Prof. Isaac Ben-Israel graduated from Tel Aviv University with degrees in mathematics, physics and philosophy, earning his PhD in 1988. A retired major-general in the Israel Air Force, Prof. Ben-Israel has served as head of military R&D of the Israel Defense Forces and the Ministry of Defense. He is a recipient of the Israel Defense Award (twice) and the Israel Air Force Award, and was a member of Knesset from 2007 to 2009.

He is the Chairman of the Israeli Space Agency at the Ministry of Science, Technology and Space and Head of the Blavatnik Interdisciplinary Cyber Research Center and the Yuval Ne'eman workshop for Science, Technology and Security at Tel Aviv University.

In 2010 he was appointed by Israel PM to lead a task force that submitted to the Government a plan which made Israel a major player in Cyber Security.

In 2018 he was appointed again by the PM to lead the next revolution in Israel: Secured Artificial Intelligence.

Yigal Unna is the Director General of the Israel National Cyber Directorate. In his previous position, he served as the head of the Sigint Cyber Division in the Israeli Security Agency ("Shin-Bet") directly under the Director general, including the national responsibility of Cyber defense and Critical Infrastructures security, intelligence collection, and operations.

Prior to that, Yigal served for three decades in the Israeli security apparatus in the fields of Sigint and Cyber. He holds a M.B.A (Tel-Aviv university) and a B.A in History and management (Tel Aviv University).

Brandon Wales was designated by President Trump as the Acting Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), on November 17, 2020. As Acting Director, Mr. Wales oversees CISA’s efforts to defend civilian networks, manage systemic risk to national critical functions, and work with stakeholders to raise the security baseline of the Nation’s cyber and physical infrastructure.

Prior to this, he was CISA's first Executive Director, serving as the senior career executive overseeing execution of the Director and Deputy Director’s vision for CISA operations and mission support. He was responsible for leading long-term strategy development, managing CISA-wide policy initiatives and ensuring effective operational collaboration across the Agency.

From August 2017 to December 2019, Mr. Wales served in multiple positions in the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary’s office. He started as Senior Counselor to the Secretary for Cyber and Resilience, where he served as the Secretary’s senior advisor on cybersecurity, emergency management, incident response and building a more resilient nation. In January 2019, he was asked to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff (Acting), developing and advancing the Department’s strategic priorities. In June 2019, Mr. Wales assumed  the role of Chief of Staff (Acting), assisting the Secretary in overseeing the Department, ensuring close coordination across its operational components and managing interagency relationships.

Prior to the joining the Secretary’s office, Mr. Wales was the Director of the DHS Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis (OCIA). OCIA provided integrated analysis of cyber and physical risks to the Nation’s critical infrastructure.

From 2009-2014, Mr. Wales was the Director of the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center (HITRAC), an all-hazards analytic resource for public and private sector partners covering the full-array of risks facing the infrastructure community. As the Director of HITRAC, he also oversaw the Department’s advanced modeling, simulation, and analysis program, leading a team of researchers conducting ground-breaking and forward-leaning analysis of some of the Nation’s most complex infrastructure challenges.

During his time at the Department, Mr. Wales has been called upon to support a variety of Department-wide initiatives. When the Department began working on the first Quadrennial Homeland Security Review in 2009, Wales was asked to lead the review of the counterterrorism and cyber security mission areas. Following the release of Executive Order 13636, Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, in February 2013, Mr. Wales led the effort to identify critical infrastructure at potential catastrophic risk from cybersecurity incidents.

Mr. Wales’ contributions have been recognized with an Exceptional Performance Award from the Director of National Intelligence, a DHS Secretary’s Award for Excellence, and a DHS Distinguished Service Medal, the Department’s highest civilian award.

Prior to joining the Department in 2005, Wales served as a national security aide to United States Senator Jon Kyl and as a Senior Associate at a Washington-based foreign policy and national security think-tank.

Mr. Wales received his Bachelor’s degree from George Washington University and his Master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Lindy became CEO of the National Cyber Security Centre in October 2020 following more than two decades of national security policy and crisis management experience. She was previously a Director-General in the Northern Ireland Office and at the Department for International Development (DFID). After starting her career in the private sector, Lindy served across government both at home and abroad, including postings in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

Andreas Könen is the Director General Cyber and Information Security. Previously he was the Head of Directorate IT II IT and Cyber Security; Secure Information Technology and ÖS III Cyber security in the field of law enforcement and domestic intelligence by the German Federal Ministry of the Interior. Prior to this, he was the Vice President of the German “Federal Office for Information Security (BSI)”.

Mr Könen, a graduate mathematician, joined the BSI in 2006, taking on the post as the Head of the Executive Staff of the BSI, Director General. In 2009 he became the Head of the Division “Security in Applications and Critical Infrastructures” and subsequently Head of the Department “Security Consulting and Coordination”. Prior to the BSI, Mr Könen held various positions in the field of information technology within the German Federal Administration, including executive functions.

Wendy Nather leads the Advisory CISO team at Cisco. She was previously the Research Director at the Retail ISAC, and Research Director of the Information Security Practice at 451 Research.

Wendy led IT security for the EMEA region of the investment banking division of Swiss Bank Corporation (now UBS), and served as CISO of the Texas Education Agency. She was inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame in 2021. Wendy serves on the advisory board for Sightline Security, and is a Senior Cybersecurity Fellow at the Robert Strauss Center for International Security and Law at the University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Guillaume Poupard graduated from the École polytechnique in 1992. Having completed a research degree in armament engineering, he started as a PhD candidate in cryptography under the supervision of Jacques Stern at the École normale supérieure in Paris. He received his PhD in 2000 and also holds a university diploma in psychology.

He began his career as a cryptography specialist, later progressing to become Head of the Cryptography Laboratory at the Central Network and Information Security Directorate (Direction Centrale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d’Information, DCSSI) which evolved in 2009 into the French National Cybersecurity Agency(Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d’Information, ANSSI). In 2006, he joined the Ministry of Defence, continuing in the field of government cryptography before moving to cybersecurity.

In November 2010, he was appointed Head of the Cybersecurity Division within the Technical Branch of the National Defence Procurement Agency (Direction Générale de l’armement, DGA), responsible for expertise and technology policy in the field of cybersecurity. On 27 March 2014, he was appointed Director-General of the French National Cybersecurity Agency.

Scott is the Head of the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security. The Cyber Centre is the single unified source of expert advice, guidance, services and support on cyber security for government, critical infrastructure owners and operations, the private sector and the Canadian public.
Scott began his career at the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) in 1999 and has held various positions including Assistant Deputy Minister of IT Security, acting Assistant Deputy Minister of Corporate Services and Chief Financial Officer, Director General of Cyber Defence and a variety of positions of increasing responsibility across CSE, primarily in the Signals Intelligence and IT Security domains. He previously worked at the Privy Council Office as a National Security Policy Advisor in the Security & Intelligence Secretariat.
Scott holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Electronic Systems Engineering, a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science, and a Masters of Business Administration.

Karel Řehka has long been engaged with military information operations and hybrid warfare. He was promoted to the rank of brigadier general in the Czech Army. He graduated from the Military High School in Opava and the Military University of the Ground Forces in Vyškov and completed a year-long officer course in the United Kingdom.

Řehka also completed a Ranger course in the United States Participated in military missions in the Balkans and Afghanistan. He served in the 601st Special Forces Group and became its commanding officer in 2010. Additionally he  served as the Head of the Special Forces Directorate of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic and since November 2014 as Deputy Commander of the Multinational Division Northeast. He is married with two children. 

Andy Ellis, Operating Partner at YL Ventures, works closely with the firm’s portfolio companies to provide strategic and tactical value-add support including go-to-market initiatives, product development, and customer engagement. Leveraging his experience as both a buyer and seller of cybersecurity products, Andy brings a unique perspective to his role.

He mentors and guides Israeli entrepreneurs and works with teams pre-investment on ideation and market validation, as well as helping the firm’s portfolio companies to scale post-investment. Andy is a well-known industry leader, having pioneered the CSO role over his 20-year tenure at Akamai Technologies.

He drove the force behind transforming the company into a major security player, increasing its security business to over $1B in annual revenue. He also built Akamai’s initial security portfolio, functionally operating as a stealth startup inside the content delivery business. Currently, Andy serves as the CEO and principal at leadership development firm Duha.

Andy is a graduate of MIT and a former US Air Force officer. He is the recipient of 2021 CSO Hall of Fame award, CSO Magazine Compass Award, Air Force Commendation Medal, Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence, Spirit of Disneyland Award, and is an affiliate of Harvard’s Berkman-Klein Center on Internet & Society.

Ofer Schreiber, Partner and Head of Israel Office at YL Ventures, oversees the firm’s investment processes and due diligence, portfolio companies management and value-add initiatives. Ofer is committed to empowering Israeli cybersecurity entrepreneurs to dominate the global market.

He provides ideation support and strategic guidance to the firm’s portfolio companies and entrepreneurs in its pipeline along with introductions to customers, partners, and investors, and takes on active board roles.

He is instrumental in developing the firm’s robust network within Israel’s cybersecurity ecosystem and regularly speaks, writes, and is featured in interviews about the industry, investment strategies, start-up development, and Israeli cybersecurity innovation. Prior to YL Ventures, Ofer focused on researching and analyzing the technology and venture capital industry at the IVC Research Center. He served in Unit 8200, an elite technological intelligence unit of the Israel Defense Forces, and holds a Bachelor of Law degree from Tel Aviv University in Israel.

Esti Peshin is General Manager of the Cyber Division at the Israel Aerospace Industries Ltd. At the beginning of 2017, under Ms. Peshin's management IAI's cyber activity was expended from a Directorate to a Division. She serves also as the Director General (pro bono) of the Israeli Hi-Tech Caucus at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament.

Prior to assuming these roles, Ms Peshin was the Managing Partner of ENP Solutions Ltd., a strategic management consulting firm; a Partner at Destino Ventures LLC, a private equity firm; and a Partner at Hope Ventures Ltd, a  Distributor and Business Development house.

Previously, Ms. Peshin was the CEO of Waterfall Security Solutions, a provider of a foolproof physical security gateway for homeland security and missioncritical installations. Before joining Waterfall, she held an Account Director position in the Lawful Interception division of Verint Systems, Inc. She served 11 years in the Israeli Defense Forces, in an elite technology unit, where she was Deputy Director.
 

Ian Amit is an internationally recognized award-winning security executive. He serves as Cimpress' Chief Security Officer where he leads cyber and physical security for all the Cimpress businesses around the world. He is also an angel investor in a few security companies, a board, and an advisory board member. Ian spent his career in both offensive security positions - running red teams and consulting, as well as research and defensive positions, and is a sought-after keynote at leading information security conferences. Ian is one of the co-founders of the Penetration Testing Execution Standard, the DC9723 group, and serves as a board member of BSidesLV.