Raicescon 2023
Speaker Lineup and Bios
Speaker Announcements & Bios
Cindy Muñoz
Cybersecurity Analyst at CISA with the High Value Assets team
Cindy Muñoz is a Cybersecurity Analyst at CISA with the High Value Assets team to deploy vulnerability assessments reducing federal risk nationwide and an Adjunct Professor at a college in the Washington D.C. area. Cindy has also conducted other work at CISA including collaborating with international and private sector partners on a number of cybersecurity issues and response efforts. Cindy Munoz graduated with a M.S. in Cybersecurity from California State University, San Bernardino, and was the first woman and minority to graduate with that degree. As a first generation Mexican American, Cindy has understood and recognized the major need for more Hispanic/Latino and other minority representation in tech. Often being the only Hispanic or woman in the room, Cindy has started and participated a number of DEIA events, groups, and work to bridge the gap in tech and help propel tech into a future that is inclusive and serves all people. When Cindy is not conducting cyber work or actively addressing DEIA issues, Cindy can be found traveling, trying new restaurants, learning languages, exercising, or enjoying time with her friends and family.
Aristides Alvarez
Vice President, Parallax Inc.
Aristides Alvarez is Vice President of Parallax Inc. He has 20+ years of experience coordinating the creation and manufacturing of educational kits and curricula for robotics, electronics, CTE, and cybersecurity courses used in middle and high school. He has led many professional development workshops equipping educators to effectively implement these programs. Before joining Parallax, Aristides was a Vo Tech teacher in Argentina, teaching robotics and microcontrollers while translating curricula into Spanish.
Tennisha Martin
Founder and Executive Director, Black Girls Hack
Tennisha Martin is the founder and Executive Director of BlackGirlsHack (BGH Foundation), a national cybersecurity nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education and resources to underserved communities and increasing the diversity in cyber. BlackGirlsHack provides its members with resources, mentorship, direction, and training required to enter and excel in the cybersecurity field. Tennisha has a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and a Masters degrees in IT, Healthcare Policy and Management, Cybersecurity, Digital Forensics and Business Administration. She has worked in a consulting capacity for over 15 years in penetration testing, project management, risk management, audit, information assurance, quality assurance, software development, and testing roles. In her free time, Tennisha is a professor of computer science and cybersecurity at an HBCU, co-author of “Securing our Future: Embracing the Resilience and Brilliance of Black Women in Cyber,” mentor, speaker, and an advocate for diversity in cyber and the executive suites.
Tiffany Jachja
Global Software Engineering Leader, Autodesk
Tiffany Jachja is a global software engineering leader with experience leading platform and data science teams. Her career has been about successfully delivering technologies across various spaces and industries, including academia, government, finance, enterprise, startups, and media. She now helps people worldwide deliver their best work and create the success, recognition, and wealth they desire and is employed as an Engineering Manager at Autodesk and a Career Success Coach at Correlation One.
Joey Cruz
Principal Product Manager in the Identity and Network Access Customer Acceleration Team at Microsoft
Joey Cruz is a Principal Product Manager in the Identity and Network Access Customer Acceleration Team at Microsoft. His role as an architect is to accelerate the adoption of Identity and Access Managment and cloud services across the largest and most complex enterprise customers in the world. He has previously spoken at Microsoft Secure, Ignite, Identiverse and SANS Blue team conference. Before the Identity team, he was a Site Reliability Engineer with Microsoft Teams, Skype for Business, and Lync. Before joining Microsoft, Joey served in the U.S. Marine Corps as a Cyber Network Operator and a Platoon Sergeant.
Come Celebrate
Hispanic Heritage Month & Cyber Security Awareness Month 2023
Sofia Nicholson
Security Ops Center Investigator/ Latinas In Cyber
Born in Miami, Florida, and proud to be a second-generation Cuban American, Sofia embodies the strength, resilience, and rich cultural heritage of her immigrant family. Raised by her hard working immigrant grandparents, Sofia carries her legacy of determination and success into the field of cybersecurity.
Currently serving as a Security Operations Center Investigator at Microsoft, Sofia combines her technical expertise and passion for protecting digital landscapes to proactively identify and mitigate emerging cyber threats. With unwavering dedication to excellence and a meticulous approach to investigations, she plays a vital role in safeguarding organizations and securing critical data.
Adding to her remarkable journey, Sofia is a medically retired U.S. Army combat veteran. Having served her country with honor, she brings the invaluable qualities of discipline, adaptability, and a steadfast commitment to duty to the cybersecurity realm.
Sofia holds an MBA degree from George Mason University, further enhancing her business acumen and strategic perspective in the cybersecurity field. Additionally, she has earned esteemed certifications such as ISACA's Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and EC|Council's Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) and EC|Council Certified Network Defense Architect (CNDA). Sofia's expertise and dedication have been recognized by EC|Council, as she was honored as a Finalist Top 100 Awardee in the CEH Hall of Fame 2021.
Passionate about diversity and inclusion, Sofia actively advocates for underrepresented voices within the cybersecurity industry. She believes that fostering an inclusive work environment is essential for driving innovation, breaking barriers, and creating opportunities for professionals from all backgrounds to thrive.
Cesar Vargas & Pedro Peralta
Cesar Vargas is the Director of Applied Research at Blackberry Cylance where his team is responsible for generating initiatives to improve Blackberry’s products with emphasis in the Security Operations (SecOps) experience. Prior to BlackBerry, he worked at McAfee/Trellix with public sector enterprises at establishing and maturing Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence (CTI) and SecOps programs in Information and Operational Technology environments. Cesar is a co-founder of CUNYSec and a graduate of the CUNY university system.
Pedro Peralta is a Senior Technical Program Manager at < > covering product security and compliance for the Institutional business. Prior to that, he was a lead TPM at Google where he helped launch Assured Workloads for Partners. Pedro began his career at Goldman Sachs as a security analyst before moving on to leadership roles at Nomura and BNY Mellon. Pedro is a co-founder of CUNYSec and a graduate of the CUNY university system. He's also a graduate of the ITSMF Management Academy, a preferred executive development organization for Black leaders in Technology. His CISSP and other SANS certificates have “expired”
Jose Fernandez
President, CompSecDirect
José Fernández is the President of CompSec Direct. Jose's background in CNO, CND, and engineering has allowed him to work in some of the most technically demanding environments in both private and public sector. Mr. Fernández is a Puerto Rican Hacker Dude, Veteran, and the Director of Recruitment for AUSCF.
Rosa Bolger & Ramon Garo
Rosa Bolger, Distinguished Engineer and Vice President of Cyber Defense and Technology, IBM
As a Distinguished Engineer, She is responsible for the cyber security of over one million hosts owned by IBM. She drives the modernization and automation of the Security Operation process, eliminating the complexity of interpreting large number of disparate insights, detect threats accurately and automatically remediate incidents based on machine learning and AI techniques.
Rosa collaborates across all IBM business units to evolve each business unit’s security posture and improve the response and recovery strategies for state-sponsored and other evolving cyber threats.
Prior to this role, she specialized on High Performance High Availability IT environments where she led the infrastructure operations of Sports Events: US-Open, GPA, French Open, The Olympics among many others.
Rosa holds a Computer Science Degree from the School of Physics and Mathematics of the UANL of Mexico and a Masters In Telecommunications from Pace University, New York.
In addition to her primary role, Rosa serves as Austin’s TVC and AoT Affiliate Executive Sponsor. She is part of IBM’s Corporate Hispanic Diversity and Inclusion core team and a Board Member of Austin Community College."
Ramon Garo, Manager, Americas CSIRT Incident Response Analysts,
has over 15 years of experience in the Cybersecurity field. He has worked in a range of security roles and currently specializes in digital forensics and incident response (DFIR). Those skills have been leveraged to respond to incidents of varying complexity and advance the DFIR programs at many organizations, ranging from small businesses to large global enterprises. In addition to technical skills the field Ramon also has significant experience in managing team members, mentoring colleagues, and providing formal instruction for Cybersecurity.
Alexander Kollar
Director, Saint Security Group, LLC. / Haiku Inc.
Alex is an avid cybersecurity spanning close to 15 years of practical knowledge. Having recently started his own Cybersecurity Consulting Company with an emphasis on cybersecurity AI development.
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Wesley Alvarez
Director of Academics, EC-Council
Wesley Alvarez is a Cybersecurity and technology enthusiast with a passion for education. He has been working in secondary and post-secondary education environments for over 15 years, focusing on career-based Cybersecurity courses and program development. His experience includes national and global cybersecurity program design and implementation across leading colleges and universities offering Cybersecurity degrees and stackable credentials. Wesley has worked with global ministries, accrediting bodies, and influencers across the world to focus on educational transformation, standards alignment, and endorsements to help students meet the demands of employers and emerging careers. These include but are not limited to the Department of Education (DOE), the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*NET), the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB), the American Council on Education (ACE), and more. Throughout his career, Wesley has supported EC-Council’s cybersecurity education initiatives from 2008 to 2014 via Axzo Press publishing (Rochester, NY) and in May of 2014, he transitioned from Axzo Press to EC-Council (Tampa, FL) to lead EC-Council’s Academic division. Wesley is the creator of the globally recognized EC-Council Academia Partner program (www.eccouncil.org/academia). This program supports a network of over 2,000 secondary and post-secondary institutions across the world that focus on career-based education, certification, stackable credentials, accelerated workforce pathways, hands-on education, disruptive learning environments, cyber competitions, and more. He is currently involved in several education advisory boards focusing on certification standards and Cybersecurity workforce readiness. Wesley has spoken at multiple events throughout the years including, but not limited to, National Initiative of Cybersecurity Education (NICE) K-12 Conference, Community College Cyber Summit (3CS), school board associations and college systems, and various cyber competitions. He has guest lectured within Cybersecurity programs across the world and has authored articles on Cybersecurity education and research, several of which have been published by global media sources. Wesley currently resides in Tampa, FL.
Laurie Salvail
Executive Director, CYBER.ORG
Laurie Salvail is the Executive Director of CYBER.ORG, a cybersecurity workforce development organization that targets K-12 students with cyber career awareness, curricular resources and teacher development funded by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s Cybersecurity Education and Training Assistance Program grant. With over 12 years of classroom experience, Laurie works to bring cyber education to K-12 teachers across the country through innovative, impactful research-based education strategies.
Laurie received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration and Management from McNeese State University, a teaching certification from Louisiana State University in Shreveport, a Master of Education in Education Leadership and Administration from Louisiana State University and is currently working on her Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction at Louisiana State University.
Hakeem Thomas
Cybersecurity Manager, Netmaker Communications, LLC
Hakeem Thomas is a U.S. military veteran, where he specialized in signal and network communications He has nearly 20 years of information technology experience and holds a B.A. in Criminal Justice and a B.S. in Digital Forensics.
Hakeem is currently a Cybersecurity Manager for Netmaker Communications, LLC, serving as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in vulnerability assessment, penetration testing, social engineering (SE), and policy writing, to name a few. In his spare time, he enjoys competing in various Capture-the-Flag (CTF) competitions and mentoring in the InfoSec field.
Lisa Saurs
CMO, Co-Founder SecureRecruit
Lisa Saurs, who prefers the nickname “L”, is the CMO and Co-Founder of SecureRecruit, a cybersecurity recruiting services firm. L has worked in the cybersecurity field for 9 years and in staffing for 18 years. She is an active member of several ongoing security community initiatives and professional networking groups, and currently serves as the National Comms Director for Raices Cyber Org (since 2022); and the Social Media Lead for WiCyS Chicago (since 2020). Previously, L was the Director of Marketing with CyberSN and Secure Diversity. There she was a first-five hire at the org, a Founding member of the Day of Shecurity team, and she supported all business units with their digital, print, and in-person marketing needs in collaboration with the C-Suite and Unit leaders. L has supported, planned, and organized hundreds of cybersecurity talks, webinars, and conferences and her favorite are those that bring students of cyber, together with practitioners and industry leaders. She has a Master’s in Digital Marketing, a Bachelor’s in Women’s Studies, and she is web development and social media certified. She lives in Central Illinois with her husband and for fun she walks around Lake Decatur, plays the trumpet, and works in her gardens.
Dr. Omar Sangurima
Principal Technical Program Management, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center IS Department
"Dr. Sangurima is the Principal Technical Program Manager for Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s Information Security Office. He helps write policies, is currently coordinating a HITRUST assessment, and is rolling out a secure IT Service Management practice throughout the Center. Fresh off the publication of his dissertation, Dr.Sangurima is currently working with the HITRUST Alliance on an industry-driven set of security standards to curb third-party risk.
Dr.Sangurima has previously worked for Venable LLP and HTI Visions as a GRC Analyst and Junior PenTester (respectively) and has obtained the following certifications:
CompTIA Security+, CSA+, and PenTest+; AWS SAA, GRCP, SAFe PO/PM and Scrum Master; CEH, ISACA CRISC, CISM, CGEIT, CDPSE, COBIT 2019 Foundation and COBIT Design & Implementation; ISC2 CISSP, CCSP, HCISPP; SANS SSAP and GCPM; eJPT, Azure SC-900/AZ-900, PMI Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) and Agile Hybrid Project Pro; Jira Essentials, ITILv4 Foundations and DPI; and IAPP’s CIPM.
In their free time, Dr.Sangurima likes to get on the mat for some Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, spending time with his family (including two pups, Bear and Daisy), and volunteering as a CyberSecurity mentor for the Cyversity Mentorship program. "
At the intersection of
Hispanic Heritage Month 2023 & Cyber Security Awareness Month 2023
Eric Basu
Founder, Haiku Inc.
Eric Basu is a serial entrepreneur and veteran who has founded several companies.
He currently serves as the CEO of Haiku Inc, a developer of game-based cybersecurity training solutions. He also serves as a Venture Partner with the Veteran Fund, a venture capital fund that focuses its investments on veteran and veteran-spouse-owned companies.
He’s a former U.S. Navy SEAL Commander who graduated from San Jose State University with a Bachelor of Science in Molecular Biology and holds an MBA from Anderson Graduate School of Management (UCLA). He has completed both the Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School Negotiations courses.
Philip Wylie
Director of Services & Training
Phillip Wylie, Director of Services & Training, is an offensive security professional with more than 19 years of experience in cybersecurity.
He has a diverse background in multiple disciplines, including network security, application security and pentesting. Phillip is the concept creator and co-author of The Pentester Blueprint: Starting a Career as an Ethical Hacker.
Phillip is a podcaster and hosts The Hacker Factory Podcast and the Phillip Wylie Show.
Jessica Hoffman
Deputy CISO, City of Philadelphia
Jessica Hoffman, CISSP, has almost 20 years of IT experience and 15 years in cybersecurity. Eight of those years were served at the federal Department of Health and Human Services (“DHHS”), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) in various IT roles that were instrumental in the implementation of the Affordable Healthcare Act and Federally Facilitated Marketplace.
She has dedicated her career to safeguarding millions of Americans’ Personally Identifiable Information (“PII”), Protected Healthcare Information (“PHI”), and Federal Tax Information (“FTI”). These data sets are of great interest to adversaries attempting to mine or exploit data for political and/or financial gain.
Jessica has taught cybersecurity classes at Harrisburg University and Penn State. She is a graduate of Bloomsburg University and currently serves as the Deputy Chief Information Security Officer (“CISO”) for the City of Philadelphia.
German Ospina
CIO, Nebulas Technology
As a seasoned executive in the financial and health care sectors, Germán's expertise extends across various domains, including cybersecurity, vendor management, network and system designs, and business continuity planning. With 27+ years of technical hands-on professional experience, Germán has used his invaluable expertise, coupled with a deep understanding of industry-specific challenges, to help companies have successful technology strategies. Germán is recognized as a thought leader and now serves a trusted advisor, providing executive-level guidance to leadership teams, helping their companies navigate the evolving landscape of digital transformation. Germán has a BS in Computer Science from Binghamton University and is currently the Chief Information Officer at Nebulas Technology.
Danny Magallanes
Director of Cyber Threat Intelligence, Cigna Information Protection
Danny Magallanes, a veteran with close to 20 years of extensive strategic, operational, and tactical intelligence and cybersecurity leadership experience, has a proven track record of securing government and private sector’s global computer networks. Danny Magallanes is a Director at Cigna Information Protection division where he leads the Fusion Cell – Cyber Threat Intelligence, Threat Hunt, and Adversary Simulation teams. Among his many responsibilities, he has had to quickly adapt to evolving personnel changes that have taken him from slowly introducing key initiatives to quickly rebuilding teams, processes, and driving prioritized informed decision-making for senior executives. Danny is working with executive business units (e.g., Mergers and Acquisitions, Enterprise Risk Management, Legal, Finance) to build awareness of threats we all face and establishing a collective defense mindset in reducing Cigna’s overall global risk posture. Currently residing in Colorado, Danny enjoys spending time with his family and training for The Leadville 100, an ultra-marathon race, requiring unwavering mental fortitude and commitment. Lastly, he is passionate about increasing diversity in the cybersecurity workforce by mentoring college students on how to prepare for their cybersecurity careers.
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