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Hard Truths in Cybersecurity: Fear, Liability, and the Industry’s Biggest Lies
Hyatt Regency | SF, Downtown SOMA
Tuesday, March 24, 2026
8:30 AM Breakfast | 9:00-9:50 AM Panel
Gallery III Ballroom
Join industry leaders for an unfiltered look at what’s broken in cybersecurity — and why incremental fixes won’t save it.
The “Hard Truths” panel brings together outspoken experts and industry voices for a no-holds-barred conversation about the realities we can’t ignore.
Expect bold insights, honest debate, and clear-eyed truths you won’t hear anywhere else.
Reserve your spot and be part of the conversation that’s challenging the status quo—and charting a new path forward.
Illumio
As Founder, CEO, and Board Member of Illumio, Andrew is responsible for the overall strategy and vision of the company. With deep expertise in Zero Trust, segmentation, network security, and regulatory and compliance management, Andrew is the Executive Sponsor of many of Illumio’s largest customers worldwide, including Citi, HSBC, Salesforce, and Microsoft. Andrew frequently participates in panels, articles, and podcasts for leading industry events and publications. Andrew was named to Goldman Sachs’ "100 Most Intriguing Entrepreneurs" seven times as part of its Builders & Innovators program and received Ernst & Young’s Bay Area Entrepreneur of the Year 2024.
Andrew serves as a Board Member of Emigrant Bank, as well as an advisor to several cyber and technology start-ups, and is an active angel investor. Andrew graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a BSBA in Finance, and he is both a guest lecturer on entrepreneurship and a National Council member of the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the university.
Nationwide Building Society
David is the Chief Security and Resilience Officer at Nationwide Building Society. Previously, David has held roles as Group Chief Information Security Officer at Camelot Group (operator of the UK National Lottery) and Head of Cyber Security at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. David is a Fellow of the British Computer Society and has helped author a number of national and international security standards. David also works closely with a few charities, Electric Umbrella and The Cyber Helpline.
Microsoft
Sherrod DeGrippo is the Deputy CISO for Microsoft’s Customer Security Management Office (CSMO) and host of the Microsoft Threat Intelligence Podcast. She has been recognized as Cybersecurity Woman of the Year (2022) and Cybersecurity PR Spokesperson of the Year (2021).
Before her current role, Sherrod served as Director of Threat Intelligence Strategy at Microsoft. Her background also includes serving as Vice President of Threat Research and Detection at Proofpoint, where she led a global team focused on threat research, malware analysis, and intelligence operations. With more than two decades of cybersecurity experience, she has held senior roles at Nexum, Symantec, Secureworks, and the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Sherrod is a frequently cited expert across major media outlets and a regular speaker at global security conferences including Black Hat and RSAC.
Founder & CEO, Fortalice Solutions
As a visionary in the digital world, who famously made history as the first female to serve as White House Chief Information Officer, Theresa is widely recognized as one of the nation’s most respected authorities on cybersecurity.
A celebrated, patented inventor of new security designs, Payton identifies emerging trends and techniques to help businesses – and audiences – combat cyber threats, from the impact of the Internet of Things to securing Big Data. She’s the cybersecurity expert organizations in both the public and private sectors turn to protect their most valuable resources, improve their IT systems and strategies, and to discreetly guide them through data breaches.
Before overseeing IT operations as CIO for President George W. Bush and his administration, she held executive roles in banking technology for two of the country’s top financial institutions. After serving in the White House, she went on to co-found Dark3, a cybersecurity product company, and Fortalice Solutions, a world-class cybersecurity consulting firm ranked a “Top 5 Most Innovative Cybersecurity Company” in Northern Virginia, Maryland, and DC.
SolarWinds
Tim Brown joined SolarWinds in 2017 as vice president of security and is now the CISO for SolarWinds, overseeing internal IT security, product security, and security strategy. After the SUNBURST attack in December 2020, Tim Brown led the response and remediation efforts. Tim has spoken to thousands of customers and has been instrumental in all customer remediation support and services. He has worked closely with the SolarWinds CEO in designing the future state of security and their “Secure by Design” philosophy. This new philosophy on software design will not only benefit SolarWinds but the industry as a whole, and it sets a precedent for responses to future cyberattacks. As a former Dell Fellow and CTO, Tim deeply understands the challenges and aspirations of the person responsible for driving digital innovation and change. Tim has over 25 years of experience, and his trusted advisor status has taken him from meeting with members of Congress and the Senate to the Situation Room in the White House. He’s also an avid inventor and holds 18 issued patents on security-related topics.
