DevSecOps Enabling Hybrid Cloud

Kynan Carver is a cybersecurity expert and leader with over 18 years of experience in the field. He currently serves as the Cybersecurity Lead at Maximus, a global provider of government services.

In this role, he applies his extensive knowledge of advanced cybersecurity engineering, security operations, and cyber intelligence to design and deliver next-generation cybersecurity solutions for defense agencies. He also oversees the development and implementation of the continuous Authority to Operate (cATO) framework, which enables faster and more secure application delivery.

Prior to joining Maximus, Kynan led the cybersecurity division for the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), where he was responsible for the accreditation and oversight of the Defense Enterprise Office Solution (DEOS) program, a cloud-based office suite for the Department of Defense.

Kynan also managed the Security Operations Center (SOC) and Information Assurance (IA) for both cloud and on-premises infrastructures.

Kynan has published several articles on cybersecurity topics, such as technical debt, agile methodology, and DevSecOps practices. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and conferences, such as the Potomac Officers Club and MeriTalk.

He is passionate about sharing his insights and best practices with the cybersecurity community and advancing the state of the art in the field. He served in the Georgia Air National Guard and local/federal civil services, holds a Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity, and resides with his family in Spotsylvania, Virginia.

Mr. Paul B. Puckett III was appointed to the Senior Executive Service and assumed his duties as the Director of the Enterprise Cloud Management Office at the Headquarters, Department of the Army, Chief Information Officer (CIO)/G-6 in November 2019.

As the Enterprise Cloud Management Office Director, Mr. Puckett serves as the principal advisor to the CIO/G-6 and other Senior Army Leaders on the Army’s Cloud strategy. He is responsible for assisting in the development of strategy, use, and optimization of Cloud resources, including the areas of cybersecurity, data protection, commercial capabilities, and ensuring network support to the current and future Army force. He will also develop Armywide planning and assist with execution of Cloud planning, migration, operation, and incorporation of advanced services and capabilities across the Army’s four information mission areas of Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Analytics, and Data Protection.

Just prior to joining the Senior Executive Service, Mr. Puckett was the Federal Chief Technology Officer at a cloud native services provider where he focused on advising Department of Defense and other Federal Agencies on how to enhance their mission effectiveness through the adoption of leading-edge open source technology and modern software automation capabilities.

Prior to that experience, Mr. Puckett performed in a number of roles as a civil servant with the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA). As the NGA’s cloud integration lead, he helped design, build and accredit the agency’s Unclassified Cloud environment. He was the advisor to senior leadership for technical enhancements and agency priorities related to infrastructure and application modernization, and led the agency in developing an enhanced ability to accept and deploy new applications and services, while simultaneously incorporating high levels of security.

Before his service with NGA, Mr. Puckett again was in a support role with private industry, providing lead engineering expertise for servers and network systems, and systems administrator training for the Joint IED Defeat Office, the Pentagon Force Protection Agency, the Office of the Secretary of Defense, and the Department of State.

Mr. Puckett holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Management Information Systems from Liberty University, Lynchburg, Virginia, and a Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.
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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.

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.