Overview

March 8

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Cybersecurity has long been a top priority for state and local governments, but new funding is finally giving them the opportunity to put plans into action. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act earmarks nearly $2 billion for cybersecurity, $1 billion of which will be granted to state and local governments over the course of four years.

This money can be a boon for agencies as they undergo rapid digital transformation. Many of these agencies are finding they need to take a more strategic approach to cybersecurity known as Zero Trust.

Join Government Technology on March 8 at 11 a.m. Pacific/2 p.m. Eastern as our panel discusses how state and local leaders can take advantage of new funding opportunities to address cybersecurity blind spots, confront evolving threats, more easily meet mandates and overcome skills gaps.

Key takeaways will include:
   - Why Zero Trust is moving from a buzzword to table stakes
   - Tips for building your cybersecurity strategy for the next year – and beyond

 

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Speakers

Peter Romness headshot

Peter Romness

Cybersecurity Principal, US Public Sector CTO Office, Cisco

For over 30 years, Peter has devoted his deep knowledge and diverse experience to help government and education organizations securely accomplish their goals. He is focused on helping leaders understand and implement the latest cyber strategies to defend against threats, maintain individuals’ privacy, protect sensitive information, and secure government intellectual property. Peter brings Cisco’s advanced cybersecurity solutions to departments and agencies at Federal, State, and Local Governments, and Educational Institutions. He works with NIST and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) and has contributed to their 1800-Series Special Publications. Peter helps the broader IT community understand the very latest cyber capabilities and risk mitigation methods to effectively address cyber threats. His technical background and passion for clearly conveying high-tech topics allows him to explain advanced concepts to all audiences from engineer to business leader. Prior to Cisco Systems, Peter held leadership positions at Hewlett-Packard, AT&T and Panasonic. He holds a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Duke University.

Mark Weatherford headshot

Mark Weatherford

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Mark Weatherford is a globally recognized information security professional with experience at some of the world’s largest public- and private-sector organizations. He was appointed as the first deputy under secretary for cybersecurity at DHS in the Obama administration and was chief information security officer for the state of Colorado and for the state of California under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. In the energy industry, he was VP and chief security officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation, where he worked daily with Congress and electric utilities across North America on cybersecurity standards, regulations, and policy issues. He also served as a principal at The Chertoff Group and was VP and chief cybersecurity strategist at vArmour. Most recently, he was the VP and global information security strategist at Booking Holdings, the world’s largest online travel business with offices and employees in almost every country in the world and whose major companies include Booking, Priceline, Kayak, OpenTable and Agoda.

Deborah A. Snyder headshot

Deborah A. Snyder — Moderator

Senior Fellow, Center for Digital Government

Deborah is accomplished C-level influencer, with a broad range of experience in government, policy, cyber security, privacy and information technology. An experienced and highly-respected thought-leader who has held executive roles for over two decades. She recently retired from her position as New York State’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), after over 35 years of public service. In that role, as part of New York State's information technology transformation and consolidation initiative, she helped redesign how the state protects its data. As State CISO, she directed the State’s comprehensive cyber security governance, risk management and compliance program, providing strategic leadership and vision, and assuring business-aligned, risk-based investments that maximized business opportunity and minimized cyber security risk. She also directed the NYS Cyber Command Center, hotline, procedures for reporting and response to cyber-threats, and digital forensics. https://www.govtech.com/blogs/lohrmann-on-cybersecurity/an-inside-look-at-new-york-state-government-cybersecurity.html She holds multiple industry certifications including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), SANS Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership (GSTRT) Global Information Assurance Certification, and Project Management Institute certified Project Management Professional (PMP).

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