The Cybersecurity Summit that Celebrates the DMV Region

John Doyle

Founder & CEO, Cape

John Doyle is the visionary founder and CEO of Cape, a pioneering company revolutionizing mobile connectivity and digital security. A dynamic entrepreneur at the forefront of cybersecurity and privacy innovation, John embodies the diverse talent fostered by the DMV region.

John's unique background spans military service, law, and technology. He served as a Special Forces Sergeant in the US Army before earning his law degree from Harvard.  Prior to founding Cape, John served as an executive at Palantir Technologies, where he developed specialized expertise in cellular network vulnerabilities. This experience now drives Cape's mission to protect government entities and citizens alike from evolving digital threats.

Under John's leadership, Cape has attracted substantial investor interest, recently securing a $61 million funding round backed by industry leaders such as Andreessen Horowitz. This achievement underscores the DMV region's growing reputation as a hub for tech innovation and investment.

A thought leader in mobile security and privacy, John frequently shares his insights at industry events. His unique perspective, shaped by his multifaceted career at the intersection of technology, security, and policy, offers invaluable wisdom for aspiring entrepreneurs and established professionals alike.

Anup Ghosh

CEO, ThreatMate

Anup Ghosh is the CEO of ThreatMate.  He previously led Fidelis Cybersecurity and before that was Managing Director at Accenture Security and global lead for managed security platforms. Anup was also the founder and CEO of Invincea, a next gen anti-virus company, until it was acquired by Sophos in March 2017.  Prior to founding Invincea, he was a Program Manager at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). He has held roles as Chief Scientist in the Center for Secure Information Systems at George Mason University and as Vice President of Research at Cigital, Inc. He has published more than 40 peer-reviewed articles in cybersecurity journals. He is a frequent on-air contributor to CNN, CNBC, NPR, ABC World News and Bloomberg TV. A number of major media outlets carry his commentaries on cybersecurity issues. He has served as a member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board and the Naval Studies Board.

Will Ackerly

Inventor of Trusted Data Format (TDF); Co-Founder and CTO, Virtru

Will is the Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Virtru. Prior to founding Virtru in 2012, Will spent eight years at the National Security Agency (NSA) where he specialized in cross-agency cloud analytics and security architecture. During his tenure at the NSA, Will led the development of the Trusted Data Format (TDF), an open standard published by the US Office of Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). TDF is the technical foundation on which Virtru was founded and is used today by agencies and companies for the secure transfer of data. Will holds 25 patents, and is a frequent speaker and quoted expert on cryptography, data access control policy and big data analytics.

Marty Roesch

Inventor of Snort, Founder; Former CTO of SourceFire; Founder and CEO of Netography

Martin Roesch is the CEO of Netography, Inc. With over 25 years of experience in information security and embedded systems engineering, Marty is a pioneer in the industry as one of the first entrepreneurs to successfully commercialize open source software in addition to creating the global standard for describing and detecting network-based attacks. In 2001 he founded Sourcefire, serving as CEO/CTO, until the 2013 acquisition by Cisco for $2.7 billion where he went on to lead the Security Business Group as Chief Architect. He is the original author and lead developer of the Snort Intrusion Detection and Prevention System that formed the foundation for the Sourcefire product suite. He has received substantial recognition over the course of his career for innovation and was selected as one of the Top 25 Disrupters of 2013 by CRN Magazine as well as one of eWeek’s Top 100 Most Influential People in IT. He holds a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson University.

Brian Fox

Founder and CTO, Sonatype; Former Chair of the Apache Maven project

Co-founder and CTO of Sonatype, Brian Fox is a member of the Apache Software Foundation and former Chair of the Apache Maven project. As a direct contributor to the Maven ecosystem, including the maven-dependency-plugin and maven-enforcer-plugin, he has over 20 years of experience driving the vision behind, as well as developing and leading the development of software for organizations ranging from startups to large enterprises. Brian is a frequent speaker at national and regional events including Java User Groups and other development related conferences.

Katherine Ledesma

Vice President, Public Policy & Government Affairs, Dragos

Robert Lee is a recognized authority in industrial cybersecurity and the CEO and co-founder of Dragos, a global leader in cybersecurity for industrial controls systems (ICS)/operational technology (OT) environments. He serves on the Department of Energy's Electricity Advisory Committee and is a member of World Economic Forum subcommittees on Cyber Resilience.  He began his career as a U.S. Air Force Cyber Warfare Operations Officer at the National Security Agency, where he pioneered work in ICS/OT cybersecurity. A SANS Fellow, Robert developed key courses in industrial monitoring, incident response, and cyber threat intelligence. He has been involved in significant cyberattacks on industrial infrastructure, including the 2015 and 2016 attacks on Ukraine's power grid, the 2017 TRISIS attack, and the 2021 Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack. In 2022, his team uncovered PIPEDREAM, a framework for attacking industrial infrastructure globally. Robert's work has been featured in the book Sandworm and on 60 Minutes, and he was named SC Media's Security Executive of the Year for 2022.

Ron Gula

President, Gula Tech Adventures; Co-Founder, Tenable

Ron Gula is former NSA, co-founder of Tenable Network Security (TENB on NASDAQ), and currently the President of Gula Tech Adventures. He is an investor and philanthropist in 100+ cyber companies and organizations including Huntress Labs, Threater, Girl Security, Scythe, Cybrary, and Trinity Cyber.

Camille Stewart-Gloster

Former Deputy National Cyber Director, The White House; Advisor, New America

Camille Stewart Gloster is a strategist, attorney and executive whose crosscutting perspective on complex technology, cyber, and national security, and foreign policy issues has landed her in significant roles at leading government and private sector companies including the White House, Department of Homeland Security, Google, and Deloitte. Camille builds global cybersecurity, privacy, emerging technology (e.g., A.I.) and election security/integrity programs in complex environments for large companies and government agencies.

Justin Fanelli

CTO (Acting), Department of Navy

Justin Fanelli is the Navy's technical director of Program Executive Office Digital and Enterprise Services and also serves as the sea service's acting Chief Technology Officer. Fanelli is a vocal proponent of driving better IT for warfighters and civil servants across the Navy.

Elise Liberto

Partner & Managing Director of Private Investments, Brown Advisory

Elise is a Partner and Managing Director of Private Investments at Brown Advisory. Elise oversees tactical private market opportunities (direct investments, co-investments and funds) that complement Brown Advisory's core venture capital, private equity, private credit and real estate strategies. She launched and leads Brown Advisory’s investment strategy for early-, growth- and late-stage private companies. Additionally, Elise focuses on Brown Advisory’s corporate investment program that identifies and structures balance sheet commitments to private companies and strategic partners.

John Funge

Managing Director, DataTribe

John Funge is the Managing Director of DataTribe. He has co-founded and built three successful technology firms, all of which have been acquired by larger companies: Clara Vista acquired by CMGI (1999), Pickle.com acquired by Scripps Networks (2007), and BrightContext acquired by WealthEngine (2014). 

John started his career as a software developer around the time the Mosaic browser was first released in the early 1990’s. His experience spans a wide range of markets including cybersecurity, digital media, telecommunications, television, healthcare, and disaster response. Earlier in his career, John has held management, sales and engineering roles at Sapient, Bell Atlantic and Pulse Technologies. Johns holds a BS in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and received an MBA from INSEAD.

Tom Knox

Partner, Corporate and Co-chair, Technology Industry Group, King & Spalding

Tom Knox advises clients on corporate, M&A, financing, technology transactions and outsourcing matters, serving as a strategic advisor to public, private and emerging companies in the software, technology, life sciences, transportation, manufacturing and government services sectors, and to investors in such companies. He provides advice on a wide range of corporate and securities transactions, including domestic and international mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, venture capital and private equity investments and divestitures, joint ventures and other corporate finance and governance matters. He also structures and negotiates enterprise outsourcing, realignment and optimization transactions, including traditional and vested sourcing deals, strategic alliances, performance partnerships, preferred supplier arrangements and other complex transactions. He advises on the sourcing and procurement of facilities management, logistics and supply chain systems and other business processes. Since 2008, Tom has been listed as a Band 1 ranked lawyer by Chambers USA. Tom has been named to the Legal 500 U.S. Private Practice Powerlist for M&A in 2023 and 2024.

Matt Howard

SVP & Chief Marketing Officer, Virtru

A proven executive and entrepreneur with over 25 years experience developing high-growth software companies, Matt serves as Virtu’s CMO and leads all aspects of the company’s go-to-market motion within the data protection and Zero Trust security ecosystems. Prior to Virtru, Matt served 6 years as SVP and CMO at Sonatype where he designed, built, and led global marketing and demand generation for a pioneer in software supply chain management and DevOps automation. Earlier in his career, Matt co-founded, developed, and successfully sold two software companies. He also led sales and marketing at USinternetworking (acquired by AT&T) and Groove Networks (acquired by Microsoft). Matt holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from The George Washington University and a Master of Arts from George Mason University.

Nick Polk

Branch Director for Federal Cybersecurity, Office of Management and Budget, The White House

Nick is Branch Director for Federal Cybersecurity in the Office of Management and Budget where he oversees the team developing cybersecurity policy for executive branch departments and agencies.

Previously, Nick worked in the office of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer focusing on the cyber assurance of Weapon Systems and Critical Infrastructure. In this role, he helped establish the DoD Strategic Cybersecurity Program, the NSA Cyber Collaboration Center, and the DoD Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office.  Nick has also served on the National Security Council Staff, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy. 

Prior to entering the Federal Government, Nick was an English Literature and English as a Second Language teacher at a second chance high school in Houston, Texas.