SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

SPEAKERS AT THE DATA BREACHES: DEFENSE

AND RESPONSE CONFERENCE – DECEMBER 4, 2024

Michael Babischkin, Vice-President – Deputy Director of Information Security, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago

Michael Babischkin is a 22-year veteran of the US Coast Guard. His diverse Coast Guard career has included assignments ranging from Search and Rescue boat crew member at Station Cape Cod Canal MA and radio communications operator onboard the US Coast Guard Cutter MIDGETT to IT Instructor, Assistant Information Systems Security Officer for the Coast Guard Great Lakes region to Assistant Branch Chief at the Coast Guard’s Telecommunications and Information Systems Command. Michael retired from Active Duty as a Chief Warrant Officer in 2014.

Since retiring from the Coast Guard Michael has worked at two different Fortune 300 companies leading the comprehensive transformation of their global cybersecurity incident response programs, building a security monitoring and incident response program with an international footprint from scratch at one company and completely revising the organization and maturing the program of the other.

Michael is currently the Deputy Director of Information Security at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago where he has been for the past four years. He leads the Bank’s Threat and Incident Response team and provides security expertise and leadership to the Bank’s strategic initiatives.

Mike Bitz, RVP, Technical Account Management, Tanium

Mike Bitz is a Regional Vice President of Technical Account Management at Tanium. In this role he helps global organizations identify, control, and remediate their endpoints, and takes pride in furthering the company’s mission to protect people, defend data, and secure the systems behind the critical infrastructure and services that make up the backbone of our society and economy. Mike gravitates toward solving difficult problems and has over 20 years of software engineering experience in a variety of roles at companies including Apple. He holds a Computer Science degree from Dakota State University and an MBA from the University of South Dakota. Outside of tech Mike enjoys traveling with his family, astronomy, anything to do with cars or rockets, and solving Rubik’s Cubes competitively.

Armando D’Onorio, CISSP, GSLC, GCCC, Senior Consultant & CISO, ADOIT Consulting; Information Security Manager, Surf Internet

A Senior Enterprise Security Leader with over 20 years of experience in information technology, security, governance, risk, compliance, and technical delivery of critical security initiatives while transforming business value. Leveraging technology and IT liaison to drive operational excellence, reaching strategic goals by influencing and communicating threats and risk-related concepts to technical and non-technical audiences, collaborating with management at all levels to manage vulnerabilities, lessening the odds and impact of cyberattacks, and successfully implementing standards across the organization; synergizing people, processes, and technology and aligning them with business functions to drive operational excellence, compliance, and accountability. Creating strong IT governance structures, raising security awareness, and leading incident response & security investigations.

Kalyan Gottipati, VP, Principal Solutions Architect, Citizens Finance Group 

Kalyan Gottipati is a global leader in the fintech industry, specializing in digital transformation, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and microservices architecture. He has made transformative contributions to the financial services sector, working with leading institutions such as Citizens Bank, JPMorgan Chase, AMEX and Westpac Group. Kalyan’s innovations, including his patented Dynamic User Interface (UI) framework and Unified Lending Platform, have reshaped the way banks operate, driving operational efficiency and enhancing customer experiences. His expertise in fintech has significantly improved the scalability and security of digital banking platforms, helping institutions stay competitive while maintaining robust security measures.

As a member of the Forbes Technology Council, the IEEE Sr Member, and the Arizona Technology Council Cyber Security Committee, Kalyan actively contributes to thought leadership in technology, sharing his insights on emerging trends in fintech. His work has had a consistent and far-reaching impact on modernizing financial services, streamlining processes, and securing digital ecosystems, positioning him as a key authority in the future of fintech.

Dmitriy Sandler, Director, Presales Systems Engineering, Arctic Wolf

Dmitriy spent the last 20 years in the IT industry in both customer and vendor roles. He has served as both a direct contributor as well as people leader across multiple organizations. Having started out in infrastructure, his focus gradually shifted towards cybersecurity and helping customers protect their assets and IP from the growing threat landscape. In his previous security focused roles Dmitriy worked with clients ranging from mid-market to Fortune 100 with a unique focus on cloud-native deployments. At Arctic Wolf, Dmitriy leads the Great Lakes Enterprise presales team and is determined to further their mission to help customers “End Cyber Risk”.

Piotr Topor, Director of Information Security and Governance, LSC Communications 

Piotr J. Topor, is a cybersecurity leader with over a decade of hands-on experience protecting organizations through robust information security and governance. As the Director of Information Security and IT Governance at LSC Communications, he leads initiatives to safeguard data, secure digital infrastructures, and prepare for emerging risks in today’s high-stakes environment. Over the years, Piotr has driven efforts in M&A cybersecurity, vulnerability management, and incident response, working across diverse industries to deliver security strategies that meet both business and regulatory demands. Certified as a CISSP, C|CISO, CISM, and CCSP, he’s dedicated to building resilient security that empowers organizations to innovate confidently. 

John Vatianou, CISO, Connamara
John Vatianou joined Connamara in 2007 as a business analyst. Over the years John has filled a number of important roles at Connamara, including Operating Officer and Financial Officer. He has recently assumed the critical role of Chief Information Security Officer to ensure that Connamara is on the leading edge of best practices in information security. John holds a Masters of Science in Information Systems from DePaul University. He also holds a CompTIA Security+ certification.

Sebastian Whiting, Information Security Engineer, Mercury

Bio to come!