Panel 1: Scorecard
Panel 1: The High-Stakes Scorecard: Proactive Risk Assessment for Major Event sets the foundational tone, moving beyond general cyber hygiene to address the specific, amplified threats posed by large-scale, globally visible events.
Using the 2026 World Cup and 2028 Olympic Games as our lens, this session delves into the complexities of identifying, quantifying, and prioritizing cyber-physical risks across the entire event ecosystem.
Topics Covered Include:
- Novel threat vectors targeting Operational Technology systems - from stadium climate controls and transportation grids to broadcast infrastructure and athlete tracking;
- Methodologies for modeling cascading failures, mapping vulnerabilities at the convergence of digital and kinetic systems, and translating complex threat data into actionable intelligence for executive decision-makers;
- Establishing a shared risk language between cybersecurity, physical security, and political stakeholders to ensure defense strategies are fully integrated, not siloed.
PANEL 1 SPEAKERS
Cory Simpson - Moderator
CEO, Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT)
- Read Cory Simpson's Bio
Cory Simpson has over twenty years of experience in government, the military, and the private sector, specializing in national security, cybersecurity, business, law, and strategy.
He served in the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps from 2004 to 2016 and continues as a legal advisor to U.S. Army Cyber Command. His military career includes roles as general counsel, prosecutor, and national security law advisor, with multiple combat tours and extensive trial experience.
Cory is the CEO of Gray Space Strategies, a strategic advisory firm, and the Institute for Critical Infrastructure Technology (ICIT), a nonprofit think tank dedicated to critical infrastructure security. He also serves as a senior advisor to CSC 2.0, continuing the work of the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission, and is on the Board of Directors for the Cyber Guild.
Cory holds a Master of Laws in Military Law, a Juris Doctorate, and a BA in accounting with a minor in philosophy. He is globally recognized for creating effective solutions to complex challenges.
Vitaliy Panych
Chief Information Security Officer,
State of California
- Read Vitaliy Panych's Bio
Vitaliy Panych serves as the State Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for California, where he leads the strategic defense of the nation’s largest state digital economy. In this role, he oversees the California Department of Technology’s Office of Information Security, responsible for safeguarding the nation's largest collection of state digital assets across more than 140 departments and agencies.
Since his appointment by Governor Gavin Newsom, Mr. Panych has spearheaded high-impact initiatives to modernize the state’s defensive posture, including the development and execution of "Cal-Secure," California’s first multi-year cybersecurity roadmap. His leadership focuses on building resilience through inter-agency collaboration, strengthening the state’s cybersecurity workforce, and establishing governance for emerging technologies, including Generative AI.
Mr. Panych previously served as the Agency CISO for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. His work has earned him national recognition, including the NASCIO Thomas M. Jarrett State Cybersecurity Leadership Award and the CyberScoop 50 Government Leadership Award.
Jen Sovada
General Manager, Public Sector,
Claroty
- Read Jen Sovada's Bio
Colonel (Ret.) Jen Sovada, a Forbes 50 Over 50 for Innovation honoree, is General Manager of Public Sector at Claroty, an OT cybersecurity leader, and founder of Boadicea Solutions, which focuses on emerging technology, global public-sector growth, and talent management.
She previously served as President of SandboxAQ’s Global Public Sector and now continues as a Senior Advisor, addressing government challenges involving quantum, AI, and problems beyond classical computing.
Earlier, she was Chief Futures Officer at MissionTech Solutions, acquired by Avantus Federal in 2020. Jen is also an associate professor at Georgetown University, teaching graduate courses in Quantum Information Sciences and National Security, contributes to George Mason’s NSI Cyber and Tech Center Tech Leaders and Innovators Council, serves on the Board of Directors for the Intelligence and National Security Alliance, participates in Beazley’s cyber and AI councils, advises several early-stage startups, and is a venture advisor for Squadra Ventures.
Jeremy Stanley
Senior Business Solutions Leader,
Cisco Systems
- Read Jeremy Stanley's Bio
Jeremy is responsible for leading Cisco's U.S. Public Sector Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence Ecosystem development.
Over his 19+ years at Cisco, where he deeply focused on cybersecurity strategy and initiatives with governments, universities, and school districts across the United States. He actively participates in and speaks at national conferences such as CoSN, ISTE, ERDI, ASA, NIST, CGCS, ACPE, ASBO, SECCon and Cisco Live. He is a Cisco global security field advisor, leading the collaboration of cybersecurity needs for Cisco’s Public Sector customers.
Jeremy actively encourages cybersecurity collaboration and threat intelligence sharing across and within industries, to enable better information security and cyber resilience. He mentors people interested in pursuing careers in cybersecurity.
Jeremy holds numerous industry certifications such as CISSP, CEH, LPT, TOGAF, CCNP, CCDP, CCSP, CCIP. He has completed graduate certificates at MIT, Stanford, Georgetown, and the Institute of World Politics focusing on Counterterrorism, Cyber Intelligence & Statecraft, and Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure. He is also an active member of Arizona’s InfraGard, graduate of the FBI CCA and contributor to the National Cyber Security Center.
James Winebrenner
CEO of Elisity
- Read James Winebrenner's Bio
James Winebrenner is the CEO of Elisity, joining in November 2020 to lead the company through its next phase of growth. He worked with the founding team to build on early customer momentum, successfully completing a $26M Series A in June 2021 and building out the go-to-market functions for scale.
Most recently, James was SVP, Worldwide Sales at Aviatrix, the leader in multicloud networking, building a marketplace enabled, enterprise GTM and tripling ARR during his tenure.
Previously, James led Global Routing and SD-WAN at Cisco Systems where he was responsible for global go-to-market strategy for the transition from legacy routing to software-defined wide-area and cloud networking. Mr. Winebrenner came to Cisco via the acquisition of Viptela, where he was Vice President, Worldwide Sales, responsible for go-to-market strategy and leadership of the field sales, channels, and business development teams prior to the acquisition in August 2017.
Earlier, Mr. Winebrenner held leadership roles in sales engineering, business development, and technical marketing with Cisco and Check Point Software Technologies.