L.I. Cybersecurity Conference

Hon. Michael A.L. Balboni
President and Managing Director
RedLand Strategies

The Hon. Michael A.L. Balboni is the President and Managing Director of RedLand Strategies, a full-service consulting firm whose suite of services includes risk management, disaster recovery, strategic communication, emergency planning, business development, and government relations. RedLand is equipped with the expertise, experience, and contacts necessary to help businesses and government agencies endure crises and maximize their potential.

Before entering the private sector, Mr. Balboni served as a public servant of the State of New York for 19 years, beginning with his election to the New York State Assembly in February of 1990. He was reelected as an assemblyman four times, before being elected to the New York State Senate in November of 1997. As a Senator, Mr. Balboni represented the seventh Senate District, located in Nassau County, and was named Chairman of the Committee on Veterans, Homeland Security, and Military Affairs. He was the first senator ever appointed as Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee. Mr. Balboni's chairmanship in these areas was fundamental to the enactment of nearly every anti-terrorism law in New York State, including the criminalization of acts of biological and chemical terrorism, the nation's first chemical plant security law, water plant security law, and pet sheltering laws for disasters. Many of these state laws became models for national legislation. He also played an integral role in the creation of the State's Office of Homeland Security.

In 2007, Mr. Balboni left the State Senate to become Deputy Secretary for Public Safety and Homeland Security Advisor for New York State. As Deputy Secretary, Mr. Balboni was the Senior Homeland Security and Law Enforcement official for the State of New York, overseeing thirteen state agencies composed of 63,000 employees and a budget of $5 billion. During his tenure, he was instrumental in the creation of several innovative programs, including New York Alerts, the Critical Infrastructure Suspicious Activity Reporting System, and Empire Shield Reconfiguration. Mr. Balboni also served as the Governor's representative to the “Secure the City” program, the nuclear notification officer for the Governor's office, and was security chair for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation. Mr. Balboni made it his top priority as Deputy Secretary to secure hundreds of millions of dollars for first responders to protect New York City and State during some of its most vulnerable years.

the Homeland Security Transition team. In 2010, he was appointed to the Homeland Security and Public Safety Transition team for Governor-Elect Cuomo. The following year, Governor Cuomo appointed Mr. Balboni to the Savings and Government Efficiency (SAGE) Commission, where he helped New York State revamp its emergency responses. The Governor also appointed Mr. Balboni as a member to the New York State Responds Commission, which looks to improve the state's infrastructure after the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy.

Today, Mr. Balboni is the Executive Director of Greater New York Health Care Facilities Association, is on the Board of Directors of the Washington Center, is a Trustee of the New York State Trooper Memorial Foundation, is on the Board of Directors for the George Washington Center for Cyber and Homeland Security, and is a member of Rivkin Radler's Corporate and Health Services Practice Groups.

Mr. Balboni appears often on Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC to discuss homeland security and terrorism. He is an avid speaker at conferences around the world, and recently presented at the BCI World Conference in London and the SupplySide West Expo in Las Vegas.

Nicholas Barone
Director, Consulting Services Group
Eisner Amper

Nicholas Barone is a Director within Eisner Amper's Consulting Services Group based in New York. As a recognized computer forensics expert, Nicholas has managed hundreds of incident response, computer forensic, PHI, PII and PCI related investigations in the U.S. and globally. Nicholas's work has been reported in the national media, periodicals and respected internet blogs such as the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek and Krebs On Security while in law enforcement and private industry roles. Nicholas uses his hacking expertise and legacy systems knowledge to perform data breach, discovery, investigation, and/or IT vulnerability risk and compromise assessments. He has also worked with a number of America's Fortune 500 companies across a range of industries in the related fields of risk identification and remediation, IT audit, and penetration testing assignments.

Matthew Brown
Vice President
Network Solutions and Technology (NST)

Matt Brown has been in the IT industry for over 20 years and is one of the founding partners at Network Solutions and Technology. After graduating from Hofstra with a bachelor's degree of management information systems, he started immediately as a sales engineer at Derive Technologies, providing enterprise level solutions for Fortune 1000 companies. Matt helped start NST in 2000 by ensuring that the right solutions were presented to the NST client base and partnering with the leading manufacturers of IT hardware and software products. Currently, Matt leads the sales, finance and project team at NST. However, the majority of his time is spent as a VCIO (Virtual Chief Information Officer) for many of the NST clients. A VCIO is responsible for orchestrating a technology strategy that will ensure that they operate efficiently and meet their business goals by utilizing today's technology.

Some of these tasks include: meeting with clients at least twice a year to discuss their business in terms of budget and strategic planning; making sure NST is supporting them properly; discussing any new technological developments that may benefit the client organization and bring additional profit to their bottom line; and ensuring that their technology and data is secure, well-managed and in keeping with industry-accepted best practices.

Laurin Buchanan
CISSP
Secure Decisions

Laurin Buchanan is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with over 20 years’ experience managing, securing and defending corporate networks, most recently at a Fortune 1000 company. Now a cybersecurity researcher at Secure Decisions in Northport, NY, she serves as Principal Investigator on R&D projects focusing on cybersecurity education, modeling and improving the cybersecurity decision processes, and cyber mission assurance. Her operational experience informs her research projects, which are currently funded by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Science & Technology Directorate - Cyber Security Division (DHS S&T CSD) and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. She is an active member of NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Working Group and is a frequent speaker at cybersecurity conferences and events.

John J. Cooney, Esq
Chair, Cybersecurity & Data Privacy
Partner
Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.

John J. Cooney is a partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek P.C. where he is chair of the firm's Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice Group, and a member of the firm's Health Law Department, and the White Collar Crime and Investigations Practice Group.

John has successfully represented clients in a wide variety of sophisticated criminal and civil cases involving federal and state authorities, including matters involving breach investigations, responses and regulatory defense. In addition, he has successfully protected the interests of healthcare professionals and corporations in federal asset forfeiture, sentencing proceedings and professional disciplinary proceedings, including OPMC and OPD. John has also served as law clerk to the Honorable Joseph F. Bianco in the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York.

He came to Ruskin Moscou Faltischek P.C. with over 15 years of management and leadership experience at various Fortune 200 companies. He is a former U.S. Marine Corps officer and combat veteran of the Persian Gulf War. After serving his country, he was trained as a software engineer at Columbia University, and his technical background proves particularly useful in the cybersecurity and data privacy arena as well as in complex fraud investigations and litigation, including healthcare fraud, OIG fraud, OMIG fraud, Medicare fraud, and RAC and health plan billing audits, which have increasingly involved information technologies and analytics.

He received his Juris Doctor at Touro Law School, where he was class valedictorian. He was a Nassau County Bar Association Moot Court Champion and received numerous awards for academic excellence. In August 2010, he was named an adjunct professor at Touro Law School. In that capacity, he teaches a weekly legal writing and analysis class for law students.

Besides his professional accomplishments, John dedicates a substantial amount of time to serving the Long Island community. He is currently the commander of the Northport American Legion Post 694, which actively supports Long Island's youth, veterans, and those in need. In addition, for over a decade, he has led the effort to supply combat gear to Long Island's brave men and women serving overseas and to assist their families at home. His efforts have been recognized and commended by Long Island leaders and he most recently received the 2014 Social Work Community Recognition Award from the Northport VA Medical Center.

His practice areas include: cybersecurity and data privacy; digital media law; health law: regulatory; municipal and government affairs; and white collar crime and investigations.

Pat M Darienzo, CISSP
Chief Information Security Officer
Catholic Health Services of Long Island

Pat Darienzo is currently the CISO for Catholic Health Services of Long Island, having worked in Information Technology for over 30 years in the educational, marketing, financial, energy and health care sectors. In addition to key positions at North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health Systems, KeySpan Energy/National Grid, and Chase Manhattan Bank, Mr. Darienzo has taught IT-related classes for over 10 years as an adjunct professor of mathematics at both Molloy College and Hofstra University. He has delivered presentations on cyber and financial fraud to local law enforcement groups, developed security awareness presentations for business and home users, and has presented at numerous conferences across the country, including SecureCISO NYC, the NYS Cyber Security Conference, and the INFOSEC World CISO Executive Summit. Mr. Darienzo has also developed and led many successful incident response teams, working closely with legal, internal audit, corporate security, law enforcement and executive management personnel during internal and external investigations.

Currently, Mr. Darienzo is responsible for the enterprise security program for Catholic Health Services, which is comprised of six hospitals, three nursing homes, a regional home care and hospice network, and a community-based agency for individuals with special needs. His team is responsible for providing information security governance and HIPAA privacy for almost 20,000 employees and 5,000 credentialed physicians who work within the CHS system, as well as over a million patients annually.

Peter DiSpirito
Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer
Flushing Bank

Mr. DiSpirito is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for Flushing Bank, where he is responsible for the implementation and management of the Bank's Cyber and Information Security Governance Program. This program includes the policies, procedures, and automated tools designed to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the Bank's assets as well as its customers' information and financial data. In addition to the Bank's internal information security program, Peter DiSpirito is also responsible for cyber and information security risk analysis which assists the organization in identifying and preparing for both internal and external threats. Last year, Peter revamped the organization's employee cyber training program to include more relevant topics such as phishing awareness, ransomware, and wi-fi safety. He ensures that the Bank is in compliance with enhanced information security guidelines for 2017 as defined by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) Cyber Security Requirements for Financial Services. As the financial services industry is a significant target of cyber security threats, Peter continually monitors and prepares for the ever-evolving threat landscape and drives improvements to the Bank's cyber security program.

Prior to joining Flushing Bank in January 2014, Peter worked for more than 17 years at First Data Corporation in Melville where he held various positions including Vice President of Operations and Technology, Senior Director of Application Development, and Director of Data Base Administration. Prior to First Data Corporation, he held positions at Oracle Corporation, and Weight Watchers International.

Peter earned an MBA from Adelphi University and BBA from Hofstra. His certifications include CISM (Certified Information Security Manager) and CCISO (Certified Chief Information Security Officer).

Kathy Hughes
Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Northwell Health

Kathy Hughes is the VP, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Northwell Health (formerly North Shore-LIJ). In this position, Kathy is responsible for overseeing the Information Security Technology, Application/Data Security, IT Risk Management, Security Investigations and Disaster Recovery programs. She has overall responsibility for the development and implementation of corporate information security policies, standards and guidelines and ensuring that appropriate tools and metrics are in place to allow for effective monitoring, measurement and control of risk.

Prior to joining Northwell Health, Kathy was a member of the Eclipsys/Allscripts Account Leadership Team where she headed the Infrastructure, Network Services and Data Center Operations teams for North Shore LIJ. Before that, she worked at The Estee Lauder Companies where she directed the Global Data Network and Infrastructure Services support teams. Earlier, she worked at Stonybrook University Hospital and Publishers Clearing House where she led the Infrastructure Technology, Desktop Support, Help Desk and IT Security departments.

Kathy graduated from Molloy College where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a double minor in Economics and Computer Science. She subsequently earned her MBA in Business Computer Information Systems from Hofstra University and has obtained various technical and professional certifications, including PMP, ITIL, CCDA, CCENT and CNE.

Stephanie Musso - Mantione
Chief Information Privacy & Security Officer
Stony Brook Medicine Information Technology (SBMIT)
Clinical Assistant Professor, School of Health Technology Management

Ms. Musso-Mantione is the Chief Information Privacy and Security Officer for Stony Brook Medicine and the Suffolk Care Collaborative (DSRIP). Stephanie is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Stony Brook University School of Health Technology Management in both undergraduate and graduate programs. She has worked at Stony Brook for over 30 years. Her past positions include Coordinator of Quality Assurance, Research and Mammography Services for the Department of Radiology, Nurse Manager of the Carol M. Baldwin Breast Care Center, and Nurse Manager of the General Clinical Research Center. Ms. Musso-MMantione served as a member of Stony Brook University's Institutional Review Board (IRB) from 2000 – 2013 and continues to serve on the IRB Privacy Board. She is an active member of the American Health Information Management Association, Health Care Compliance Association, International Association of Privacy Professionals, Health Information Management Systems Society, (ISC)2 and Greater New York Hospital Association Privacy/Security, HIT and DSRIP Workgroups. Stephanie was instrumental in bringing Casting for Recovery (CFR) to Long Island in 2000 and still enjoys serving as the retreat coordinator and medical facilitator for the CFR Long Island program.

Pete Maritato

Professor Maritato has spent almost 30 years as Academic Chair of Engineering Science and Industrial Technology at Suffolk County Community College. In this role, he oversees the Cybersecurity, Engineering Science, Electrical Technology, Construction Technology, and Fire Science programs. He has 15 years of industry experience and 27 years in academia. He is also the Project Director of NSF-LIGHTES ($675,000) grant for the development of a two-year applied associate degree in Cyber Security and co-director of a $2.9 million grant from the US DOL that will support expanded internships in cybersecurity.

Nicole Della Ragione, Esq.
Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Associate
Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C.

Nicole Della Ragione is an Associate at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, P.C., where she is a member of the firm's Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Practice group, Health Law Department, and the White Collar Crime and Investigations Practice Group.

Since joining the firm, Nicole's practice has focused in the cybersecurity arena as well as federal and state litigation. Nicole has been engaged in numerous cybersecurity engagements ranging across industries and of all sizes. Her work includes advising businesses based on their level of cyber-preparedness and conducting risk and threat assessments; incident response planning; immediate incident response and remediation; compliance gap analyses; and defending against enforcement actions, government investigations and private party civil actions.

During law school Nicole was Notes Editor of the Hofstra Law Review, was an active competitive member of Hofstra's Moot Court Board, and a member of the Hofstra Trial Advocacy Association. Her practice areas include: cybersecurity and data privacy; health law: regulatory; IDA and municipal development incentives; and white collar crime and investigations.

Benjamin Sondgeroth, CISSP
Principal Cybersecurity Engineer, Global Cyber Security
Office of the CISO, CA Technologies

Benjamin Sondgeroth received a Bachelor of Science degree in integrated science business and technology from LaSalle University, a Master's of Science degree in information assurance and security from Mercy College, and recently obtained his Certified Information Systems Security Professional certification. Mr. Sondgeroth serves as a Principal Cybersecurity Engineer at CA Technologies, where he oversees the vulnerability management program that he developed for the company. He also runs operations and performs penetration testing, social engineering, incident escalations and training and is the primary contact for security at CA Technologies' yearly trade show. He has been fortunate enough to go to Defcon twice.

CA Technologies, is an American multinational publicly held corporation headquartered in New York City. It ranks as one of the largest independent software corporations in the world. The company creates systems software (and previously applications software) that runs in mainframe, distributed computing, virtual machine and cloud computing environments.