Security Workgroup
Thursday, December 14, 2023
1:00pm – 2:00pm

Click here to register for Webex

Proactively Reducing Cyber Risk
Guest Presenters:
Chris Cruz, Public Sector CIO, Tanium
Jennifer Pittman-Leeper (JPL), Cybersecurity Whole of State Strategist, GMI – Global Market Innovators
Zachary Nandapurkar, Technical Account Manager, Tanium

Measuring and controlling cyber risk is a challenge that every public sector entity is facing – especially when it comes to monitoring critical industries. It can be overwhelming to keep up with the constant barrage of cyber threats aimed at public sector entities. However, there are leaders all around the country who have embarked on a whole-of-government approach to measuring and managing their IT risk. It starts with relationship building, collaborating with stakeholders, and real-time visibility. 

This session will feature a panel discussion on how to proactively reduce cyber risk with a bird’s-eye-view across departments and business units. The discussion will highlight a recent case study from the State of Hawaii , who won the 2023 NASCIO award in the cybersecurity category for their risk dashboard. The session will also draw parallels between real-time risk dashboarding and a whole of government approach making cybersecurity management a team sport. 

Bio: Chris serves as Tanium’s Public Sector CIO, bringing over 31 years of public sector leadership to the role, including tenure as the Director and CIO for the County of San Joaquin in Stockton, California. Before that, he served as the State of California’s Deputy CIO, and was the CIO for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, the Department of Health Care Services, and was the first such leader for the Health Benefits Exchange, now referred to as Covered California.

Chris earned a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Management from California State University at Sacramento, and a certification from the UC Davis Master’s Program in Leadership Excellence. He was recently recognized by Forbes on their 2023 CIO Next List for top level achievements and received national honors from the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) as the 2018 State Technology Innovator of the Year. 

Bio: JPL comes to GMI after a two-decade career at the State of Arizona where she recently served as the State Cyber Security Program Manager. In this role, JPL brought together multiple state agencies to identify enterprise solutions and develop state cybersecurity policies. JPL led multiple Enterprise cybersecurity tool deployments and implementations. Additionally, she managed the statewide cybersecurity grant program which brought security tools to local municipalities. JPL created various governance models that are still active today. Previously, JPL served as a legislative liaison, project manager, customer success manager, and Executive Director across multiple Economic and Workforce Development boards and commissions.

Bio: As a Technical Account Manager at Tanium, Zach builds innovative solutions for state and local government clients across the US, and help them achieve their business objectives leveraging the Tanium platform. He has 5+ years of experience in this role, and I am Microsoft & Tanium Certified with advanced skills in solutions engineering and customer success.

Zach has architected a NASCIO award-winning cyber risk scoring solution that has been adopted by multiple state and county governments.  He is a government technology speaker and a featured panelist at the 2022 California Cybersecurity Education Summit. His mission is to empower public sector entities to secure and manage their endpoints, reduce risk, and improve cybersecurity posture.

Please note: Upon registering, you will receive the webex information within the confirmation email