vulnerabilities and implementing solutions. He was a Regional Program Manager for the FBI Computer Science program and Adjunct Faculty Member for the FBI, teaching multiple classes at Quantico and internationally.

Prior to his career in the FBI, James was an engineer for Lockheed Martin and a System Administrator the US Air Force at Schriever AFB and Clark AB, RP.

Jim Peterson

Principal Solutions Advisor, ConnectWise

Jim Peterson is a Principal Solution Advisor at ConnectWise. He brings more than 25 years of industry experience ranging from Engineering to MSP Ownership and is a subject matter Expert (SME) focused on industry trends in BCDR and Cybersecurity.

Prior to ConnectWise, Jim started his career delivering technical support and design for large corporate environments like Honeywell, IBM, and Moody’s. In 2008 Jim launched a start-up MSP focused on the SMB market in Northern Indiana, exiting via acquisition in 2018. Since that time, Jim has worked with MSP owners to build profitable and scalable service catalogs that can continually evolve to improve MSP efficiency and reduce SMB risks.

Jim holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management of Information Systems from Goshen College.

Michelle Merola

Partner | Data Privacy & Security Lawyer | Associate General Counsel, Hodgson Russ LLP

Michelle Merola, Partner and Associate General Counsel at Hodgson Russ, is an indispensable asset, specializing in the critical realm of cybersecurity and data privacy. With a robust background in regulatory compliance and an in-depth understanding of cybersecurity laws at the state, federal, and international levels, Michelle is a trusted advisor for our clients.

In close collaboration with management teams and IT specialists, Michelle takes a proactive stance in analyzing potential data breaches. Her goal is to ensure swift notifications to affected parties and pertinent government bodies, all while implementing robust security protocols. Drawing from her experience as a chair of the Technology Strategy Committee and as an active member of the Security Committee, Michelle remains at the forefront of emerging tech trends, consistently aligning our strategies with evolving cyber threats.

Michelle’s multifaceted approach encompasses the development of comprehensive data security programs and policies, making certain that our clients’ sensitive information remains shielded from cyber risks. As the cybersecurity landscape continues to evolve, Michelle Merola’s expertise proves invaluable in maintaining the highest level of protection for our clients at Hodgson Russ.

For more information on Michelle Merola:

Profile : Experience : News & Publications : Presentations & Events : Affiliations

Dr. Erdal Ozkaya

Chief Information Officer, Xcitium

Dr. Erdal Ozkaya is a global cybersecurity leader and strategist with over 25 years of experience in the IT and security fields. He is the Chief Cybersecurity Strategist and CISO at Xcitium, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions and services, where he is responsible for building the cybersecurity strategy and the information security risk management program, as well as raising cybersecurity awareness and training for internal teams, customers, and partners.

He holds a doctorate degree in information technology and multiple industry certifications, such as CCISO and MCSE. He is also a board member, advisor, lecturer, and author in various cybersecurity organizations and institutions, such as the National Cyber Group, Binalyze, Global CISO Forum, Charles Sturt University, and Australian Institute of ICT.

He has been recognized as a top 50 technology leader by IDC and CIO Online, and a global cybersecurity leader of the year by InfoSec Awards. His mission is to solve cybersecurity issues and enable digital transformation for businesses and society.

DEMONSTRATION

HOW A HACKER PENETRATES YOUR BUSINESS

Tyler Wrightson

Founder, Leet Cyber Security

Tyler is the founder of Leet Cyber Security, which helps organizations solve their technical cyber security challenges. Leet focuses on offensive security services such as Penetration Testing and Red Teaming to secure organizations against real world attackers. Tyler has over twenty years of experience in the IT security field across many industries including healthcare and financial services with extensive experience in many areas of technical security including networking, systems architecture, offensive security and penetration testing. Tyler holds industry certifications such CISSP, CCSP, CCNA, CCDA, and MCSE. Tyler has also taught classes for CCNA certification, hacking and penetration testing, wireless security, and network security. Tyler is the founder of ANYCon, Albany New York’s Annual Hacker conference. He has been a frequent speaker at industry conferences including NY Bankers Association (NYBA), NYS CyberSecurity Conference, Derbycon, BSides, Rochester Security Summit, ISACA, ISSA, and others. Follow his security blog at blog.leetsys.com.