Virtual Cybersecurity Summit: ME 2021

Gorka Sadowski

Former Gartner analyst and Chief Strategy Officer, Exabeam

Gorka is Chief Strategy Officer at Exabeam. In his role, he assists the executive team and functional leaders across the company with developing, communicating, executing and sustaining corporate strategic initiatives. Gorka has spent the last 30 years in security with experience spanning leadership roles across product management, sales, marketing and operations. Most recently, Gorka was senior director and security and risk management analyst at Gartner driving coverage for SIEM, SOC, and managed detection and response (MDR), while also leading research for IT leaders on emerging topics. Prior to Gartner, Gorka led business development at Splunk where he established and built the Splunk security ecosystem. Prior to Splunk, he established presence for LogLogic in Southern Europe, ran security activities for Unisys in France and launched the first partner-led intrusion detection and prevention system (IDPS) in the industry as lead for NetScreen’s Emerging Technology efforts. A certified CISSP, Gorka received a computer science degree from Universite de Pau in France before moving to the U.S. as a Ph.D. candidate in network security at the University of Miami.

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Illyas Kooliyankal

Group CISO, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank

Illyas Kooliyankal is the CISO at Abu Dhabi-based ADIB Bank and comes with 20 years of experience in the Information Technology and Cyber Security arena. Before joining ADIB Bank, he was serving Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange (ADX) and Emirates Telecommunication Corporation (ETISALAT) for more than 15 years in Information Security, Business Continuity, IT Infrastructure, and network domains. His practical expertise includes Cyber Security, Information Security, IT Management, Business Continuity, ITIL (IT Infrastructure Library) Framework and COBIT (IT Governance). He has transformed organizations to optimized Information security maturity level from literally non-existent status. He was the Co-Chair and Speaker at the Chief Information Security Officer Summit in USA. Considering his passion and inventive approaches, EC Council, USA nominated Kooliyankal to the Board of Directors of their CISO Summits. He has been elected as one of the few from UAE, to become the Member of Business Continuity Institute (MBCI) based on his expertise and experience in the field.

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Andrew Tsonchev

Director of Technology, Darktrace

Andrew Tsonchev is a technical specialist in cyber security and threat analysis, advising Darktrace's strategic Fortune 500 customers on advanced threat detection, machine learning and automated response. Before joining Darktrace, Tsonchev worked as a Security Researcher at Cisco Systems, analyzing vast data sets to uncover new trends and developments in the threat landscape. His findings have been widely reported in leading media outlets, including PC World, CRN, SecurityWeek, TripWire, and the New York Times.

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Neil Thacker

CISO, EMEA, Netskope

Neil Thacker holds over 20 years' experience in the Information Security industry with previous roles at Swiss Re, Deutsche Bank and Camelot Group. He is Advisory Board member for the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) EMEA and an advisor to the EU Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA). Thacker is CISSP, CIPP/E and CEH certified and is a recognised speaker and writer on cybersecurity, data protection and privacy-related topics.

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Aram Eblighatian

Senior Technical Product Manager, BigFix

Eblighatian is senior technical product manager at BigFix. He has more than 20 years of experience in information technology with a broad focus on security. Throughout his 15+ year tenure with BigFix, he has held various leadership roles across customer advocacy, development, and product management.

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Roshdi Osman

Cybersecurity Specialist, Saudi Aramco

Roshdi Osman, CISSP, CISM, CRISC is a cybersecurity specialist, international speaker and business-oriented information security strategist with over 15 years of experience in security leadership roles at various organizations, including Fortune 500 companies. He specializes in devising strategies aimed at enhancing the overall security while ensuring alignment with business objectives .Roshdi has an excellent understanding of business and information risk management, balancing the need for business agility with information security in highly dynamic global work environment. As a visionary leader with strong skills in business management, Roshdi has established and implemented security strategies and roadmaps , adopting security frameworks and implementing core components to achieve an integrated GRC function .

He is a subject matter expert with a professional track record of successfully designing and implementing enterprise-wide fraud and financial cybercrime risk management programs for large-scale financial institutions.

Roshdi’s work experience spans multiple industries including Oil and Gas, Financial as well as Telecom industry. He was awarded the Middle East CISO Top 100 award in 2016 and 2017.

Roshdi is a thought leader and an active member in the cyber security professional community industry. He was appointed as a board advisory member for EC-Council, the world’s largest cyber security technical certification body which operates in 145 countries. Roshdi contributes to the field by writing articles for cybersecurity magazines. Some of his featured articles include “CISO Leadership Autopsy” and “Building the CISO Personal Brand”.

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Arwa Alhamad

Cyber Security Enablement Director, Saudi Telecom Company

Alhamad is a Cybersecurity Enablment Director at Saudi Telecom Company. She has 14 years of experience in the field of cybersecurity, specializing in governance, risk, and compliance. Her experience spans across local and global organizations in various industries. In addition to that, she is an active cybersecurity advocate, speaker, and member of several non-profit and volunteering groups.

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Mohammad Mostafa

Global CISO, Egyptian Arab Land Bank

Mostafa is global CISO at Egyptian Aran Land Bank. He has 29+ years of experience in both IT and information security. He has wide experience of developing and executing information security strategy, program, roadmap and aligning with business strategy including digital transformation.

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Amit Mehta

Cybersecurity Advisory Lead, Middle East & Africa, Mastercard

Mehta is CISO and cybrsecurity advisor at Mastercard Data and Services in Middle East and Africa. He works with financial institutions, governments and regulators to help them strengthen their cyber security posture. In his previous role he was the regional chief security officer for Mastercard responsible for the overall conduct of security strategy in the region that included people, data and assets.

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Nahla AlBalushi

Head of Information Security Department, Central Bank of Oman

AlBalushi heads the information security management department. She has more than 20 years’ experience in the IT field. She her career as a systems engineer at Petroleum Development of Oman LLC where she worked on security related projects. She then moved to Central Bank of Oman as a senior information security officer.

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Mike Loginov

Founding Partner, Digital Trust Partners and former CISO and CDO, NEOM

Loginov is former executive director and CISO for NEOM. Over the past 30 years he has worked in senior executive roles in Central Government and on cybersecurity programmes within policing and law enforcement. He is an experienced and Certified CISO, CISM and DPO.

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Eng. Heba M AlSawan

Head-Infrastructure, IT and Security Operations, Govt of Kuwait

AlSawan is head of infrastructure, IT and security operations at Govt of Kuwait. She is an active member of Kuwait security professionals. She has several certifiatins including MSCE+I, CCNA and CISM.

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Riyad Jazmawi

Head of Information Security and IT Governance, Investbank, Jordan

Jazmawi is head of information securty and IT governance at Investment Bank, Jordan. He is experienced in cybersecurity, business continuity management, and IT governance.

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Narayanan Krishnan

Chief Technology Officer, Falconeye Cybersecurity

Krishnan is chief innovation and security officer at ISA Consultancy Services (AUS) Pty Ltd He is an innovator with 16 patents and two service marks to his name. He has more than 26 years of experience in the cyber security industry.

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