The never-ending battle against cyber adversaries – and the Federal government’s aim for a quantum leap in improving cyber defenses around zero trust security concepts – has made cybersecurity the white-hot priority for both the public and private sector over the past 12 months.
From threats that could cripple critical infrastructure and ransomware attacks that are victimizing institutions of all kinds, all the way through to the specter of open cyber warfare following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the stakes both on cyber defense and offense have never been higher.
In recognition of the many thousands of people who work every day to defeat those threats and to create next-generation improvements in security, MeriTalk is delighted to recognize 31 of those individuals in our 2022 class of Cyber Defenders!
Nominated for recognition by their peers in government and industry, the 2022 Cyber Defenders are:
From the Federal government:
- Bo Berlas, Chief Information Security Officer, General Services Administration
- Dawn Berry, Federal Lead, Security Architecture and Engineering, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Rob Brown, Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Gerald Caron, Chief Information Officer, Office of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services
- Sean Connelly, TIC Program Manager and Senior Cybersecurity Architect, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- Scott Engelson, Chief Information Security Officer, National Nuclear Security Administration
- Richard Grabowski, Acting Program Manager, Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation Program, CISA
- Micah Haan, IT Cybersecurity Specialist (DSCS Social Engineering Team Lead) Social Security Administration
- Matt Harmon, Director of Web Communications, Department of Homeland Security
- Matt Hartman, Deputy Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, CISA
- Nnake Nweke, Director, Supply Chain Risk Management, GSA, Federal Acquisition Service, Office of IT Category
- Renata Spinks, Assistant IT Director/Deputy CIO of Information, Command, Control, Communications, and Computers, U.S. Marine Corps
- Vincent Sritapan, Section Chief, Service Innovation, Cyber Quality Services Management Office, CISA
- Laura Stanton, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Information Technology (IT) Category, GSA, Federal Acquisition Service
- Rob Wood, Chief Information Security Officer, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
And, from industry:
- Mike Baker, Chief Information Security Officer, GDIT
- Dana Barnes, Senior Vice President, Public Sector, Palo Alto Networks
- Sean Berg, President of Governments and Critical Infrastructure, Forcepoint
- Christine Carberry, Vice President, Federal, RedSeal
- Phil Fuster, Vice President, Federal, Proofpoint
- Matt Keller, Vice President of Federal Services, GuidePoint Security
- Robert Makheja, President and CEO, MFGS
- Stacey Meyer, Vice President of Federal Operations, Attack IQ
- Steve Orrin, Federal Chief Technology Officer, Intel
- Sudhakar Ramakrishna, President and CEO, SolarWinds
- Bill Rucker, President, Trustwave Government Solutions
- Jean Schaffer, Federal Chief Technology Officer, Corelight Inc.
- Drew Schnabel, General Manager, Government Solutions, Zscaler
- Miguel Sian, Senior Vice President, Technology, Merlin Cyber
- Mark Sincevich, Federal Director, Illumio
- Julie Starnes, Vice President, Public Sector, Recorded Future
Celebrate the Cyber Defenders on May 19
We invite you to Cyber Smoke to celebrate the 2022 class of Cyber Defenders with us on May 19 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., at Morton’s the Steakhouse in Washington.
Join MeriTalk for an evening of networking and honoring individuals who have made significant contributions across cyber programs in Federal IT, all while enjoying a cigar and cocktail on Morton’s patio. The Morton’s dining room is available for dinner reservations onsite for Cyber Smoke attendees.