Cybersecurity Panel Discussion

Agenda: 

Coy Thorp – Arctic Wolf

 Coy Thorp is a Systems Engineer with Arctic Wolf and has over 20 years of experience in the IT and cybersecurity industry. Coy is passionate about working with customers to develop a best-practices approach to further their cybersecurity posture and increase the organizational level of maturity around cybersecurity. Prior to Arctic Wolf, he worked daily with customers during his time at both Aruba Networks and WatchGuard Technologies supporting ongoing initiatives around network infrastructure and data security. Having also spent 10 years as an IT professional in Silicon Valley, he gained a thorough understanding of the challenges that face industry professionals today.

Andrew Merica – Duo Security at Cisco

Andrew joined Cisco Duo Security in November 2020 as a Solutions Engineer. In his current role, Andrew provides pre-sales solution design and trusted advisor expertise for prospective and existing customers. His past experiences include Cyber Systems Operator for the United States Air Force and various other roles such as Project Engineer, Systems Administrator, and Field Technician totaling over 12 years as an IT professional. He holds active certifications from Cisco and EC-Council while pursuing a Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance.

Bob Turner - Fortinet

Bob Turner is the Field CISO for Higher Education at Fortinet, Inc. where he is a senior-level strategic business and technical advisor. Prior to this, he was the CISO and leader of the information security and privacy program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison where he developed a cybersecurity strategy, architecting a full program for the university. Previously while at Booz Allen Hamilton, he managed a large team of cybersecurity consultants delivering security assessments and cybersecurity inspections for a wide variety of Federal clients. Bob also served in the U.S. Navy for 23 years as a telecommunications operator then as a Communications and Information Systems officer and is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional.

Greg Hatch – Saepio

Greg Hatch has over 30 years of experience in information technology and cybersecurity. As an executive leader with Cisco, Intel and Palo Alto Networks he led strategic initiatives helping customers succeed with their digital strategy in execution and security. In 2019, he and Dan Ward founded Saepio, a leader in providing proactive security for customers in North America, to help address the challenges of Cyber Security and Compliance in a modern digital environment. As an industry leader, he is also an advisor to several non-profits, the State of Washington Higher Education, and other cybersecurity providers.

Sam Fawaz  - VEEAM

Sam Fawaz joined Veeam in March 2012 as a Systems Engineer. He brings more than 21 years of technical experience with expertise in application and datacenter architecture; including virtualization, storage, and networking. Sam began his career in Telecommunications and later became a Systems Administrator for a local school district where he helped deliver technology to the classroom. Prior to joining Veeam, Sam worked as a consultant on an array of technologies including EMC applications, EMC storage, VMware virtualization solutions, and Cisco networking devices. Currently at Veeam he specializes in backup and disaster recovery for virtualized platforms as well as public cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, and Google, heavily focusing on working with service providers to deliver cloud services to market.

Michael Fialkowski – VectorUSA

Michael Fialkowski is the Director of Advanced Technologies for VectorUSA and serves as the head of VectorUSA’s internal Security Governance Committee and Information Security Leader. Michael has over 10 years of experience with VectorUSA where he has lead business development initiatives for strategic programs focused on Managed Services and Cybersecurity. His additional roles and responsibilities have included performing and project managing consulting engagements surrounding security and network assessments, audits, and planning. Michael holds an ISC2 CISSP certification and GIAC GSEC certification.

William Higgins – VectorUSA

William Higgins is the Director of Solutions Engineering for VectorUSA with over 18 years of IT related experience. He and his team are responsible for providing technical solutions in the areas of data center operations, network services, service desk, infrastructure planning, cyber-security framework, cloud solutions, and disaster recovery solutions for all of VectorUSA’s clients. William has also effectively managed the environments, directions, assets, etc. of all of VectorUSA’s managed services clients including a portfolio of assets/infrastructure that included 4000 users and 10 data centers.