Securing Data Against Evolving Cyber Threats

Mr. David McKeown serves as the Department of War Chief Information Officer’s Special Assistant for Cybersecurity Innovation. Mr. McKeown supports the Office of the CIO by providing executive level oversight, planning, and execution on a full spectrum of programs and operations of organizational impact, to include assessment of threats and identification of innovative methods to address them, the development of strategies for maintaining a competitive advantage, and advising on matters related to cybersecurity technology and innovation activities within the DoW, across the federal government, academia, industry and internationally.

Prior to assuming this role, Mr. McKeown served as the Deputy DoD CIO for Cybersecurity and DoD Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), responsible for leading the DoD-wide cybersecurity program, associated governance processes, and the development of the cybersecurity investment priorities to secure DoD networks. He was also responsible for DoD’s work with industry to improve cybersecurity and information sharing through the Defense Industrial Base (DIB).

Mr. McKeown has over 35 years of experience in the Department of Defense having served 27 years in the Air Force and 8 years as a government civilian. He spent 21 years as an Air Force Cyberspace Operations officer skillfully leading numerous organizations and high-visibility initiatives to include the Air Force Cybersecurity Program as a member of the Air Staff.

He served as the Director of Enterprise Information and Mission Assurance for the United States Army Information Technology Agency and as the Cybersecurity Center Chief and Enterprise Services Center Chief for the DISA Joint Service Provider in the Pentagon. He led the Pentagon Computer Incident Response Team (PENTCIRT) providing twenty-four-hour-a-day, seven-days-a-week network security monitoring and intrusion detection, attack sensing and warning, and incident response and handling for the Department of Defense’s key leadership and staffs.

Steve Thamasett is the Public Sector Field CISO specializing in the Google security platform. He joined CDW in 2015 as a Security Field Solutions Architect covering the Federal space—both DoD and civilian. Steve has significant experience in Federal having spent 10 years at the U.S. House of Representatives (USHR) and more than 5 years prior to that as an infrastructure and security consultant. Overall, he has more than 35 years of experience in IT.

At USHR, Steve held the position of Assistant Chief Administrative Office for Infrastructure and Operations (ACAO I&O) and was responsible for the majority of the shared infrastructure, including phone and data networks, storage and compute platforms, physical data center components, as well as messaging and mobility systems. This included the security and compliance aspects of these systems with the associated audits and documentation. As a consultant, Steve worked with both public and private entities on a variety of infrastructure and security engagements to include design and deployment of major systems and platforms, security assessments and policy work, and incident response and remediation.