CyberScape: Zero Trust Breakfast

Michael Epley has been helping the US defense and National Security communities use and adopt open source software over the last 2 decades with practical experience as a software developer and enterprise architect. During his tenure at Red Hat, Michael has passionately driven adoption of key technology: cloud and kubernetes, tactical edge/forward deployed systems, data analytics tools and platforms, and disconnected operations — always in the context of security and compliance concerns unique to this sector. Michael has BS degrees in Mathematics and Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and a JD from The University of Texas School of Law.

Felipe Fernandez is the CTO at Fortinet Federal, a U.S. next-generation cyber security solution vendor that provides real-time threat detection and prevention. In addition to his role as a team manager, Felipe also oversees the US Federal product strategy and certification process at Fortinet Federal, such as the DoDIN APL and NSACSfC. Felipe has more than 21 years of experience in consulting, deploying, operating, and auditing security solutions in DoD and the private sector.

Jay Gazlay is an Information Security Specialist for the CISA Cyber Security Division of the DHS, where he manages the vulnerability ecosystem and the coordinated vulnerability disclosure process. Prior to working at CISA, Mr. Gazlay worked for Acuity, Inc., where he served as Technical Director, managing a team of engineers in direct support of multiple Secretaries of State and staff. Throughout his 13 years at the Department of State, he also served a Senior Principal Engineer, coordinating IT operations, and building/managing large scale systems throughout the Department.

In early 2020, Mr. Gazlay was selected to serve on the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) Board. As a board member of the CVE, Mr. Gazlay participates in open and collaborative discussions with other cybersecurity experts in an effort to provide critical input regarding the data sources, product coverage, operating structure, and strategic direction of the CVE Program.

Amy Kluber is editor-in-chief of GovCIO Media & Research. Previously she managed two aviation publications at B2B media company Access Intelligence. She was nominated for The Innovation in Aerospace Journalism & Publishing Award for launching and hosting an aviation podcast. Prior to that she wrote news scripts and produced videos for the network Newsy. Follow Amy on Twitter: @amykluber

She earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in journalism from the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. Having traveled around the world since an early age, she grew up a U.S. Army brat born in Vicenza, Italy, and spent most of her youth living in Seoul, South Korea.

In her free time, you may find her at Disney World.

Katherine MacPhail is a Staff Writer and Researcher for GovCIO Media & Research, where she covers IT across federal health and civilian agencies.

Kate Macri is a deputy editor for GovCIO Media & Research, where she primarily covers the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.

Prior to joining the team in June 2020, she covered the video game industry and small businesses for Zenger News. She also covered banking and finance news for Banking Dive, a B2B media publication based in Washington D.C., and reported logistics, supply chain and shipping news for Supply Chain Dive.

If she isn’t boxing or walking her boxer, you can find Kate with her nose in a Stephen King novel, slaying monsters in the world of Final Fantasy or waiting for a blue public call box to land in her front yard.

Drew Malloy is an experienced senior technical executive leading teams in cybersecurity, software development, systems engineering and digital transformation. He has worked at DISA for thirteen years, serving in several engineering roles and currently as the Technical Director for the Cybersecurity and Analytics Directorate. Prior to DISA, he was an engineer at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. His areas of expertise include secure application development, DevSecOps and C4ISR.

Natalia Martin is a Deputy Director for National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE), Information Technology Laboratory (ITL), National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NCCoE is a collaborative hub convening experts from industry, academia, and government to work on critical problems in cybersecurity. The NCCoE’s collaborations focus on providing practical guidance to technical, real-world cybersecurity challenges using standards-based, commercially available technologies.

Kenneth Myers is the Director of the Identity Assurance and Trusted Access Division with the General Services Administration Office of Government-wide Policy. He advises and coordinates government-wide cybersecurity policies and collaborates with federal executive branch agencies on implementation guidance. As an identity professional, he has experience working with various public and private organizations on digital identity, PKI, security management, and governance challenges. He is a former active duty Marine and a current doctoral candidate in the Marymount University Doctorate of Science in Cybersecurity program.

Adam Patterson is a staff writer/researcher for GovCIO Media & Research, where he covers IT and innovation at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Prior to joining the team in June 2019, Adam worked as a researcher at the National Defense University’s Center for Applied Strategic Learning (CASL) where he helped design war games and crisis response exercises. He has also worked at the Johns Hopkins Center for Global Affairs performing research and analysis covering the Syrian Civil War.

Adam earned a Master of Arts in strategic studies and Middle East studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies where he focused on insurgency, asymmetrical conflict and the social origins of mass violence.

Jesse Peoples is a Chief Security Architect in the Digital Modernization Accelerator organization under Leidos’ Office of Technology. He is responsible for developing and refining reusable solutions and approaches in support of the enterprise focus on growth. He is leading research to study and operationalize Zero Trust Architecture for customers. As part of the Zero Trust IRAD, Jesse leads a multi-vendor Zero Trust Proving Ground laboratory (ZTPG-Lab) which facilitates the development, integration, test, and deployment of zero trust solutions.

Philip Stupak is a political appointee in the Biden Administration where he serves as the Assistant National Cyber Director for Federal Cybersecurity in the Office of the National Cyber Director at the Executive Office of the President. He has coordination responsibilities for protecting federal executive branch systems. This includes implementing zero trust architecture, phishing resistant multifactor authentication, logging requirements, and encryption of data in transit and at rest.

Mr. Stupak initially joined the Biden Administration at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security where he was dual-hatted as a counselor to the Deputy Secretary and a Senior Advisor to the Chief Information Officer. In those roles, he led an interagency working group responsible for the technology enabling Afghan refugee resettlement, directed a new model of operational coordination, and began a reformation of the Department’s R&D activities.

Prior to joining the Biden Administration, Mr. Stupak was an Associate Director at the University of Chicago’s Harris Cyber Policy Initiative where he focused on disinformation campaigns, election security, and AI policy while teaching cyber risk management within the University of Chicago’s Treat Response Management graduate program. Mr. Stupak previous served in the Obama Administration at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and as an election counsel at the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration. He began his legal career with the Board of Elections at the City of New York.

Mr. Stupak has a BA from the University of California, Berkeley and a JD from the University of Richmond.

Sarah Sybert joined GovCIO Media & Research as a staff writer/researcher in March 2021, where she primarily covers the Department of Health and Human Services. Before Sarah joined the team, she covered defense, industry and information technology reports and events with Executive Mosaic. Her work has helped connect private and public sector leaders and promote awareness of emerging market trends.

When she’s not on the job, you can find her hiking in Shenandoah, checking out the newest “hole-in-the-wall” coffee shop or jamming on the guitar.  Sarah earned her bachelor’s degree in English, with minors in Creative Writing and Film Studies, at Flagler College in St. Augustine, Florida.

Nicole Thompson is a Digital Services Expert for the Defense Digital Service. She works extensively on DDS’s Hack the Pentagon program and serves as a senior cybersecurity engineer on DDS’s many other projects. Prior to DDS, she worked at NAVAIR for 12 years, testing and securing air platforms, avionics, and the networks on which they rely. Nicole holds a Master’s degree in Cybersecurity and a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.

Don Watson is the USPTO’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and Director of Cybersecurity. Prior to joining USPTO, he was Director of Security Operations at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Department of Homeland Security. At CBP, he led a large team of IT professionals and oversaw cybersecurity monitoring, analysis, incident response, cyber threat intelligence, digital media analysis, and data protection and monitoring. Prior to CBP, Don served at the Department of Defense in uniform and as a civilian employee for 28 years in IT and cybersecurity technical and leadership roles.  He completed a M.S. in Information Technology and a B.S. in Business Management with the University of Maryland.  He completed both the Chief Information Officer (CIO) and CISO Certification programs with the National Defense University.  Don is currently a Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Authorization Professional (CAP), and is ITIL Foundation certified.

Bringing a unique perspective from 20 years of datacenter experience in government, private and financial sectors, Sterling Wilson is an exciting and passionate Data Security Evangelist who understands the industry. In this age of data automation, machine learning and infrastructure modernization, the security and integrity of your most strategic asset, data, is top of mind for everyone. Sterling discusses how our modern needs of Data Management, Resiliency, and Security can’t be met with legacy thinking and solutions.