SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
SPEAKERS AT THE ENTERPRISE RISK/SECURITY MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE – FEBRUARY 22, 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.
Josh Bloss, CISO, First Busey Corporation
Josh has 15 years of experience in various information security, management consulting, and internal/external audit functions. He has primarily focused on the financial services space including insurance, reinsurance, and currently banking. That varied background has served him well in bringing unique perspectives on how to align organizational priorities to mitigate risks where finite resources and time are always a constraint. His team partners with operations across the organization to provide security expertise in the selection and deployment of new technologies both acquired and developed internally, in addition to managing security operations, engineering, training and awareness, and compliance functions for the organization.
Alex Dickson, CISO, GCM Grosvenor
Alex has more than 15 years of experience in information security and technology roles, primarily at financial services companies. Having been in leadership roles in both IT and information security, he has a strong appreciation for the governance and implementation of a program, as well as building relationships between teams. He has experience in maturing existing security programs as well as building them from the ground up. Alex received his Bachelor’s degree in Technical Management from DeVry University, completed the CISO certificate program at Carnegie Mellon University, and holds his CISSP.
Sebastiaan Gybels, Chief Information Security Officer, CoinFlip
Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Information Officer at CoinFlip overseeing corporate IT, DevOps and Cybersecurity for all customer facing products and services.
● Experience includes an audit, regulatory and operational IT / CyberSecurity background with PwC, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and CoinFlip
● Co-author of several Cyber publications, including FFIEC IT Handbook, CyberSecurity Assessment Tool, and Community Banking Connections articles
● Speaker at several conferences Money2020, Asia Pacific Financial Regulators, ASBA Technology Risk
● Favorite quote: “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.” (Confucius)
● Fun fact: Basketball brought me to the United States, the warm welcome made me return
Mark Houpt, Chief Information Security Officer, Databank
As Chief Information Security Officer of DataBank, Mark brings over 30 years of extensive information security and information technology experience in a wide range of industries and institutions. Mark joined DataBank in September of 2017 with the acquisition of Edge Hosting (CISO since 2015). In his leadership position, Mark’s responsibilities include strategic planning, oversight of security, and compliance, as well as providing subject matter expertise for developing and maintaining a comprehensive, integrated information security and compliance program.
Mark is a successful and sought-after security speaker, blogger, podcaster, and entrepreneur. He has been responsible for security and compliance solutions at Fortune 50 financial and banking institutions, health care entities, the CTO in a higher education institution, a technical operations manager in a startup as well as the role he credits for starting it all, a Cryptologist with the U.S. Navy.
Mark is also a talented and published aviation and wildlife photographer and enjoys spending time with his wife. Mark and Maria have three grown children.
Further information on Mark can be found on his LinkedIn profile.
Mark has the distinct pleasure of leading a talented and professional team of Security Architects and Compliance Engineers at DataBank.
Victor Hsiang, CISO, GATX
Victor Hsiang is an accomplished Information Security, Risk and IT Professional with over 19 years of experience working within the Financial Services and Healthcare sectors. He has an established track record of delivering successful IT and Information Security solutions that manages risk while supporting business requirements. His experience includes implementation of technology, security audits, risk assessments, information records management, privacy concerns, compliance and legal issues related to security, forensics, security practices and policy development. He currently leads the Information Security program at GATX Corporation.
John Kellerhals, vCISO, Ascend; President, InfraGard Chicago Members Alliance
John Kellerhals, most recently the CISO at a nationwide MSSP, has more than 20 years of experience in information security, incident response, governance and risk management, business continuity, disaster recovery, security operations, and auditing. He currently holds the CISSP, CISA, CISM, and CRISC certifications. John is a governing body member of the CISO Executive Summit and the Chairman of the board for the Chicago Chapter of Infragard. John previously served as the Finance Commission Chairman for the Village of Mount Prospect.
Kellerhals holds a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Northwestern University.
Lori Kevin, Vice President, Enterprise IT & Security, Intelligent Medical Objects
Lori has over 20 years of experience in technology, operations, and specifically in building an innovative and robust security program from the ground up. She is currently VP of Enterprise IT & Security at Intelligent Medical Objects, a software development organization whose product offerings ensure clinical data quality and integrity across the healthcare ecosystem. Lori and her team provide not only technical security expertise and guidance to software engineers, they also collaborate across the entire enterprise to communicate security awareness through training, awareness campaigns, and risk management.
Hal Kochiu, Chief Information Security Officer, Crisis Prevention Institute
Global CISO with 20+ years of experience in strategic initiatives, security, infrastructure management across diverse industries (Insurance, CPG Manufacturing, Business Solutions) with international operations. Successfully navigating complex challenges such as mergers, divestitures and digital transformations through partnering with multiple stakeholders, empowered teams and bridging the tech-business gap.
Dr. Edward Marchewka, CIO, Pryor Health
My primary role is with Gift of Hope Organ and Tissue Donor Network as the Director of IT, Data, and Security Services. Providing leadership for Information & Technology Services, Data, Reporting, & Analytics, and Information Security. I also serve as the HIPAA Security Officer in this role.
I also run 3LC Solutions, which started as a passion project because I believe, from the front lines to the Board room, IT and Information Security leaders have to be able to tell their story to help decision-makers make decisions to gain support, funding, and resources they need to enable the business to move faster. It has morphed into a platform that helps IT and Information Security leaders prioritize their IT and Information Security risks and enables them to tell a better story.
I hold a Doctorate in Business Administration. My research interests are in line with my two roles mentioned above, Information Security, Process Improvement, and Risk Management. My dissertation is titled, “Reducing Cybersecurity Risk Information Asymmetry Phenomenon: A Prescriptive Approach to Effectively Communicating Cybersecurity Risk.”
Joe Morin, Chief Executive Officer, CyFlare
As the CEO and Founder of CyFlare, Joe Morin is the driving force behind our mission to deliver top-notch cybersecurity solutions. With his extensive background in founding successful businesses and holding leadership positions in professional services, pre-sales engineering, technical support, channel programs, global alliances, and partner enablement, Joe brings a wealth of knowledge to the CyFlare team. Drawing on his experience with prominent Silicon Valley companies, including SurfControl, Websense, Zscaler, Forcepoint, Barracuda Networks, and Comodo, Joe is dedicated to building out the CyFlare ONE platform, establishing a world-class SOC operations framework and fostering growth through the company’s revolutionary Channel Partner Program and strategic alliances. Joe’s visionary leadership empowers CyFlare to navigate the dynamic cybersecurity landscape and provide innovative solutions that protect organizations from evolving threats.
James Mountain, Director of Information Security, 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.
Paul Niser, CTO, Walton Street Capital
Paul Niser is the Chief Technology Officer at Walton Street and oversees the Information Technology team. As CTO, Mr. Niser provides strategic and tactical leadership across multiple technology domains. Prior to joining Walton, Mr. Niser was a Vice President at GCM Grosvenor. He has also held technical leadership roles at Citadel and Bank of America. Mr. Niser received a BS in Political Science from Eastern Michigan University and holds the following designations: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer (MCSE), along with several other technical and non-technical certifications and designations. Mr. Niser is a member, and past board member, of Chicago InfraGard where he was selected to participate in the FBI’s Citizens Academy. Mr. Niser is an active participant in the CIO and CISO communities.
Maura O’Leary, Chief Information Security Officer, Ryan Specialty Group
Maura is a CISO with over two decades of experience leading teams and projects in Information Security and Information Technology. She has a strong track record of delivering innovative and effective solutions across various technical domains. She has successfully led and revived many large and complex programs, ensuring alignment with critical business objectives and stakeholder expectations.
She thrives on challenges and has a great ability to learn and apply emerging technologies to current situations, with a proven ability to bridge technology and business goals to provide productive solutions. She has led existing cybersecurity teams and built new ones from the ground up, hiring and mentoring talented professionals and creating a culture of excellence and collaboration. She has successfully delivered diverse projects, from large application development initiatives to global Information Security programs with teams across the world.
Jody Schwartz, Information Security Office – Card, Capital One
Jody Schwartz is an IT Security leader with 20 years of experience securing diverse enterprises. He has built IT Security and compliance functions from scratch, served as an expert consultant in PCI compliance, created highly effective and efficient IT Security steering committees, and created easy to understand risk reporting for C-level executives.
Jody is currently a Director of the Information Security office at Capital One, responsible for leading and directing the information security governance program and strategic advisory function for the Card division. His core responsibilities include client data protection, regulatory compliance, and cyber security architecture by partnering with key business stakeholders to demonstrate the value of cyber security and achieve business goals.
Jody’s security vision is to follow the strategic direction of the business, always utilizing risk focused lenses to identify potential exposures. He strives to empower his teams to exceed their goals and change the perception of cyber security to a trusted business partner.
He has held cyber security leadership positions at Deloitte, JP Morgan Chase, Acquity Group / Accenture, and Rewards Network. He has a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University and has held a CISSP certification since 2002.
Annur Sumar, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Unity
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.
Karthik Swarnam, Chief Security and Trust Officer, ArmorCode; former CISO, Kroger
Currently serving as ArmorCode’s Chief Security and Trust Officer. Prior to joining ArmorCode, Karthik was most recently the CISO of Kroger, and has held notable CISO and leadership roles at AT&T, TransUnion, DIRECTV, and Accenture.
Ron Zochalski, CTO & CISO, Lake County Government – Indiana
CTO & CISO for Lake County Government – Superior Courts Juvenile Division on the zero trust journey to protect data, assets and buildings for current and emerging security threats. I have the ability to break down the financial and technical risks and issues to both technical and the non-technical professionals including the boardroom and get buy in. This is not an easy task.
Ron also has spent the last 12 years teaching at Indiana University Northwest teaching students to understand and use various technologies, Personal Finance and Business Administration.
Ron’s 20+ year journey started in Financial Services then to Automotive, Newspaper/Media, ECommerce, Supply Chain, Mobile and currently Government and Courts. It’s always the questions you don’t know to ask are the ones that give you an issue.
