SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES

Jim Desmond, Chief Security Officer, Asurion

Jim Desmond is a career security professional and the Chief Security Officer at Asurion. Previously, he was the Chief Security Officer at Elevate, a financial technology firm based in Fort Worth, Texas. He has over 20 years of experience in technology & security leadership with a primary focus on financial services working for such companies as National City Bank (now PNC), Intuit, Merrill Lynch and Vantiv. Jim holds an undergraduate degree from The Ohio State University, a masters degree in Information Assurance from Norwich University and multiple security certifications including CISSP and CFE. He is an inveterate fan of all Cleveland sports, yes, even the Cleveland Browns.

Dave Gochenaur, Sr. Director, Information Security, Ensono

With over 30 years of experience in Information Security, Dave is currently the leader of Ensono’s IT Risk and Cybersecurity Program organization. In this role Dave is responsible for the overall strategy around IT risk identification and treatment for Ensono. Additionally, Dave is responsible for Ensono’s Cybersecurity policies, governance, compliance, threat management and client relations as it relates to Cybersecurity. Prior to joining Ensono Dave held senior Information Security roles in several organizations across multiple industries including CISO for Aon, Kellogg’s and Checkfree. Dave is also active in the Cloud Security Alliance and was one of the authors of the Consensus Assessments Initiative Questionnaire document, designed to help organizations assess their Cloud vendors. Dave also is an active member of the Information Systems Security Association and Information Systems Audit and Control Association.

Mark Guth, Manager, Corporate Security Critical Infrastructure Protection Compliance, Southern Company Gas

I will maintain the corporate-wide physical security program and ensure the company’s physical facility assets are adequately protected. I am responsible to develop and manage a security program that meets or exceeds the DHS Transportation Security Agency (TSA) Pipeline Security Guidelines and Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism (CFATS) Security Standards as well as other state, local, and federal security requirements. I am also responsible for satisfying e-discovery request for SCG, management of facility access control and video surveillance, and continued involvement in the PCI governance process from a legal perspective.

Fred Kwong, Ph.D., CISO & AVP Security, Identity & Operations, Delta Dental Plans Association 

Dr. Fred Kwong has been in the information technology field for the past 15 years in working in education, financial, and telecommunication sectors. Fred currently works at a Farmers Insurance where he currently is the Global Head of Privileged Access Control. Fred is currently building a new program seeking to govern, control, and profile privileged identities throughout the enterprise.

Fred’s work includes the creation of security and privacy policies, standards, and procedures. He is a subject matter expert in PCI, leading organizations to pass their report on compliance. With an extensive background in IT technologies, Fred continues to challenge the status quo by providing guidance in security and network architecture creating holistic designs that align to todays’ threat vector for organizations.

Fred has a passion of combining IT skills with organization development values. His broad range of IT skills has allowed him to view IT from many different paradigms and present them to the business partners in an easy to understand language. Fred servers as an adjunct professor at Benedictine and Roosevelt University teaching courses in international business, organization behavior, project management, and information systems. He holds a Ph.D. from Benedictine University and earned his master’s degree in business administration from Roosevelt University. Fred is a Certified Project Management Professional (PMP), a Certified Information Systems Manager (CISM), and a PCI Professional (PCIP).

Igor Livshitz, Senior Director of Product Management, Guardicore

Igor Livshitz is the Senior Director of Product Management at Guardicore. Former CISO and a seasoned cybersecurity expert with over 15 years of experience in multiple security roles.

Jesse Miller, CISO, Stratosphere Networks, LLC 

Jesse Miller is the CISO at Stratosphere Networks, LLC. He has been with the company for almost 10 years, for a total of over 18 years in the IT services industry. In his career, he has pursued and flourished in multiple domains, including cybersecurity, risk/compliance, IT infrastructure, service delivery, product management/development, and even VoIP telephony. This provides a unique advantage in the realm of information security, because the depth and breadth of knowledge he holds for different disciplines serves to give him a wholistic view of the security risks each system or business process poses, including how it relates to the overall security posture of an organization.

As Stratosphere’s CISO, he focuses on IT security, risk and compliance for our ever-growing customer base. He holds a plethora of certifications with many accredited registrars, and is an active member in the cybersecurity community, including SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security), International Information System Security Certification Consortium ((ISC)2), and Information Systems Security Association (ISSA). Additionally, he has been instrumental in driving the development of new products and initiatives that have helped add stability, intelligence and security to countless customer environments – including proactive monitoring/analytics, monitoring as a service (MaaS), next generation security services and products, and too many tactical solutions for custom integrations to list here.

Jesse is largely responsible for ensuring that Stratosphere keeps our “first to market” pledge to our customers, deploying security technologies successfully and giving our clients a consistent and reliable advantage over their competition.

James Mountain, Director of Information Security, Information Technology, Palmer College of Chiropractic 

James Mountain is an experienced leader with over 16 years in IT. His current role is the Director of Information Security for Palmer College of Chiropractic providing strategic leadership and direction for campus academic technology applications and initiatives. His past work experiences include private, public and government industries. He has been a CISSP since 2011 while he worked for the Department of Defense. His main areas of focus are security, risk management, and infrastructure stability.

Mark Sangster, VP, Industry Security Strategist, Chief Evangelist, eSentire 

As a member of the LegalSec Council with the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA), Mark Sangster is a cybersecurity evangelist who has spent significant time researching and speaking to peripheral factors influencing the way that legal firms integrate cybersecurity into their day-to-day operations. In addition to his passion for cybersecurity, Mark’s 20-year sales and marketing career was established with industry giants like Intel Corporation, BlackBerry, and Cisco Systems.

Mark’s experience unites a strong technical aptitude and an intuitive understanding of regulatory agencies. During his time at BlackBerry, Mark worked on the first secure devices for government agencies. Since then, he has continued to build mutually beneficial relationships with regulatory agencies in key sectors. Mark holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Western Ontario and a Business Diploma from Humber College.

Annur Sumar, CTO, Maetech 

Annur Sumar is a Microsoft Cloud and Datacenter MVP and technology consultant in the areas of Infrastructure Design, Enterprise Content Management, CRM, Microsoft Azure, System Center and Cloud Technologies. Annur is an industry recognized leader and independent speaker around strategic service automation, technology driven process improvements, IT service alignment, engineering best practices and operations management. All of which are targeted in his presentations to helping businesses with complex IT environments lower Total Cost of Ownership and raising Return On Investments.

Prior to joining a Microsoft Partner Consulting firm, Annur served as a Vice President of Technology for Duff & Phelps. One of the world’s leading independent financial advisory firms serving client needs in the areas of valuation, investment banking, transaction advice, and dispute consulting. During his tenure at Duff & Phelps, Annur worked closely with Microsoft product teams and case study managers in providing invaluable feedback around how businesses such as his were able to benefit from cloud technologies that were molded into business solutions. As a Microsoft MVP and industry expert, Annur brings 10 years of experience to work actively with other MVPs and Microsoft Partners to provide industry insight and strategic direction.