REGISTRATION - THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2025 – ABOARD THE ODYSSEY

• Full Day (7am-5pm) Event – 4 Speakers + Cyber Hacker Panel
• Breakfast, Lunch, & Hors D’oeuvres during Open Bar
• 3-Hour Cruise of Lake Michigan
• Qualify for 5 CPEs
• Gorgeous views of Chicago Skyline, delicious food, and great learning/networking opportunity
• Join US – Don’t Miss out
• Sponsor Opportunities – email communications@issa-chicago.org 

REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Early Bird Pricing - Now until May 30, 2025 at 11:59PM

Members and CTC Members - $125.00 (Regular Pricing $250.00)

Non-Members - $175.00

AGENDA

7:00 – Boarding of Speakers & Sponsors

7:30 – Boarding General Admission

7:30 – Breakfast – Topaz Deck

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS – Sapphire Deck

8:00-8:45, Speaker 1: 

Title: "Empowering Cybersecurity Practitioners: What Can You Do About Nation State Cyber Threats?

Abstract: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) leads the national effort to defend critical infrastructure against the threats of today, while working with partners across all levels of government and in the private sector to secure against the evolving risks of tomorrow. This opening keynote will discuss current threats, as well as actionable steps to strengthen organizations against those threats. Practitioners will gain the tools to implement foundational cybersecurity strategies and leverage CISA’s expertise to bolster their organizational defenses.

Brian Yoshino serves as a Cybersecurity Advisor with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) where he supports CISA’s mission of strengthening the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure. As a CSA, Mr. Yoshino is the liaison between federal services and state, local, tribal, and territorial governments, critical infrastructure, and private industry. Mr. Yoshino has over two decades of experience in cybersecurity spanning the federal civilian and private sector communities. Prior to joining CISA, Mr. Yoshino held positions within the National Security Agency and the Executive Office of the President, White House Information Security Directorate. He holds numerous cybersecurity certifications, a bachelor’s degree from Northern Illinois University, and a master’s degree in Information Security from Lewis University. 

Wei Chen Lin serves as a Cybersecurity Advisor (CSA) with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), where he supports CISA’s mission of strengthening the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure. As a CSA, Wei Chen conducts various cyber preparedness, risk mitigation, incident response coordination, and outreach activities. Mr. Lin is a licensed attorney in Illinois and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). He earned a Juris Doctor (JD) degree with a Certificate in Health Law from DePaul University College of Law, and a Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Information Assurance and Security Engineering from DePaul University

9:00-9:45, Speaker 2:  Ed Bellis CEO, Founder of Empirical Security. Ed Bellis is a security industry veteran and expert. Bellis founded both Empirical Security & Kenna Security to deliver a data-driven, risk-based approach to cyber security and help IT teams prioritize their actions to meaningfully reduce cybersecurity risk. Ed is the CEO & Founder of Empirical Security, building AI models focused on Cybersecurity prediction and management. Prior to founding Empirical, Ed founded Kenna Security. Kenna was acquired by Cisco in 2021, where Ed led the Data Science & AI teams for Threat Detection & Response. Ed is the former CISO of Orbitz and the former Vice President, Corporate Information Security at Bank of America before that. He’s a member of the Board of Directors for Blumira Security and Polymer DLP. Ed is a contributing author to the book, Beautiful Securityand Modern Vulnerability Management. (140)

10:00-10:45, Speaker 3:  Merritt is a security executive based in Miami, FL. Merritt serves as CISO to Reco (SaaS security from discovery to behavioral heuristics). She also advises a small handful of young tech companies. Merritt served in the Office of the CISO at Amazon Web Services for over five years, as Deputy CISO to help to secure AWS infrastructure at vast scale. Merritt worked in security in all three branches of government and the private sector. Her insights on business strategy and tech have been published in Forbes; the The Wall Street Journal; VentureBeat; SC Media; The Baltimore Sun; The Daily Beast; LawFare; and Talking Points Memo. She is a graduate of Harvard Law School and Harvard College.

11:00-11:45, Speaker 4:  John Kindervag with 25 years of experience as a practitioner and industry analyst, Kindervag is one of the world’s foremost cybersecurity experts and is known for creating the transformational Zero Trust Model of cybersecurity. At Illumio, Kindervag is responsible for driving the adoption of Zero Trust Segmentation. Previously, he served as field CTO at Palo Alto Networks. Before that, Kindervag spent over eight years as a Vice President and Principal Analyst on the security and risk team at Forrester Research. At Forrester John developed the concept of Zero Trust, an architectural approach founded on the principle of “never trust, always verify” that operates on the assumption that breaches are inevitable. Kindervag also serves as an advisor to the Cloud Security Alliance and Venture Capital firm NightDragon, and he was a contributor to the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee Report to the President. John is the recipient of The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award’s 2025 Baldrige Foundation’s Leadership Award.

11:45-1:00, Lunch Topaz Deck

Hacker Panel 1:00-1:45, Robert Wagner, Moderator

Panelist 1: Johnny Xmas: LinkedIn

Panelist 2:  Phoenix Fier: LinkedIn

Panelist 3: Chris Carlis: LinkedIn

Panelist 4: Samantha Isabelle Beaumont: LinkedIn

Panelist 5: Kourtney Lowe: LinkedIn

1:50-2:15, Sponsors announce their Prize Giveaway – Sapphire Deck

2:00 SHARP – Odyssey departs Navy Pier

2:00 – Sail & Sips #1 Open Bar Begins – Amethyst Deck

2:00 – Sail & Sips #2 Open Bar Begins – Sapphire Deck