Overview

In an era where cyber threats are escalating at an unprecedented rate, the need for robust incident response strategies has never been more critical.

Watch this on-demand webinar that addresses the urgent necessity for effective incident response to manage and mitigate the impact of sophisticated cybersecurity threats. The panel session brings together industry experts to discuss various risk planning models, frameworks, and best practices for incident response.

This session is designed for cybersecurity professionals seeking to enhance their organization’s resilience against cyber threats and ensure a proactive approach to incident response. Viewers will gain insights into how to prepare for, detect, analyze, contain, eradicate, and recover from cybersecurity incidents—while continuously improving their incident response capabilities.

In this session, you’ll learn how to:

Apply proven incident response frameworks including risk score configuration, incident response planning and tabletop exercises, and proactive response strategy services.
Strengthen collaboration across departments—from IT to marketing to customer service—to build a more unified and effective cybersecurity posture.
Explore emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and blockchain that are reshaping modern incident response.

Speakers

Mike Ziegler

Sales Director, SLED East, Commvault

Mike has over 16 years of experience in enterprise storage, backup systems, and virtualization technologies. Throughout his career, he has built a proven track record as a dedicated sales leader, helping organizations safeguard their most valuable asset: data. As Sales Director, SLED East at Commvault, Mike leads a high-performing team of account executives and solution specialists focused on delivering advanced cyber resilience and recovery solutions tailored to the state, local, and education markets. His commitment to building lasting relationships with clients, partners, and stakeholders has been a key driver of success, even in highly competitive environments. Mike earned his B.S. in Economics from Penn State University and remains passionate about continuous learning and professional growth. His mission is to enable clients to achieve their data protection and management objectives while advancing Commvault’s vision of empowering data-driven organizations.

Julian Smith

Director of Defensive Security Services, CDW

Julian serves as the Director of Defensive Security Services at CDW, where he leads the company's Cyber Defense Blue Team. Applying the NIST IR lifecycle framework, Julian's team excels in the preparation and containment/eradication phases of incident response, working seamlessly with monitoring/detection and recovery specialists. He develops proactive security strategies that strengthen defense postures while maintaining operational efficiency. His approach combines technical expertise with strategic vision, enabling organizations to effectively address complex security challenges through a structured, comprehensive methodology.

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D. — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

William (Bill) Rials, Ph.D., is a professor and associate director (department chair) of the Tulane University School of Professional Advancement IT and Cybersecurity Program. He focuses on continually delivering and updating the program curriculum based on innovative and emerging technologies. Before transitioning to academia and higher education, he had a diverse gov tech career delivering value to state agencies, local governments, and law enforcement agencies throughout the state of Mississippi.

Webinar

Cyber Resilience in Higher Ed: Expert Insights on Incident Response