Dr. Kevin Mahoney Senior Director, Strategy Fortinet

Dr. Kevin Mahoney is a 20-year veteran of the IT industry. He currently runs the Advanced Threat Protection Practice for a leading cybersecurity vendor. Kevin holds a PhD in IT Management from Capella University and a JD in Technology Law from Purdue University.

Paul Vallée Chief Executive Officer Tehama

Paul Vallée is the founder and CEO of Tehama and a serial entrepreneur who has spent his career at the forefront of cutting-edge technologies that enable the exchange of work over the internet.

Paul was a pioneer in remote connectivity and lays claim to the first application of IPSEC VPN technology to enable enterprises to consume services over the internet. In 1997, Paul founded Pythian, a data-centric services business with a focus on remote work. Under Paul’s leadership, the company developed groundbreaking tools that enable remote teams to work and interact seamlessly and securely across multiple continents. Tehama was born at Pythian, launched to the public in 2018, and due to rapid adoption of the platform, spun out to become fully independent in 2019.

Paul is a sought-after speaker who was named 2016’s Diversity Champion by Canada’s Women in Communications and Technology, is active in the Council of Canadian Innovators, the CIO Strategy Council, and serves on the board of the Basic Income Canada Network.

Adam “Abe” Abernethy MISA Board member

Abe has been breaking into computers for fun since grade school and for a career since he was 21. In his 30s he began defending networks as well. He has left a few government agencies, a respected college, a number of well received conference appearances and a lot of annoyed malicious actors in his wake of security experience. He has very recently went into private sector to pursue a career in educating others.

Mark GaudetProduct Manager at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority

Mark Gaudet leads the cybersecurity services team at the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA). Mark holds a B.Sc. in Engineering Physics from Queens University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Ottawa. Mark’s extensive experience in DNS management began as one of the founders of a start-up that developed NetID, one of the first enterprise DNS, DHCP and IP address management products. He also sits on the board of directors for the Halifax IXP.

Helen Wetherley Knight Principal Helen Knight Consulting

Helen Wetherley Knight’s passion for IT ignited when she learned to program at the age of 9. Now with over 20 year’s experience as visionary and strategist, Helen leads award-winning significant and meaningful technology transformations across Canada. Extensive work experience and unending thirst for knowledge (MBA, PMP, Prosci) are the backbone of her ability to influence, design, solve problems and implement effective strategic change. Helen works extensively in the nonprofit space, advising organizations large and small on how best to realize the promise of technology. In her spare time Helen runs TechforSocialGood.ca as a support hub for nonprofits wanting to learn better ways to work, and is the President of the Calgary Chapter of the CIO Association of Canada.

Claudiu Popa Principal Risk Advisor, Informatica Security

Claudiu Popa, is a certified cybersecurity expert and principal risk advisor at Datarisk Canada, a division of Informatica Security that strives to commoditize advanced security solutions and make them accessible by small and mid-size organizations, their suppliers and the rest of their remotely working ecosystem. Claudiu is a frequent contributor to national media and author of a few books including The Canadian Cyberfraud Handbook, Managing Personal Information and The Canadian Privacy & Data Security Toolkit.

Leo de Sousa Deputy Chief Information Officer, City of Vancouver

Leo leads the Enterprise Technology portfolio which encompasses all IT infrastructure from the desktop to the data centre. He also led the creation of the Enterprise Architecture and Cybersecurity practices for the City. Leo holds a Master of Science in Information Management from Syracuse University and has over 30 years’ experience in the Information Technology field and has worked throughout North America and the United Arab Emirates.

Dan Mathieson Mayor, City of Stratford

Dan Mathieson is in his fifth term as Mayor of the City of Stratford and has sat on municipal council since 1995. He is past Chair of the Ontario Municipal Property Assessment Corporation (MPAC), Past Chair of Kings University College at Western University, Chair of the Stratford Police Services Board, a member of the Board of Directors of Festival Hydro and Rhyzome Networks and the Stratford Shakespeare Festival. Dan is also a Governor on the Board of i-Canada and a Board Member of Hampton Financial Corporation. In 2012, Dan was chosen by the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance (CATA) to receive the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal, paying tribute to community leaders whose endeavours have set them apart as technology innovators.

Derek Manky Chief, Security Insights & Global Threat Alliances, FortiGuard Labs

Derek Manky plays a strategic and visionary role in consulting with leading CSOs/CISOs of Fortune 500 companies worldwide across multiple industries. He leads FortiGuard Labs’ Global Threat Intelligence Team. He also collaborates with global forums and expert groups alongside leading political figures, key policy stakeholders and law enforcement, including the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), NATO, INTERPOL, and FIRST.

Steve Winterfeld Advisory CISO, Akamai Technologies

Before joining Akamai, Steve was CISO for Nordstrom Bank and Director of Incident Response and Threat Intelligence at Charles Schwab. Steve focuses on ensuring Akamai’s partners are successful in defending themselves and their customers as well as determining where we should be focusing our security platform’s capabilities. Steve has published a book on Cyber Warfare and holds CISSP, ITIL and PMP certifications.

Andrew Milne Chief Revenue Officer, Field Effect

Andrew Milne builds and creates connections between products, clients and market fit. With a career in sales and marketing that spans more than two decades, he inspires clients and audiences to innovate, change, and challenge traditional business thinking. He is an avid blogger and a sought-after speaker on marketing, digital transformation and audience engagement, and how these topics will shape the future of business. Prior to joining Field Effect, Andrew was the founder and Chief Revenue Officer of the digital creative agency bv02 Inc. He has worked with global brands as well as small and mid-sized enterprise clients in multiple sectors including technology, financial services, healthcare, education, tourism, associations, and government. As the CRO of Field Effect, Andrew leads the sales, marketing and customer success teams.

Chris Ruetz AVP & Country Manager Cyberark

Gerry Owens IT Risk Management and Cyber Security Executive

Gerry has over 30 years experience in Information Technology, leading infrastructure initiatives, establishing strong IT risk programs and building cyber security capabilities. He spent the majority of his career with TD Bank, werving until 2018 as the Vice President - Enterprise Identity and Access Management Technology Risk Management & Information Security

Adam Hamilton Special Agent, Federal Bureau of Investigation

Special Agent Hamilton is currently assigned to the Cyber Task Force of the Buffalo Field Office for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He has been with the Federal Bureau of Investigation since 2017 working both criminal and national security matters for the Buffalo Division. The Cyber Task Force works a wide range of federal violations to include ransomware, cryptocurrency theft, business email compromises, computer intrusions, cyber stalking, cyber terrorism, darknet markets, and data breaches. Many of the violations worked by the Task Force have a nexus to subjects both in and outside of the United States. Prior to becoming a Special Agent, he had spent 9 years working in mathematics education and technology.

Neal Ziring Technical Director Cybersecurity Directorate, National Security Agency

Mr. Neal Ziring serves as a technical advisor to the Cybersecurity Director, Deputy Director, and other senior leadership. Mr. Ziring is responsible for setting the technical direction across many parts of the cybersecurity mission space, engineering and operations. Mr. Ziring tracks technical activities, promotes technical health of the staff, and acts as liaison to various industry, intelligence, academic, and government partners. Prior to the formation of the Cybersecurity Directorate, Mr. Ziring served 3 years as Technical Director of the Capabilities Directorate. His personal expertise areas include security automation, IPv6, cloud computing, cross-domain information exchange, and data access control, and cyber defense.

Spencer Callaghan Communications and Content Manager, CIRA

Robert W. (Bob) Gordon Executive Director, Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange

The CCTX is Canada’s private sector organization for the sharing and analysis of cyber threat information, and enabling collaboration across all sectors. Most recently, Bob was a Director, Global Cyber Security at CGI. Prior to this, he enjoyed a long and successful career in the Federal Government, which included being the architect of Canada’s first Cyber Security Strategy for which he received the Deputy Minister’s Achievement Award

Jon Lewis Product Marketing Specialist, CIRA

David T.S. Fraser Partner, McInnes Cooper

David Fraser is one of Canada’s leading internet, technology and privacy lawyers. He regularly advises a range of clients – from startups to Fortune 100 companies – on all aspects of technology and privacy laws. He advises private and public sector clients to implement compliance programs for Canadian privacy legislation. He is the author of the popular Canadian Privacy Law Blog (blog.privacylawyer.ca) and Canadian Cloud Law Blog (cloudlawyer.ca) and is . recognized as one of Canada’s foremost authorities on privacy law and other legal issues associated with cloud computing. He regularly advises vendors and customers in connection with implementing cloud computing projects, in both the public and private sectors. David is particularly known for his ability to cut through the seemingly intractable issues related to cross-border data flows and law enforcement/national security access to customer data.

Jonathan Nguyen-Duy VP CISO Fiel Team, Fortinet

Jonathan Nguyen-Duy leads strategy and service relationship programs at Fortinet where he focuses on emerging technologies and partnerships. With 20 year experience working with global enterprises and nation-states, Jonathan is responsible for developing innovative security solutions addressing the challenges of digital transformation – from the IoT Edge to the Cloud. Prior to joining Fortinet, Jonathan served as the Security CTO at Verizon Enterprise Solutions where he was responsible for strategic technology partnerships, the Verizon Cyber Intelligence Center, and the data science team that produces the annual Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report.

Brennen Schmidt Cybersecurity Author — Board of Governors, MacKenzie Institute

Brennen Schmidt is a senior consultant with Deloitte Canada. Prior to joining Deloitte, Schmidt served with Saskatchewan’s public service for the greater part of a decade. His passion for technology has enabled him to work with clients across Canada and the United States, to help discover how to better connect people, process, and technology. Schmidt has an affinity for unlocking the conversation on cybersecurity, and has made media appearances in Canada both locally and nationally. He co-authored Cyber City Safe: Emergency Planning Beyond the Maginot Line, a work which explores how we can live smarter, safer, and healthier lives.

Shawna Coxon Deputy Chief, Toronto Police Service

Deputy Coxson has been with the Toronto Police Service for 24 years and is currently in charge of the Neighbourhood and Communities Command. Prior to becoming deputy she led a modernization of the frontline response that included the development of leading-edge robotic process automation capabilities. She is best known for implementing the service’s inaugural computer cyber crime team.

Dr. Ali Dehghantanha CEO, CyberOrion

Dr. Dehghantanha is a leader in the field of cybersecurity and digital forensics. He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed papers in top journals and conferences in the field. In 2020, Dr. Dehghantanha was awarded a Tier 2 NSERC Canada Research Chair (CRC) in Cybersecurity. He is currently the CEO of CyberOrion (https://cyberorion.com/) a company focused on making AI systems robust, reliable and responsible, the director of Cyber Science Lab and the director of the Master of Cybersecurity and Threat Intelligence program at the University of Guelph, Ontario, Canada.

Sherry Rumbolt National Information System Security Officer, Directorate Information Management Security,DND/CAF

Sherry advises and coordinates with stakeholders and service providers at all levels of the DND/CAF Information Program to assist with the safeguarding of the Defence Wide Area Network’s Information and Information Technology (IT) assets. She is a Certified Information Systems Security Officer (CISSP) and a Certified Information Security Manager. She was recently named by ITWC and WISECRA as one of the Top Women in Cybersecurity in Canada.

Le Ha Hang, VP, Global Security CGI

Amy Oke Senior Engineer, Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada / Government of Canada

Originally from Alberta, Amy studied Electrical Engineering at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. After five years in the private sector as a Microelectronic Test Engineer, she enrolled in the part-time Professional Master of Public Administration (PMPA) program at Queens and began working for Engineers Canada. Upon completion of her MPA, Amy accepted a position with Industry Canada as a Telecommunications Engineer and currently works for Innovation, Science and Economic Development as a Senior Engineer for the CyberSecure Canada cybersecurity certification program for small and medium organizations.

Natalia Stakhanova, Ph.D Director, The CyberLab University of Saskatchewan

Natalia is the Canada Research Chair in Security and Privacy, and an Associate Professor at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada. She is the former New Brunswick Innovation Research Chair in Cybersecurity. Her work focuses on software security, e-health security, and specifically, security of wearable devices. Working closely with industry on a variety of R&D projects, she has developed a number of technologies that resulted in 3 patents in the field of computer security and adoption by high-tech companies

Mitra Mirhassani Associate Professor, University of Windsor

Mitra Mirhassani is an associate professor in electrical and computer engineering at the University of Windsor. She fell in love with computers at an early age, and after being inspired by a textbook about networking and artificial intelligence, Mirhassani has been dedicated to helping others better understand how our devices work and how they connect to the internet. She was recently recognized as one of Canada’s Top 20 Women in Cyber Security by IT World Canada (ITWC).

Steve Biswanger President CISO Division, CIOCAN

Steve Biswanger’s career has focused on cybersecurity for over 25 years. Working with large consulting companies and boutique cybersecurity firms around the world he has improved security for organizations like Verizon, Google, Yahoo! and the United Nations in industries such as online casinos, Japanese banking, oil & gas and telecommunications. A deep technical background combined with a passion for practical governance is a unique combination that allows him to translate risks and requirements from both perspectives. His current role as CISO for ATCO puts him on the leading edge of risk management for the global infrastructure and logistics company. Steve is also President of the CISO Division of the CIO Association of Canada where he fosters an environment of information sharing and helps prepare the next generation of cybersecurity executives to be successful. One thing that has been true throughout his career, It’s not about security. It’s about trust.

Benoit Dupont Canadian Research Chair in Cybersecurity, Universite de Montreal

Dr. Benoît Dupont holds the Canada Research Chair for Security, Identity, and Technology, and also the Research Chair in Cybercrime Prevention, is a Professor at the School of Criminology at the Université de Montréal. He researches the organizational and technological aspects of changes in the public and private security sectors including identity theft, bank fraud, information pirating, telecommunications fraud, and emerging cyber security policies. Professor Dupont’s other research interests include governance of security, community policing, and public-private networks of security.

Brian Lesser CIO, Ryerson University

Brian is Ryerson University's Chief Information Officer (CIO). Brian helped develop Ryerson's first identity management system, establish Ryerson's e-learning support team and was a founding member of Ryerson's Digital Media Zone (DMZ) steering committee. The DMZ is Ryerson's startup incubator and accelerator. Brian is a board member of the Rogers Cybersecure Catalyst, manages CUCCIO's cybersecurity benchmarking project, and is a member of the CANSSOC steering committee. Before working at Ryerson Brian worked at the Xerox Research Centre of Canada and the National Archives of Canada.

Andrew Loschmann Chief Operating Officer, Field Effect

Andrew Loschmann has a 20-year background building and managing IT security products and programs. This includes 13 years in government/defence, as well as security policy development within the Government of Canada’s Privy Council Office and contributions to Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy. His technical background includes development of software and systems, and cyber security analytics, as well as leading incident detection and response teams. Andrew Loschmann led five years of research and development efforts to bring Field Effect’s sophisticated suite of Covalence threat monitoring and detection and Cyber Range simulation and training platforms, as well as other services, to the global market. Andrew brings a 20-year background building and managing IT security products and programs, including 13 years in government/defence, as well as security policy development within the Government of Canada’s Privy Council Office and contributions to Canada’s Cyber Security Strategy. His technical background includes development of software and systems, and cyber security analytics, as well as leading incident detection and response teams.

Cat Coode Founder, Binary Tattoo

Cat Coode is the founder of Binary Tattoo, with a mission to help safeguard your data and protect your digital identity. Backed by two decades of experience in mobile development and software architecture, as well as a certification in data privacy law, Cat helps corporations and individuals better understand cybersecurity and data privacy. She specializes in guiding companies through end-to-end Global Privacy Regulation compliance and delivering privacy education seminars. She is an engineer, speaker, consultant, author, and, above all else, a parent. Her motivation to help others was born out of her concern for her kids and our ever-changing digital landscape

Atefeh Mashatan Director, Cybersecurity Research Lab, Ryerson University

Dr. Mashatan is the founder and director of the Cybersecurity Research Lab (CRL) at Ryerson University and recognized as a leading expert in cryptography, blockchain technology, quantum-resistant solutions, enterprise security architecture and Internet-of-Things (IoT) security. Mashatan’s expertise at the frontlines of the global cybersecurity field was recognized by SC Magazine in 2019, when she was named one of the top five Women of Influence in Security. She was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 19 of 2019 Tech Titans at IBM CASCON Evoke conference for her efforts in developing emerging technological solutions to address timely societal needs. She was recently recognized as one of the Top 20 Women in Cybersecurity by WISECRA and ITWC.

Jacques LaTour CTO, CIRA

As an expert in developing innovative, leading-edge IT solutions, Jacques has established CIRA as a global leader among ccTLD registries. He has 25+ years of experience in the private and not-for-profit sectors and as CIRA’s CTO,is currently leading CIRA Labs, CIRA’s innovation hub and providing leadership and direction for the management and security of the .CA registry and its underlying DNS. A visionary in the Internet community, Jacques led the development of CIRA’s Internet Performance Test, is an outspoken advocate for the adoption of IPv6 and represents the .CA registry internationally as a member of a variety of working groups and advisory groups.