Murad Dikeidek, Head of Information Security, University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System
Murad is currently the Head of Information Security at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences System (UI Health). Murad’s IT security journey started in 2000 when he became the first IT Security Analyst for the Military Nutrition Division at the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine in Natick, MA. In 2003, Murad left the military and joined UI Health Information Services Department. At that time, security was not much of a concern in healthcare. However, Murad recognized the need for information security in healthcare, and hence he became an advocate of security at UI Health. During his time at UI Health, Murad was exposed to many areas of IT as part of being a member of several IT teams before becoming the first IT Security Engineer and then establishing the first Information Security Team at UI Health in August 2012.
Even though Murad’s main focus since 2003 has been on security in healthcare, he managed to gain lots of security experience and knowledge and contribute to cybersecurity in different industries as a result of his part-time consulting work. As a cybersecurity advocate, Murad created and taught the first pilot cybersecurity course in 2009 at Morton College in Cicero, IL. He later left Morton College and went on to teach cybersecurity courses at several local colleges in Illinois.
Murad holds a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and a master’s degree in Computer Information and Network Security. He also holds several IT certifications: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Penetration Testing Specialist, and Security+.
Murad is considered an innovative, forward-thinking leader and a versatile technologist by many of his peers. He considers information security an art more than a science, and hence he stresses the need for creativity and imagination in finding solutions that create the best balance between security and usability. He also strongly believes that security is not an IT problem, but rather a business problem that can’t be solved unless security becomes everyone’s problem and responsibility.
Adam Fisher, Director, Sales Engineering, West & LATAM., Salt Security
Adam Fisher is an Enterprise Security Expert whose qualifications include a Bachelor of Science in Information Systems, Master of Business in Information Technology Management, and maintains a number of certifications, CISSP, CCSP, AWS Security Associate, Azure MCP. Adam has a detailed knowledge of Enterprise Security best practices and technologies and has been focused on the creation and deployment of solutions protecting networks, systems, and information assets for Fortune 500 companies and Government Agencies. Adam has worked on Secret level clearance projects for the United States Government and the United Kingdom. Deploying security solutions and network technologies while protecting key government data and assets. In addition, Adam is a respected blogger and thought leader on Enterprise Security.
Patrick Kinard, Senior Server Enterprise Operations Manager, Chicago Public Schools
Patrick Kinard is a Senior Server Enterprise Operations Manager at the Chicago Public Schools. He has more than 30 years of information technology management experience in the private and public sectors.
Today, Patrick has a senior role in managing the data service centers for one of the world’s third-largest school districts. He is responsible for all central data center, cloud, and on premise school-based server operations.
Patrick’s previous experience is as an Associate Vice President at J.P Morgan Chase as the leader of the virtualization engineering group, managing technical staff and private cloud environments around the globe for five years. He also served as an engineering manager at HP directing teams that supported brands like General Motors, American Airlines, and BP.
Committed to service and developing others, Patrick has more than 20 years of experience as an information technology instructor supporting underrepresented groups, which is easily one of the highlights of his career. He operates as a mentor and coach to some of Chicago’s most promising information technology students, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Southern Illinois University and has earned multiple information technology management certifications.
Derek Milroy, Information Security, U.S. Cellular
Derek has been implementing security in corporate environments, as both an internal employee and a consultant, for five years. Although he has implemented firewalls, IDSs, and VPNs for various employers and clients he focuses heavily on securing Microsoft hosts and Domain structures. He has hardened hundreds of hosts in environments ranging from less than a dozen servers to enterprise environments with over 1000 servers and thousands of users. In conjunction with hardening he has also crafted and implemented standards, policies, and procedures to maintain the security of his employer’s / client’s environments.
Jeff Roseman, Group VP, Information Technology, Marmon Foodservice Technologies, a Berkshire Hathaway Company
Jeff is an experienced IT executive with over two decades of experience in both technology management and consulting roles. With experience in global business, marketing, sales, business process re-engineering, and as an IT director, CIO and consultant, he has worked both sides of the technology world. Mr. Roseman possesses an extensive background working with regional, national, and international businesses in a variety of industries including professional services, healthcare, distribution, manufacturing, legal, real estate, construction, and non-profit. He has a broad knowledge of IT strategy, networking, telecommunications, training & development, systems integration, mergers and acquisitions, facility relocation, and business continuity planning.
Mr. Roseman continues to be successful moving IT teams from a crises management mentality to predictive, proactive, disciplined organization. He has previously lectured on social media & networking, IT leadership, customer relationship management, endpoint security, and disaster recovery planning. Mr. Roseman has a bachelor’s degree and an MBA in Information Systems and Marketing from the University of Iowa. He mentors undergraduate/MBA students in the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business and serves on College’s SoMAC board. He lives in Wheaton with his wife and two teenage daughters.
Dmitriy Sandler, Director, Presales Systems Engineering, Arctic Wolf
Dmitriy spent the last 20 years in the IT industry in both customer and vendor roles. He has served as both a direct contributor as well as people leader across multiple organizations. Having started out in infrastructure, his focus gradually shifted towards cybersecurity and helping customers protect their assets and IP from the growing threat landscape. In his previous security focused roles Dmitriy worked with clients ranging from mid-market to Fortune 100 with a unique focus on cloud-native deployments. At Arctic Wolf, Dmitriy leads the Great Lakes Enterprise presales team and is determined to further their mission to help customers “End Cyber Risk”.
Annur Sumar, Chief Technology Officer, Cloud Unity
Annur Sumar is a Microsoft Cloud and Datacenter MVP and technology consultant in the areas of Infrastructure Design, Enterprise Content Management, CRM, Microsoft Azure, System Center and Cloud Technologies. Annur is an industry recognized leader and independent speaker around strategic service automation, technology driven process improvements, IT service alignment, engineering best practices and operations management. All of which are targeted in his presentations to helping businesses with complex IT environments lower Total Cost of Ownership and raising Return On Investments.
Prior to joining a Microsoft Partner Consulting firm, Annur served as a Vice President of Technology for Duff & Phelps. One of the world’s leading independent financial advisory firms serving client needs in the areas of valuation, investment banking, transaction advice, and dispute consulting. During his tenure at Duff & Phelps, Annur worked closely with Microsoft product teams and case study managers in providing invaluable feedback around how businesses such as his were able to benefit from cloud technologies that were molded into business solutions. As a Microsoft MVP and industry expert, Annur brings 10 years of experience to work actively with other MVPs and Microsoft Partners to provide industry insight and strategic direction.
Steve Williams, Director, Google Security
Steve has worked within the information security community for nearly a decade and joined Google Cloud Security following Google’s acquisition of Siemplify in early 2022.
Steve’s information security roots date back to 2013 with his work surrounding the social engineering and phishing landscape. He helped PhishLine grow from a Milwaukee based regional startup in 2013 to acquisition by Barracuda Networks in 2018. Following his efforts with PhishLine, Steve led the launch and growth of MediaPRO’s Global Channel and Partner program; helping organizations across North America, EU, & the APAC region launch security and privacy awareness programs to help address the endless barrage of people centric attacks.
Born and raised in Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Steve journeyed to Madison, Wisconsin where he determined that computers and the internet age were far more compelling than dentistry; graduating from Edgewood College in 2001 with a BS, Computer Information Systems. Steve is a dedicated father to his family of four, remains professionally obsessed with the fight against information theft, and believes that humor and laughter are both underrated medicines.
Bryan Wynns, Senior Solutions Engineer, Contrast Security, Inc.
Bryan Wynns is a Senior Solutions Engineer with Contrast Security. Over the past twenty years, Bryan has worked with customers to resolve complex application performance and application security issues. Bryan started his IT career in the financial sector eventually managing the largest data warehouse in the banking industry at the time. Bryan current resides in Raleigh, NC.