Cybersecurity Conference (2013) Speaker Profiles

Debora A. Plunkett
Information Assurance Director
National Security Agency

Debora A. Plunkett currently serves as Director of the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD) at the National Security Agency, where she leads efforts to protect and defend United States (U.S.) national security systems. In this role, she is the focal point for cyber security, cryptography, and information systems security for our nation's critical systems. With over 28 years of U.S. government service, she has held leadership positions in both the signals intelligence and information assurance missions at the NSA. In addition, she served as a Director of the National Security Council at the White House for the Administrations of Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush, helping shape national policy and programs in support of critical infrastructure protection and cyber security.

Plunkett earned a bachelor of science degree from Towson University and an M.B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. She is a graduate of the National War College, where she was awarded an M.S. in national security strategy. She also completed the ODNI Intelligence Fellows Program. Plunkett has received numerous awards and recognition, including the rank of Meritorious Executive in the Senior Cryptologic Executive Service, awarded by President George W. Bush.

A native of Baltimore, Md., she enjoys serving in her church and spending time with her family. She is an avid sports fan and an accomplished genealogist.

Marisa S. Viveros
Vice President, Cyber Security Innovation
IBM

Marisa Viveros leads IBM's global Cyber Security Innovation initiative. She is responsible for creating academic and research programs that foster stronger collaborations among academic institutions, government organizations, and IBM toward building cyber and information security talent to address the skills shortage. Viveros began her career at IBM as a member of the Thomas J Watson Research Center. While at IBM Research, she held technical and management positions in the areas of pervasive computing, data management, and data mining. Upon joining IBM Global Services, she led strategy and innovation for the Wireless Emerging Business Opportunity group and led the creation of the Unified Communications and Collaboration Service business unit. Most recently, she led IBM Security Services, an organization responsible for creating and delivering IT and physical security services for business and government organizations that are in need of IT Risk Management and Compliance.

Viveros received an IBM Outstanding Innovation Award for her pioneer work in mobile commerce and an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award for her work in parallel systems. She has coauthored papers and patents, and has participated in conferences as a program committee member, keynote speaker, session chairman, and panelist. Viveros holds an M.S. degree in computer science from California State University and a B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Universidad de Concepción, Chile. She is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery and ACM SIGSAC.

Michel Cusin
Security Consultant
Cusin Sécurité Inc.

An expert in security consulting, Michel Cusin has 16-plus years of IT industry experience in the private and public sectors. Cusin's consulting experience includes: security architecture; security solution configuration and implementation; vulnerabilities assessments; penetration testing; incident handling; security investigation; and various other security-related activities.

Cusin is the founder of the security firm Cusin Sécurité Inc. and the lead organizer for the BSidesQuebec annual security conference. He is a mentor/instructor at the SANS Institute, providing security training including incident handling and penetration testing training. A widely respected adviser, Michel has numerous published security articles for various media, and he frequently participates in security events as a subject matter expert and speaker.

In addition to several certifications related to various security solution vendors Cusin holds numerous certifications, including the following:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
• GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH)
• GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN)
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
• OSSTMM Professional Security Tester (OPST)

Lena Smart
Chief Security Officer
New York Power Authority

Lena Smart has worked in cyber security for more than 20 years. She has worked at the New York Power Authority (NYPA) for 13 years, and has managed the cyber security group there for 10 years. Prior to NYPA, Lena worked for a private banking firm in London, and traveled throughout the world designing and implementing secure computer networks. Outside of work, she plays cello in chamber ensembles and a local orchestra.

Gary McGraw, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer
Cigital Inc.

Gary McGraw, Ph.D., is the CTO of Cigital, Inc., a software security consulting firm with headquarters in the Washington, D.C., area and offices throughout the world. He is a globally recognized authority on software security and the author of eight best-selling books on this topic. His titles include Software Security, Exploiting Software, Building Secure Software, Java Security, Exploiting Online Games; he is also editor of the Addison-Wesley Software Security series. McGraw has written over 100 peer-reviewed scientific publications, authors a monthly security column for SearchSecurity and Information Security Magazine, and is frequently quoted in the media. Besides serving as a strategic counselor for top business and IT executives, McGraw is on the advisory boards of Dasient (acquired by Twitter), Fortify Software (acquired by HP), Wall + Main, Inc., and Raven White.

His dual Ph.D. is in cognitive science and computer science from Indiana University, where he serves on the Dean's Advisory Council for the School of Informatics. Gary served on the IEEE Computer Society Board of Governors and produces the monthly Silver Bullet Security Podcast for IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine (syndicated by SearchSecurity).

Jeremy Epstein
Program Officer, Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace Program
National Science Foundation

Jeremy Epstein is lead program director for the National Science Foundation Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program. SaTC is NSF's flagship cyber security research program, with over 110 new research grants issued in 2013, over 600 active grants, and over $65M per year in research funding. Epstein is responsible for overall management of this program, working with program directors from five NSF directorates: Computer & Information Science & Engineering, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Mathematical & Physical Sciences, Education & Human Resources, and Engineering. Epstein is on loan to NSF from SRI International, where his research focuses on voting system security and software assurance.

Epstein is Associate Editor in Chief of IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine. He holds an M.S. from Purdue University and an A.B.D. from George Mason University.

Peter McMullen
Cloud Security Specialist
Juniper Networks

Peter McMullen joined Juniper Networks in December 2010 as part of the Altor Networks acquisition. He currently supports the Juniper Security Portfolio especially some of the more advanced security solutions such as Virtual Firewall, Junos WebApp Secure, Spotlight Secure, and DDoS Secure. McMullen has spent 20-plus years in the software industry at large platform companies (Lotus Development, IBM, Oracle) and several startups (Interwoven, Vormetric, Altor Networks).

Raj Goel, (B.S. '94), CISSP
CTO
Brainlink International, Inc.

Raj Goel, CISSP, is an IT and information security expert with more than 20 years of experience in developing security solutions for the banking, financial services, healthcare, and pharmaceutical industries. A well-known authority on regulations and compliance issues, Raj has presented at information security conferences across the United States and Canada. He is a regular speaker on PCI-DSS, HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, and other technology and business issues, and he has addressed a diverse audience of technologists, policy-makers, front-line workers, and corporate executives.

Goel works with small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) of 10-200 employees to help grow their revenues and profitability. He also works with hospitals and regional medical centers across the northeastern United States (including New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, and Pennsylvania), helping them meet HIPAA compliance requirements and utilizing health information systems (HIS) effectively. He received his B.S. in computer science from New York Institute of Technology.

Roberto Rojas-Cessa, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Electrical and Computer Engineering, NJIT

Roberto Rojas-Cessa received a B.S. degree in electronic instrumentation from Universidad Veracruzana; an M.Sc. in electrical engineering from Center for Research and Advanced Studies and Research; an M.Sc. degree in computer engineering; and a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Currently, he is an associate professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology. His research interests include high-speed switching and routing, fault tolerance, quality-of-service networks, network measurements, and distributed systems. He is a co-author of the book Advanced Internet Protocols, Services, and Applications (Wiley and Sons, 2012). His research has been funded by U.S. National Science Foundation and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. He serves as a reviewer for a large number of technical journals, is a member of the editorial board of the journals Conference Papers in Science and Elektronica, and is a reviewer for the U.S. National Science Foundation and U.S. Department of Energy. He is the author of about 100 conference and journal papers and an inventor of 10 U.S. patents. He is the Newark College of Engineering recipient of 2013 Excellence in Teaching Award.

Rob Marano
Co-Founder
The Hackerati

Rob Marano has more than 20 years of technology, sales, marketing and general management experience in the software and telecommunications fields and has held management positions at both start-ups and large international companies. Recognizing the clear developer shortage in and importance and subsequent confluence of cloud-based Big Data/Analytics, social computing, and mobile-centric user experience, Marano founded The Hackerati with a veteran SW and Internet engineer. For more information, visit thehackerati.com. Currently, Marano hacks Hadoop, Big Data Analytics with Mahout k-means, social listening, and mobile app development on HTML5/CSS3/JS for iOS, Android, Win8. Most recently he served as president, CEO, and CTO for InDorse Technologies, which he established in 2006. Prior to founding InDorse, he established Falkin Systems LLC, a next-generation strong authentication solutions vendor out of The Cooper Union.

Marano devised its unique technology vision and platform with the Dean of Engineering and a fellow professor. He continues to provide Falkin market and technology guidance as a board member. Leading up to Falkin, Marano served as the director of emerging software technologies at PricewaterhouseCoopers' (PwC) Global Technology Centres (London, Frankfurt, and Menlo Park). During his tenure at PwC, Marano provided technical and operational improvement tactics with strategic product advice to software clients such as Computer Associates, Brother International, Verizon, BellSouth, and Sygate (now part of Symantec) in the infrastructure and information security industries. Marano had served in leadership roles in technology and strategy for several successful startups, including Micromuse (IBM), RiverSoft (IBM), and Voyence (now EMC). Also, he helped establish the U.S. division of RiverSoft as well as the technology development center for Micromuse. Additional experience includes lead software engineer at Lockheed Martin's Advanced Technology Labs, as well as a satellite electronics engineer at GE AstroSpace. Marano has been lecturing on computer science, international business, and innovation/entrepreneurship at The Cooper Union and Polytechnic Institute of New York University.

Robert Wild
Vice President
Intelligent Product Solutions

Robert Wild began his career at Symbol Technologies (Motorola) developing test fixtures and flexible automation systems as well as wireless solutions including Bluetooth. He was also employed by Layer One, where he developed 3G cellular solutions. Approximately 10 years ago, he headed up a software department of more than 60 engineers at BAE Systems, eventually taking the lead for all the engineering content on the development of Mission Computing and Antenna Systems, a $300 million business. At IPS, Wild has the pleasure of working with clients ranging from single entity entrepreneurs to large companies with thousands of employees. With such a wide breath of customers, Bob supports product development for solutions that extend security technologies beyond what it typically envisioned.

Wild received a bachelor of science in electrical engineering focusing on control systems from Stony Brook University, a master of science in electrical engineering from Polytechnic Institute of New York University, and an M.B.A. from Stony Brook University.

Larry Karantzios
Senior Systems Engineer; Global Financial Services
Juniper Networks

Larry Karantzios has been with Juniper Networks for six-and-a-half years. He is a lead pre-sales senior systems engineer for the Global Wall Street financial vertical, responsible for proposing network/security engineering solutions in the Datacenter, Campus and Remote access for the Global Banking and Financial Services Institutions. Prior to joining Juniper in April 2007, Karantzios was vice president at Credit Suisse Investment Bank, managing the U.S. division of the Global Internet Security Firewall Team, which was responsible for securing the Credit Suisse worldwide internet access network.

Previous to changing careers to IT systems network/security engineering, Karantzios worked at Northrop/Grumman Aerospace in the systems integration group working on encrypted digital voice/data communications systems on the Navy E-2C Hawkeye airborne early warning aircraft.

Karantzios received a master of science degree in organizational behavior and a bachelor of science degree in electrical engineering from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (Poly-NYU).

Judith Murrah
CIO, Applied DNA Sciences and Director
Connect-to-Tech

Judith Murrah is chief information officer of Applied DNA Sciences, a provider of security and authentication solutions, responsible for information technology (IT) business solutions and security. Previously, at Motorola Solutions, Judy led IT program management, quality assurance, financial and supplier management. At Symbol Technologies (acquired by Motorola), Murrah held leadership positions in Product Management, Retail Marketing, Corporate and Marketing Communications, and Global Account Sales. She began her career as an industrial engineer at Kaiser Aluminum. Murrah is co-founder and president, Connect-to-Tech, Inc., a non-profit organization whose mission is to inspire students to engage in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education and careers.

Murrah is a recipient of the Top 50 Influential Women of Long Island (LI) award, the Diamond Award recognizing women leaders in technology, and was a LI Software and Technology Network Software Award honoree. She is co-author on 11 patents and earned her industrial engineering degree from the University of Rhode Island and an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School.