Tom Marsland

Former Chairman & VetSecCon speaker

Tom is the former Chairman of VetSec and the Senior Director of Security Operations at DigiCert

Tyler Hardy

Board Chairman at VetSec, Security Engineer at a Consumer Electronics company

Tyler Hardy is a highly experienced cybersecurity specialist, currently serving as a Senior Red Team Security Engineer at a consumer electronics company. With a strong background in electrical engineering and a focus on artificial intelligence, Tyler has developed a deep expertise in both offensive and defensive security strategies.

Marcelle Lee

Speaker

Founder and Principal Advisor at Fractal Security Group where I help organizations translate complex threat intelligence into clear, business-aligned strategy. Over a career spanning threat intelligence, emerging threat research, and program development, I’ve built a reputation for turning technical depth into insight that strengthens client trust and guides executive decision-making. I lead cross-functional research initiatives and deliver briefings, tabletop exercises, and advisory services to clients, partners, and stakeholders across government and industry. A core part of my work is building and expanding strategic partnerships that improve intelligence sharing and organizational resilience. Beyond client work, I’m a frequent public speaker and technical writer, publishing weekly threat research through my Cyber Threat Bulletin, and presenting at industry conferences, webinars, and training events. I also serve on the board of the Cyberjutsu, supporting the next generation of women in cybersecurity.

John Stoner

Speaker & Conference Organizer

John Stoner is a seasoned cybersecurity leader and Senior Technical Instructor at Mandiant (Google), bringing over 26 years of experience in national security and Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI). Over his three years at Google, including key roles as a Senior Security Consultant for Google Public Sector, John has delivered strategic CTI recommendations and specialized training to global commercial enterprises and government partners worldwide. John’s foundational expertise is deeply rooted in his ten years of active-duty military service as a United States Army SIGINT Analyst. Following his distinguished military career, he spent over 16 years specializing in CTI, serving in critical leadership positions such as Chief of Analytics and Deputy Director at the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3). A respected defense industry voice, John frequently speaks at BlackHat, RSAC, international conferences and leverages his extensive military intelligence and threat intelligence background to train the next generation of cyber defenders today.

Philip Wylie

Speaker

Phillip Wylie is a globally recognized cybersecurity expert, ethical hacker, author, and keynote speaker with over 21 years of experience in information security. As the host of The Phillip Wylie Show, a leading cybersecurity podcast, he shares insights from top industry experts to help professionals and organizations navigate the evolving cybersecurity landscape. Known for his expertise in offensive security he has experience in penetration testing, and red teaming, Phillip also conducts dynamic hands-on workshops and engaging presentations at conferences worldwide. Passionate about cybersecurity education, mentorship, and awareness, Phillip is dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations to protect their digital assets and enhance their security posture.

Tyrone Wilson

Speaker

Tyrone E. Wilson is a US Army veteran and Founder & CEO of Cover6 Solutions, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned cybersecurity consulting and training firm. A former Training NCOIC and Cyber Operations Trainer with 1st IO Command/INSCOM, his background is network defense and incident response. In 2012, he founded what became a 9,800-member cybersecurity community, using it to teach himself to teach — Pentester Prep, Intro to Cyber, SOC Analyst Prep, Attack & Defend, and Summer Cyber Camp all started as meetup sessions before schools and organizations began paying for them. Today Cover6 delivers penetration testing and vCISO services to commercial and public-sector clients, and Cover6 Academy runs live Splunk labs fed by real internet attack traffic. He also built Chrysalus, where veterans opt in to verified, skills-based profiles instead of resume black holes.

Crystal Morin

Speaker

Crystal is a cybersecurity strategist at Sysdig, a company founded by the creators of Wireshark, Stratoshark, and Falco. She is tasked with bridging the gap between business and security through cloud and container-focused webinars and papers for everyone from executives to technical practitioners. She was originally a threat research engineer on the Sysdig Threat Research Team, where Crystal spent her time discovering and analyzing cyber threat actors who took advantage of the cloud. Crystal started her career as a linguist and intelligence analyst in the United States Air Force. Prior to joining Sysdig, she spent four years as a contractor for Booz Allen Hamilton, researching and reporting on terrorism and cyber threats. Crystal was responsible for helping to develop and mature Booz Allen’s cyber threat intelligence community and threat-hunting capabilities.

Ashley Sequeira

Keynote Speaker

"Ashley Sequeira is a Senior Solutions Engineer at Censys Search, where she specializes in threat intelligence, adversary hunting, and security operations. Her research focuses on Hybrid warfare campaigns and influence operations. She is best known for her multi-year investigation into the SuperBox, VSeeBox, and MagaBox device ecosystems which was featured in KrebsOnSecurity and on Darknet Diaries. Ashley brings a rare multi-disciplinary perspective to threat analysis by pairing deep infrastructure security with human-centric fields like rhetoric and propaganda by examining not just how nation-state campaigns operate, but why they succeed. Her background spans engineering, SecOps, and AppSec roles across Google Cloud Security, Cyware, and Palo Alto Networks. At Google, she authored curriculum for the Google Cybersecurity Certificate on Coursera and helped scale SecOps tooling globally. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Ashley served 12 years as an IT Specialist, Army Band musician, and competitive athlete on the All-Army Taekwondo Team. Today, she remains deeply engaged in the security community as Chief Security Officer for BSides Las Vegas, an active volunteer at DefCon, ShmooCon, and CactusCon, and an adjunct professor teaching cyber operations at Boise State University and Sacramento City College. Ashley holds a Master’s degree in Cyber Operations & Resiliency from Boise State University, holds multiple industry GIAC certifications, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Cyber Defense at Dakota State University. Outside of cybersecurity, she is a competitive powerlifter and an avid WWE wrestling fan."

Marcus Schober

Speaker

Markus Schober is the founder of a blue team training and consulting company named Blue Cape Security. Prior to that, he served as a manger and Principal Security Consultant at IBM X-Force Incident Response. Over the past decade he has led numerous cyber security breach investigations for major organizations, where he specialized in Incident Response, Digital Forensics and Crisis Management.

Laura Khalil

Speaker

Laura Khalil is a corporate veteran and professional Dungeon Master who has seen exactly what teams need to succeed. As founder of Once Upon a Roll, she uses tabletop roleplaying games to help teams communicate, collaborate, and respond to change. She spent 13+ years consulting for companies like GE, Intel, Twitter, and Intuit, and has run games for the CDC, manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies. Laura believes the best teams, like the best adventuring parties, know how to work together when the stakes are real

Bryson Bort

Speaker

Bryson is the Founder of SCYTHE, a start-up building a next-generation attack emulation platform, and GRIMM, a boutique cybersecurity consultancy, and Co-Founder of the ICS Village, a non-profit advancing awareness of industrial control system security. He is a Senior Fellow for Cybersecurity and National Security at R Street and the National Security Institute and an Advisor to the Army Cyber Institute and DHS/CISA. Prior, Bryson led an elite offensive capabilities development group. As a U.S. Army Officer, he served as a Battle Captain and Brigade Engineering Officer in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom before leaving the Army as a Captain.

Kirsten Renner

Speaker

Kirsten Renner is the Founder of Dynamic Talent Solutions LLC and HireSummit.io, a longtime cybersecurity community leader, and the author of CLIMB. With more than 20 years in technical recruiting, she has interviewed and hired thousands of professionals and helped organizations rapidly scale their teams through growth and acquisition. Kirsten has delivered more than 50 talks at conferences including DEF CON, ShmooCon, and BSides events across the country and currently serves on the ICS Village Board leading Workforce Development. A passionate mentor and advocate for transitioning service members, veterans, and cybersecurity professionals, she regularly provides career coaching, resume reviews, interview preparation, and the occasional well-timed introduction. When she's not helping people navigate their next career move, you'll likely find her running an ultra, visiting her two adult sons and grand-fur-babies, or at a con near you—and she rarely turns down a selfie.

Joe Marshall

Speaker

Joe Marshall is a Senior IoT Security Strategist with Cisco Talos Intelligence Group, where he focuses on industrial control systems and operational technology security. Joe has travelled the world to help defend power grids, save lives, and help others fight the good fight. He co-hosts the Beers with Talos podcast, and has spoken at RSA Conference, Cisco Live, S4, and a long list of regional security events.

Shawn Fuss

Speaker

Shawn is a third-generation veteran having served in the United States Marine Corps from 1991 to 1995. He joined Fortinet in his current role of Sales Engineer in June 2024. Prior to Fortinet, Shawn worked in multiple industries such as Banking and Finance, Healthcare including medical research, Higher Education, Manufacturing, and Nanotechnology and Nanoscience Research. Holding positions of entry level technician to Sr. Engineer to Sr. Management and Leadership. Shawn has been a champion for the Fortinet Veterans Program, engaging with any interested Veteran and Spouse to grow and enable them in the world of Cybersecurity.

Gabe Jaggi

Speaker

Gabe started out his love for communications reading zines about phreaking and building red boxes. He is a veteran of 13 years in the Marine Corps doing every communication platform they have. After working with legacy systems so long he left the Marines and switched to being a GS as a Department of Army Civilian. Starting over in Germany at one of the Army’s five Regional Hub Nodes he ended that career at Fort Bragg. Having done 25 years of military communications it was time to move into sales as an engineer for Palo Alto Networks where he’s been for the last 2 years.

Drew Hjelm

Speaker

Drew Hjelm is the founder of Helm Information Security, a boutique cybersecurity consultancy based in Wisconsin, specializing in business email compromise response and fractional CISO services. He holds GSE #236, one of roughly 300 awarded worldwide, along with CISSP, GCFA, GREM, GCIH, and other GIAC certifications, and an MSISE from the SANS Technology Institute. Drew served as a Director of Information Security at a healthcare interoperability company, led a forensic team at a digital forensics and incident response firm, and worked as a designated support engineer at a cybersecurity vendor. His background spans hundreds of digital forensics and incident response cases, including ransomware, business email compromise, and network intrusions, along with earlier service in the U.S. Army Signal Corps.

Cody Ronk

Speaker

Cody Ronk is a Marine Corps veteran and cybersecurity sales professional focused on the public sector. After leaving the Marine Corps as a Sergeant, he worked in numerous roles including overseas contracting until he transitioned into the technology industry and built his career in cybersecurity sales supporting state and local government organizations. Cody believes veterans can be more effective in their job search by using the same skills that drive success in sales: identifying the right opportunities, reaching the right people, building relationships, and following up with purpose. Cody is passionate about helping veterans better communicate their value, build stronger professional networks, and use tools like LinkedIn strategically to create career opportunities.

Daniel Rogers

Speaker

Dan Rogers, aka sp0r!um, works as a Security Engineer. He held various IT and engineering roles before transitioning into cybersecurity. In his current position, his duties include incident response, tool deployment and tuning, and detection engineering, alongside developing a Red Team program. In his free time, he contributes to Atomic Red Team, analyzes malware, and reads up on the latest cyberattacks.

Andrew Schoka

Speaker

Andrew is the CEO & Co-Founder of Hardshell, a venture-backed AI security startup based in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a former U.S. Army Cyber Warfare Officer with assignments across U.S. Cyber Command, the Cyber National Mission Force, ARCYBER, and USSOCOM. He holds an MBA from UVA Darden, an M.S. in Cybersecurity from Georgia Tech, and an M.E. in Systems Engineering from UVA.

Vince Crissler

Keynote Speaker

Vince Crisler began his cybersecurity career in the US Air Force, commissioned on December 7, 2001, and separated as a Captain in 2008. The Air Force took him from running networks at Ramstein Air Base to the Pentagon's National Military Command Center to the White House, where he served as Chief Information Security Officer for the Executive Office of the President and built the White House's first 24x7x365 security operations center. After government service he co-founded Dark Cubed, raised more than $10M in venture funding, earned two US patents, and led the company to its acquisition by Celerium, where he serves today as Chief Strategy Officer and CISO. The Dark Cubed platform was selected by the DoD Cyber Crime Center to protect defense contractors. He is a director of SCI Engineered Materials and co-founder of Motherwell Distilling.

Steve Waterhouse

Speaker

Capt(ret) Steve Waterhouse, CD, CISSP, is a cybersecurity consultant, speaker, and one of Canada's first "cyber-soldiers." A retired captain of the Royal 22e Régiment and CIC, he built and secured some of the Canadian Armed Forces' first administrative networks before becoming the first Information Systems Security Officer at CFB Montreal and the Royal Military College Saint-Jean. He later served as Quebec's first Assistant Deputy Minister of Government Information Security and Cybersecurity. Steve advises committees of the House of Commons of Canada and the Quebec National Assembly on cybersecurity policy, lectures at Université de Sherbrooke's master's microprogram in information security, and is a regular expert commentator in Canadian media. Through his consultancy, INFOSECSW, he delivers training and keynotes on critical infrastructure protection, regulatory compliance, and building a culture of security.

Connie Hill

Speaker

Connie Hill is a US Navy Veteran and Website Developer focused on security, accessibility, and sustainability. Ian Hill is a CompTIA PenTest+ Certified and CompTIA Security+ Certified Consultant. Together they are Hitsaru, a consulting firm specializing in Information Security and Website Development + Management for small businesses and nonprofits.

Andrew Scott

Speaker

Andrew Scott is an AI security engineer, Army cyber officer, and founder of Evening Star AI with more than 15 years across cybersecurity, applied AI, autonomous systems, and mission-critical engineering. He serves with the Michigan Army National Guard’s 172nd Cyber Protection Team, where he leads defensive cyber operations, threat hunting, vulnerability management, incident-response readiness, and OT/ICS security activities. In his civilian work, Andrew supports enterprise security operations and AI/LLM assessments across sensitive and regulated environments. His research focuses on prompt injection, insecure retrieval, unsafe tool use, authorization failures, sensitive-data exposure, agentic workflow risk, and governance for autonomous AI systems. His engineering background shaped his emphasis on bounded authority, observability, fallback behavior, and accountability. Andrew holds an M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering, an MBA, and certifications including TAISE, GCPN, GSLC, GPEN, and GISP.

Bradley Evans

Speaker

Hi! I’m Squelch. I founded the competitive cybersecurity teams at a University of California campus, which is now in its 11th year of operation. Some competitions I’ve participated in: - Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition (team captain, three times, highest score was 1st in the defense category and 3rd overall) - National Cyber League (NCL) (where I was in the top 100 nationally in preseason for a while) - picoCTF - Various DEF CON CTFs (DC Darknet Challenge, Snackey where we just got 2nd) Additionally, I have a masters in Computer Engineering and a bachelors in Electrical Engineering (minor in Computer Science). I am currently working in industry as a security researcher, software engineer, and reverse engineer, a job I got through friends made doing CTF.

Josh Mason

Speaker

Josh Mason is a Solutions Architect at Synack, founder of Noob Village, and a cybersecurity consultant. With a background as a U.S. Air Force pilot and cyber warfare officer, he has developed training programs, advised organizations on security strategies, and mentored individuals entering the field. Josh is passionate about helping newcomers in cybersecurity and regularly speaks at industry conferences while supporting education through community and non-profit initiatives.

Douglas Kaluhiokalani

Speaker

Douglas Kaluhiokalani is a Senior Incident Response and Threat Hunting leader with 17+ years defending critical infrastructure, financial services, and OT/ICS environments against nation-state adversaries. He led cybersecurity threat hunts on nation state hacking groups, protecting $5.17B in assets during a critical engagement, and directed a $250M OT/ICS microsegmentation program across 28 sites. He serves as a NATO CCDCOE Blue Team leader (265 personnel, 40 countries) and Senior Mentor/Coach for the US Cyber Games 2026 team. A USAF veteran, he is also a published author on nation-state APT cyber operations.

Lauren Howard

Speaker

Lauren ""L2"" Howard Everyone calls her L2. She was the second Lauren on a team, and it just stuck. In March 2021, L2 left the job she planned to retire at because something just wasn’t right. Through that journey, she discovered that so many professionals felt the same way — unsatisfied, unfulfilled, and unappreciated in their roles. The problem wasn’t them. It was that people are taught to take their worth from the opinions of others rather than inherently believing they are worth all of it and more. Today, she runs a digital health consulting company focused on telehealth, and she founded elletwo — a platform for professionals to speak their truth and find their power. She is also the founder of the Different Not Broken network, where she hosts her own podcast, You're Not Too Much. This isn’t about fitting into corporate molds. It’s about showing up as a whole person, cracks and all.

Alison Baldyga

L2 EA - Director of Creative Operations

Director of Creative Operations

Ian Hill

Speaker

Ian Hill is a CompTIA PenTest+ Certified and CompTIA Security+ Certified Consultant. Connie Hill is a US Navy Veteran and Website Developer focused on security, accessibility, and sustainability. Together they are Hitsaru, a consulting firm specializing in Information Security and Website Development + Management for small businesses and nonprofits.

Sara Rabinovitch, PhD

Speaker

Dr. Sara Rabinovitch, PhD, is a clinical and workforce psychologist and Chief Science Officer of Ansera Health. She began her career working with veterans at the Portland VA, Eugene Vet Center, and through rural telemental health—work she remains deeply passionate about. Today, she applies the science of stress, resilience, and recovery to cybersecurity and other high-pressure workforces.

Natasha D'Arcangelo

Speaker

Natasha is a nationally recognized clinical leader and international speaker specializing in compassion fatigue. She is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in Florida, Idaho, Iowa and Washington and a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Delaware, Montana, South Carolina and Virginia. She is also a Florida Qualified Supervisor. She received her Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Argosy University, Sarasota. Natasha is the owner of D’Arcangelo Counseling & Consulting, LLC, bringing over a decade of experience across education, the inpatient psychiatric setting, community mental health, private practice, nonprofit leadership, and mental health tech. She helps care professionals recognize the signs of burnout and compassion fatigue-and offers tools to build resilience and reconnect to purpose.