Cybersecurity, Stronger Together Conference 2026

Tuesday, February 3, 2026

8:30 AM

About:

The Cyber Guild and the George Washington University’s College of Professional Studies (CPS) have joined forces to bring together leaders, experts, and innovators in the cybersecurity space through the Cybersecurity, Stronger Together Conference series. This collaborative annual event has quickly become a cornerstone for fostering dialogue, driving innovation, and strengthening partnerships across sectors to combat emerging cyber threats.

A catalyst for action, the 2026 conference inspires leaders to strengthen our critical infrastructure through proactive engagement and purposeful connections.

This year’s conference will unfold against the backdrop of the 2028 Olympics—an electrifying, large-scale public event that sets the stage for a realistic cyberattack on critical operational technology systems. Industry leaders from cybersecurity, operational technology (OT), kinetic security, and political management will examine the evolving intersection of digital and physical threats.

Date & Location:

Date: February 3, 2026
Time: 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Location: George Washington University’s Jack Morton Auditorium Washington, DC

Schedule:

8:30 AM – 9:15 AM | Registration & Networking Breakfast

Networking and refreshments will be provided on the second floor of the Media and Public Affairs (MPA) Building.

9:15 AM – 9:30 AM | Welcome Remarks & Scene Set

Welcome remarks and introduction from Dr. Liesl Riddle, CPS Dean, GW
Welcome remarks from Debbie Sallis, Founding Executive Director, The Cyber Guild Foundation

9:30 AM – 10:15 AM | Panel 1: The High Stakes Scorecard: Proactive Risk Assessment for Major Event

This panel sets the foundational tone, moving beyond general cyber hygiene to address the specific, amplified threats posed by large-scale, globally visible events. Using the World Cup and 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 will include:

Establishing a shared risk language between cybersecurity, physical security, and political stakeholders to ensure defense strategies are fully integrated, not siloed.
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

Panelists:

Moderator Dave Beabout, Counselor (Deputy) to Global CISO – International, NTT Global
Jeremy Stanley, Senior Business Solutions Leader, CISCO
Jen Sovada, General Manager, Public Sector, Claroty
Additional panelists to be announced!

10:15 AM – 11:00 AM | Panel 2: The Critical Chain Reaction: Mapping Dependencies and Challenging Assumptions

This panel serves as the bridge, translating the risks identified in Panel 1 into a tangible discussion of systemic vulnerabilities and planning blind spots. Every major event runs on a complex, interconnected web of systems, yet rarely is the full chain of critical dependencies mapped and tested.

This session drills down on the “what if” scenarios, challenging common assumptions that underpin security and resilience planning. Using the backdrop of the World Cup and Olympics, panelists will dissect the hidden linkages between public infrastructure (power, water, transportation), event-specific technology (ticketing, venue comms), and third-party vendors.

Topics covered will include:

How to confront cognitive biases in planning, what happens when regulatory frameworks conflict with operational necessity, and the role of supply chain integrity in event security resilience.
Identifying assumptions that we use that might affect our ability to respond to incidents – technical, regulatory, and real world.

Panelists:

Moderator Nick Reese, Co-Founder and COO, Frontier Foundry
Tatyana Bolton, Principal, Head of Cyber Practice, Monument Advocacy
Patrick Kelly, Director Law Enforcement and Homeland Security, Booz Allen Hamilton
Michele Iversen, Principal, The Chertoff Group
Additional panelists to be announced!

11:00 AM – 11:30 AM | Coffee Break

Networking and refreshments will be provided on the second floor of the Media and Public Affairs (MPA) Building.

11:30 AM – 12:15 PM | Panel 3: Moving at the Speed of the Crisis: Integrated Incident Response and Recovery

This panel culminates the conference, focusing on the moment of truth: coordinated, rapid, and effective response when the inevitable occurs. When a cyber intrusion escalates into a kinetic crisis—disrupting power, transportation, or public safety at a major event—a unified, cross-domain response is essential. This panel shifts the focus from prevention to action, examining the operational, policy, and political dimensions of managing a catastrophic incident.

Topics covered include:

Strategies for establishing Joint Cyber-OT-Kinetic Command Structures and ensuring seamless, real-time communication between federal agencies, state/local emergency responders, and private sector asset owners;
The critical legal and policy challenges of data sharing during a crisis;
Managing the public and political narrative of a high-profile attack, and executing a coordinated recovery plan to rapidly restore critical event services while maintaining public trust.

Panelists:

Moderator: Elaine Lammert, Faculty Director, Homeland Security, GWU
Bobby Baker, Principal CBRNE Training Specialist, Nevada National Security Sites
Amit Kapur, President and CEO, First Line Technology
Additional panelists to be announced!