The CISO Diaries

Daniel DeCloss is Founder and CEO of PlexTrac and has over 15 years of experience in Cybersecurity. Dan started his career in the Department of Defense then moved to private sector consulting where he worked at companies like Veracode as a Principal Consultant in Penetration Testing.He also served as a Principal Security Engineer for the Mayo Clinic and a Sr. Security Advisor for Anthem. Prior to PlexTrac, Dan was the Director of Cybersecurity at Scentsy where he built the security program fro infancy into a best-in-class-program. Dan has a Master's Degree in Computer Science from the Naval Postgraduate School with an emphasis in Information Security. Dan holds the OSCP and CISSP certifications. LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ddecloss/ Twitter: @wh33lhouse

Michael Manrod, CISO at Grand Canyon Education Mike Manrod, MSISE, CCSBA, CSSBB, CISSP, Chief Information Security Officer--Mike presently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer for Grand Canyon Education, responsible for leading the security team and formulating the vision and strategy for protecting students, staff and information assets across the enterprise.  Previous experiences include serving as a threat prevention expert for Check Point and working as a consultant and analyst for other large enterprise customers. He is also a co-author/contributor for the joint book project, Understanding New Security Threats published by Routledge in 2019.  When not exploring the implications of the rapidly evolving threat landscape or the convergence between cognitive psychology and machine learning, he spends time playing video games with his kids, practicing martial arts and cooking.   LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/manrod/Twitter: @CroodSolutions

Anu Kukar is an industry award winner, international keynote speaker and diverse executive with 20 years of experience in both consulting and industry. She has spoken 60+ events, published articles and been a guest on podcasts globally across 9 countries. She shares insights and provides practical tips through her unique storytelling whilst taking the audience on a virtual around the world tour. Anu has worked across and within Critical Infrastructure – energy, utilities, telecommunication, media and financial services.LinkedIn: www.linkedin/com/in/anukukarSwitch2Cyber Campaign: https://www.linkedin.com/company/switch2cyber/ (in collaboration with Cyber Future Foundation, Whole Cyber Human Initiative and many more)

Alex Rhodes is a Cybersecurity Research Engineer and Space Cyber affluent. He also serves on the board of advisors and as Youth and Community Director for Whole Cyber Human Initiative. He's retired from the U.S. Army in 2018 as the Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Digital Forensics Research Branch for the Army Criminal Investigative Division, (USACIDC). In addition to conducting digital forensics and felony investigations for the Army, he spent 5 years as a Russian Linguist and about 2 years as a Satellite Communications Specialist.After retiring from the Army, he worked for Lockheed Martin as a cybersecurity professional where he was awarded with the 2020 Technical Innovation Award for a classified cybersecurity project.​Alex’s next assignment was with Peraton where he used his previous experience to assist with completely rebuilding and revamping the cybersecurity program for the 62nd Cybersecurity Squadron, U.S. Space Force. While working on an assignment to help secure satellite platforms, Alex wrote a research paper highlighting the vulnerabilities inherent within the Telemetry and Commanding (TT&C) system of a satellite.​Currently, Alex is working as an Information Systems Security Engineer and cybersecurity researcher for Stephenson Technologies Corporation. He has co-authored a research paper into the HiveNightmare vulnerability with Paul Cummings. Currently, he is researching vulnerabilities inherent in a system of systems and critical infrastructure systems.Alex has numerous military and civilian awards over the last 20 years. He has an Associates in Russian Language from the Defense Language Institute, Foreign Language Center, a Bachelor’s of Science in Russian Studies from Excelsior College, and a Masters of Science in Cybersecurity with a focus in Information Assurance from Excelsior College.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexrhodes79/ Whole Cyber Human Initiative Non-Profit: https://www.wholecyberhumaninitiative.org/

About Valmiki Mukherjee:Valmiki (Val) is Chairman and Founder of Cyber Future Foundation and a globally recognized expert in the cyber and cloud security industry with a focus on innovation and collaboration to address the Information Security needs of the future. He previously served as an Executive Director in the Cyber Advisory Services at EY. For several years, Val has served as a trusted advisor to a number of the top Fortune 500 C-Level executives, public agency leaders and education institution management teams.Val is considered as an original thought leader in the domain of Cyber Peace and in 2014 established the Cyber Peace Alliance, a global think/do tank of cybersecurity and policy experts advancing the concept of a secure and trusted Cyberspace. Val founded Cyber Future Foundation and its Constituents including the Cyber Peace Alliance to take the initiative forward.Val is known for his Commitment to the information security professional community and is constantly engaged as a leader and contributor within many standards initiatives, security alliances and consortium. He also serves as the Global Co-chair of Cloud Security Alliance's IAM domain. Val is also the Founder and Current Chairman of CSA North Texas which in a couple of years has grown to be a significant contributor to the global Cloud Security domains. He also addresses graduate classes at leading schools on Information Security, Risk Management and Cloud Security.Show Highlights:Cyber is a complex issue, you cannot just solve for it with academic knowledge, you need to have hands-on experience. Getting someone the hands-on experience is a problem, that’s why it’s a risk with entry level – this causes issues and problems.We need a constructive way to get these people meaningful hands-on experience and work.There has to be a pathway between academic learning, fundamental knowledge, so their base is strong. We need to build this in as much 'Left Shift' as possible and make sure that the digital citizens of tomorrow and of today get this experience for the workforce.To stand up a team like this in some organizations can be quite costly.Why don’t we shift it towards the final years of education and community experience so that they get that experience then. This is what my new Cybersecurity Venture will focus on.This is why Cyber Talent Week (April 22, 2022) is so imperative.Apprenticeship is a great model. The way the system is set up now makes it very hard to set this up – this is what we are changing.Social good can happen and commercial success can happen – they have to be together.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/valmikimTwitter: https://twitter.com/valmikim Cyber Future Foundation: https://cyberfuturefoundation.org/index.htmlCyber Talent Week: https://cybertalentweek22.eventbrite.com/

About Michael Gregg:Michael Gregg is the state of North Dakota’s Chief Information Security Officer. The state CISO is responsible for establishing and leading the strategic direction of cyber security for the state and advising the governor and legislators on key cyber issues.With Michael’s cyber experience span being over a period of two decades, he has been a pioneer of helping people interested in becoming IT professionals as well as seasoned IT professionals achieve by sharing knowledge by means of authoring over 25 IT cyber security books, including:  Inside Network Security Assessment, Hack the Stack, CISSP Exam Cram2, Build Your Own Network Security Lab ,and Certified Ethical Hacker Exam Prep2. He has developed high-level security classes and has been featured in newspapers, magazines, and on news programs such as MSNBC, The New York Times, Fox News, CBS News, etc. He enjoys contributing his time and talents where there is a need to help others learn and grow by holding board, committee, and advisory positions for non-profit organizations. Michael is also a faculty member of Villanova University and creator of several of their security programs. He also serves as a site expert for four TechTarget sites, including SearchNetworking, SearchSecurity, SearchMobileNetworking, and SearchSmallBiz. He is a board member of a Houston area Habitat for Humanity.He holds a Bachelors degree, Masters degree, and many security certifications.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelgregg01NDIT: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ndgovnditEpisode Highlights:Volunteer to get skillsLeadership is not a title, it’s what you doGoing to the gym is like doing security – It’s ongoingVendor Partnerships – Looking for win-winGive effective feedbackFocus on CollaborationAdvice - Be Honest, Humble, and HungryGET THE PRENUP!

About Christophe Foulon:Christophe Foulon, senior manager and cybersecurity consultant at F10 FinTech, brings over 15 years of experience as a CISO, vCISO, information security manager, adjunct professor, author, and cybersecurity strategist with a passion for customer service, process improvement, and information security. He also has spent more than 10 years leading, coaching, and mentoring people.As a security practitioner, Christophe is focused on helping businesses tackle their cybersecurity risks while minimizing friction, resulting in increased resiliency, and helping to secure people and processes with a solid understanding of the technology involved. He gives back by producing a podcast, “Breaking into Cybersecurity,” focused on helping people who are trying to transition into the cybersecurity industry by sharing the stories of those who have done it in the past 5 years to inspire those looking to do it now. Christophe holds a Master of Science in Information Technology, Information Assurance, and Cybersecurity, a graduate certificate in Information Systems, and a bachelor's degree in Business Administration/Information Systems from Walden University.He gives back to the community serving as a Career Coach, Adjunct Professor, Author, and Mentor among the Evolutionary Skills Development Network Discord server. Additionally, he joins as volunteer guest speaker to the Veterans Breaking into IT/Cybersecurity Mentorship monthly events.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christophefoulonTwitter: https://twitter.com/chris_foulon?s=21Breaking into Cybersecurity Podcast: https://m.youtube.com/c/BreakingIntoCybersecurity

About Shefali MookencherryShefali Mookencherry is CISO at Edward-Elmhurst Health, has extensive experience in healthcare cybersecurity, HIPAA, PCI, Promoting Interoperability and revenue cycle areas, including 30+ years in the healthcare industry, with fifteen spent in senior management positions.She is currently a CISO, who is responsible for developing and implementing an information security program, which includes procedures and policies designed to protect enterprise communications, systems and assets from both internal and external threats. She has conducted HIPAA IT Security Risk Analyses/Assessments for various organizations that wished to be compliant with HIPAA and/or Promoting Interoperability measures/requirements. Shefali has worked with small practices/vendors to larger integrated delivery networks/health systems and academic institutions. Furthermore, Shefali teaches graduate students at a local University about HIPAA, health insurance exchanges, healthcare reform, and IT security.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shefali-mookencherry-aa1a4878/Book: Grandpa Blueberry Adventures: A Walk Through Blueberry Meadow

John Bambenek - Principal Threat Hunter at Netenrich; Chief Architect of the Cyber Panopticon; Incident Handler for Internet Storm Center About John Bambenek:John Bambenek is an information security practitioner from Champaign, Illinois. As a graduate from the University of Illinois with a B.A. in Theoretical Astrophysics (emphasis in extragalactic astrophysics) and a minor in Mathematics, he has been employed as a project manager at Cap Gemini Ernst and Young, where he provided consulting services to numerous Fortune 500 firms. He continues to provide his expertise to the SANS Institute by authoring published course materials and exams. He also operates the charitable Tumaini Foundation, which provides funds and other needed resources to Tanzanian schools for AIDS orphans. He is also known for his current work in spyware and botnet technology, and their use concerning identity theft. He is also a volunteer as an incident handler for the Internet Storm Center, and his research has been cited in various media venues such as the New York Times and the Washington Post.Twitter: https://twitter.com/bambenek LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johnbambenek/

CHRISTOPHER RUSSELL, CISO, tZERO GroupAbout Christopher Russell:Christopher Russell is the Chief Information Security Officer for tZERO. Apart from holding a master’s degree in cybersecurity, he also has several certifications in cloud security, endpoint detection and response, SIEM, NGFWs, and blockchain. He has a background as a human intelligence (HUMINT) collector for the U.S. Army and as a combat Veteran. Christopher graduated from the Defense Language Institute with a specialization in Arabic.Christopher Russell is the Head of Information Security for tZERO Group Inc. He has a Masters Degree in Cybersecurity and numerous certifications and experience in cloud security, endpoint detection and response, SIEM and blockchain. He is a combat Veteran of the US Army, where he was a human intelligence (HUMINT) collector who graduated from the Defense Language Institute, for Arabic.Chris is also Advisory Council member at NightDragon, a venture capital firm investing in and advising late-state and growth companies, providing a platform of growth for the next-generation of cybersecurity, safety, security and privacy companies. Connect with Chris on Twitter or LinkedInEpisode Highlights: 00:00 - Background and First CISO Role Hard to leave CriticalStart / CyberOne Personal interest in blockchain and FinTech 3:03 - Path into Cybersecurity Cybersecurity is second career First career was in Intelligence - really enjoyed it, did meaningful and exciting work oversees Learned Arabic at Defense Language Institute Was in Middle East as long as they could keep me there Getting into Systems (human operations - debriefings, extracting information from people) was easy for him. He had an 'a-ha' moment that this is where it's at - Information Systems. He hit the books, self-studied, went back to school with GI bill - went through courses, spinning stuff up and tinkering to have enough of a background to function. Had basic networking skills and sensitized to it already. Got his Masters 5:59 - First Job at AT&T Low paying, but learned a lot in networkingCould make his own Cat 5 and troubleshoot a network to round out his background 6:18 - First Engineering Role in Cybersecurity Still felt like I knew nothing Stayed late, constant research, networking, put in the effort early on His military background helped him with the detect part and making it make sense to the right people - being able to articulate. Mentoring - he created a mind map with all the different stuff you can do in cybersecurity. Start with Security Engineer, then into Security Architect, then Cloud Architect, then pivot into leadership, for example. If goal is to be a CISO - yes, you can get there from Analyst 14:53 - Using Intuition in Cybersecurity (is he going to host a podcast on this topic soon)? "This is something near and dear to my heart - I feel like I get data from things and situations on a different frequency than most and can quickly address problems."In Intelligence this was invaluable and it helped him get a lot of success there In cybersecurity it's not much different - there's a lot of people like this - we have quirkiness and different personalities in cyber, high on IQ side and they have high intuition - they just know where to go and look for problems and answers....