Cybersecurity 2023 Conference

Using Generative AI to Strengthen Cybersecurity – How IT professionals can balance its risks and rewards

Presenter: Nirali Chawla (KPMG US) and Joseph Klimavicz (KPMG US)

Generative AI is a game-changing technology, offering innovative ways to engage users and generate content with deeper insights. It is opening up entirely new avenues for improving experiences, delivering new value streams and transforming business models. KPMG will discuss some opportunities for generative AI to enable cybersecurity to help business leaders harness the power of AI and associated risks to accelerate time-to-value in a trusted manner – from strategy and design through implementation and ongoing operations.

Views from the Cloud: Cybersecurity and the Next Regulatory Frontier

Presenter: Alexis Robinson (AWS)

Topic description to be posted soon!

Security Assessments – Pathway to Zero Trust

Presenter: Albert E. Whale (Capgemini America)

In the presentation titled “Security Assessment – Pathway to Zero Trust,” we delve into the evolving cybersecurity landscape, emphasizing the insufficiencies of traditional Security Assessments and the necessity for a more robust approach, the Zero Trust Model. Rooted in the principle “Never Trust, Always Verify,” Zero Trust demands no inherent trust, advocating for micro segmentation and continuous monitoring.

Our exploration underscores the role of security assessments in successfully transitioning to this model, encompassing tasks like mapping current infrastructure, pinpointing sensitive data, reviewing policies, designing segmented access, and implementing real-time monitoring. By addressing challenges such as organizational resistance and technological integration, and highlighting the overarching benefits of an enhanced security posture, we aim to provide attendees with a comprehensive overview and a roadmap to begin their Zero Trust journey.

Working backwards with AWS Customer Compliance Guides to accelerate security assessments

Presenter: Kevin Donohue (AWS)

The rapid increase in the number of innovative cloud service offerings has blurred the lines between traditional cloud service models like IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. When looking at cloud services through the lens of compliance, categorizing them becomes less important than applying the shared responsibility model to security control requirements. Establishing a clear understanding of security responsibilities based on the services in your workload is key to reducing compliance challenges.

In this presentation, we’ll demonstrate how AWS Customer Compliance Guides make shared responsibility and compliance easier for customers interpret and integrate into their organization’s cloud strategy. We’ll demonstrate how the approach of working backwards from the security options you have for each service and mapping them to security standards can help accelerate your compliance initiatives.

Nirali Chawla
Managing Director, Federal Advisory Services @ KMPG US
CISSP, CISA, CRISC, CAP, ITIL, and Six Sigma Green Belt

Nirali Shah Chawla is a Managing Director in KPMG’s Federal Advisory practice with more than 20 years of experience providing a wide range of services to private and public sector clients including financial and information technology audit readiness services, information assurance and Cyber security services, Governance, Risk & Compliance implementations and programs, Cloud Computing and transformation consulting services. Ms. Chawla currently leads some of the largest federal agencies at the brink of transformational change and growth, leveraging her knowledge of existing and emerging technologies to uncover IT opportunities for business process and internal controls improvements. Ms. Chawla is the co-author of NIST Special Publication 800-137, Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) for Federal Information Systems and Organizations, and holds certifications such as the CISSP, CISA, CRISC, CAP, ITIL, and Six Sigma Green Belt. Ms. Chawla is a recognized industry leader in the Information Technology Risk Management and transformation field, speaking at industry conferences and instructing training seminars.

Ms. Chawla is the ISACA GWDC Director of Marketing, AFCEA Scholarships Education Committee Chair, Member of Cyber Council for INSA and on the Steering Committee for a non-profit organization, Vicente Ferrer Foundation (VFF). She is also a member of the following organizations: ASMC, NAASA and Women in Technology (WIT).

Joseph Klimavicz
Managing Director, Federal Advisory Services @ KMPG US

Mr. Joseph Klimavicz joined KPMG LLP as a Managing Director in March 2020. In this position, he leads the Federal Technology Advisory practice and helps government clients implement digital transformations and deal with rapidly changing technology, growing complexities from budget constraints, competing agendas, and continuous attacks on their information infrastructure.

Mr. Klimavicz previously served as the Department of Justice (DOJ) Deputy Assistant Attorney General and CIO from May 2014 until March 2020. In this position, he provided leadership and oversight of the Department’s information and technology programs and implemented large-scale and complex digital transformations. He also served as DOJ’s Chief Data Officer, Senior Agency Official for Geospatial Information, and executive responsible for both radio frequency spectrum and all technical standards. In addition, he served as vice-chair of the Federal CIO Council.

Mr. Klimavicz’s 37-year career in the federal government began with the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) as an imagery scientist. He subsequently served in line management positions within the CIA and the Department of Defense (DOD) leading information technology programs, to include serving as the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency Deputy CIO. Mr. Klimavicz also served as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) CIO and Director, High Performance Computing and Communications from January 2007 until May 2014.

Alexis Robinson
Senior Manager, Industry Specialist @ AWS
CISA, PMP, MBA

Alexis Robinson is a Senior Manager, Industry Specialist for Amazon Web Services (AWS) Security Assurance in the Washington, DC area. For the past 15 years, she has served her clients, buyers of the cloud, and AWS Partners by enabling strategies based on security best practices, collaborating for thought leadership, solving problems, and conducting cybersecurity and financial assessments. She graduated with double Bachelors of Science degrees in Accounting and Information Systems from the Robert H. Smith School of Business at University of Maryland, College Park. She most recently graduated from Quantic with an Executive Masters in Business Administration. She has worked at several companies including CGI Federal and Ernst & Young before finding her way to Amazon. She is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Project Management Professional (PMP).

On her free time, she is playing video games, watching “Bob’s Burgers”, “Ted Lasso”, “Demon Slayer”, “Abbott Elementary” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. She lives with her husband and son in Maryland.

Albert E. Whale
Senior Cloud Security / Zero Trust Architect @ Capgemini America, Inc.
CISSP, CEH

Albert E. Whale is a Certified Global Coach at Napoleon Hill Institute, where he support others in their personal development to live their dreams. With over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity, IT security, and entrepreneurship, he has a unique perspective and skill set to help clients achieve their goals and overcome challenges.

Mr. Whale is also a #1 International Best Selling Author of the sequel book #HACKED2, written with 12 esteemed cybersecurity professionals who offer their views and insights on how to protect personal and business information from cyber threats. He is passionate about sharing his knowledge and experience with others, and regularly speak at events, webinars, podcasts, and media outlets on topics related to cybersecurity, personal development, and entrepreneurship.

Kevin Donohue
Security Partner Strategist, Global Security & Compliance Acceleration team @ AWS
CISSP

Kevin is a Sr. Security Partner Strategist on the AWS Global Security & Compliance Acceleration team, specializing in shared responsibility and regulatory compliance support for AWS customers and partners. Kevin began his tenure with AWS in 2019 with the AWS FedRAMP program, where he created Customer Compliance Guides to assist U.S. government customers with their assessment & authorization responsibilities. Prior to AWS, Kevin worked at PwC in their commercial cybersecurity practice performing risk and compliance assessments across various security standards and industries. Kevin began is security career as a security control assessor at the U.S. Department of State. Kevin holds a B.A. in Political Science and Middle Eastern Studies from Rutgers University and M.S. Management of Security Information Systems from George Mason University.

In his spare time, he enjoys taking advantage of everything to do in DC area from museums to biking with his wife Shannon and daughter Madeline. Originally from New Jersey, Kevin has been in the DMV for 12 years and currently resides in Alexandria.