Speakers

Ferris Adi

Ferris Adi

Senior Security & Compliance Manager and Instructor

University of Toronto

Imran Ahmad

Imran Ahmad

Partner and Head of Technology, Co-Chair Data Protection, Privacy and Cybersecurity

Imran Ahmad is a senior partner and the Canadian head of technology and Canadian co-head of cybersecurity and data privacy. He is based in our Toronto and Montreal offices and is recognized as a leading cybersecurity and privacy lawyer by several legal directories.

Imran advises clients across all industries on a wide array of technology-related matters, including outsourcing, cloud computing, SaaS, strategic alliances, technology development, system procurement and implementation, technology licensing and transfer, distribution, open source software, and electronic commerce.
As part of his cybersecurity practice, Imran works with clients to develop and implement strategies related to cyber threats. He advises on legal risk assessments, compliance, due diligence, security, and data breach incident preparedness and response.

Imran often acts as “breach counsel” in the event of a cybersecurity incident, and has extensive experience in managing complex cross-border security incidents. He also provides representation in the event of an investigation, enforcement action or litigation.

Imran is the author of Canada’s first legal incident preparation and response handbook titled Cybersecurity in Canada: A Guide to Best Practices, Planning, and Management, 2nd Edition (LexisNexis, March 2021).
In his privacy law practice, he advises clients on compliance with all Canadian federal and provincial privacy and data management laws. He has a particular focus on cross-border data transfer issues and enterprise-wide governance programs related to privacy and information governance. Imran is the former chair of the Privacy and Access to Information Section of the Ontario Bar Association.

Imran is an adjunct professor at the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Law, where he teaches cybersecurity and privacy law.

Cathy R Cobey

Cathy R Cobey

FCPA, FCA, CISA | Canadian Technology Risk Leader | Global Responsible AI Co-Lead

Ernst & Young LLP

Aron Feuer

Aron Feuer

Founder and CEO (Chief Executive Optimist)

Valencia Risk

Aron Feuer is a hacker and the founder of Valencia Risk, a cybersecurity consultancy specializing in audit, testing, and incident response. Formally trained as a behavioural scientist and a stockbroker by trade, Aron’s clients include the federal government, cities, corporate Canada, and Fortune 500.

John Heaton

John Heaton

Partner, Advisory

KPMG in Canada

John is an experienced IT Risk and Security transformation leader with over 35 years of experience. He brings over 25 years of pragmatic experience in helping clients transform their IT risk and security organizations, solutions and processes to meet the ever changing regulatory and customer requirements. John’s specialties include leading large-scale cyber security and transformation programmes. He has extensive experience dealing with leading global organizations having worked in North America, South America and Europe. He has extensive experience in leading the security and controls implementation components of ERP projects, including Workday, SAP, Oracle and Peoplesoft. John also has expert knowledge in information security Risk Management, technical security architecture design, Cyber maturity assessments, application security, and security compliance.

Vito Mangialardi

Vito Mangialardi

Business Continuity Management (BCM) and Operational Resiliency Strategic Advisor

Vito Mangialardi is an award-winning and industry certified (Business Continuity institute (BCI) Master Business Continuity and the Disaster Recovery Institute Canada (DRIC) as a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP)); and leader in the global Business Continuity and Resiliency industry. With 40 years of experience directly across a broad range of sectors, from transit and telecommunications to environmental technology and power generation, he has been acclaimed as an internationally recognized expert, a powerful change agent and a flexible thinker who has helped transform corporations and public agencies and the field of business continuity itself. A skilled communicator with extensive Canadian and international experience as a speaker, writer, educator and consultant, Mangialardi is a passionate and articulate advocate for his client’s best interests and for the future practices of business continuity and operational resiliency.

Greg Murphy

Greg Murphy

Vice President, Audit, Regulatory Compliance, and Controls

Metrolinx

Greg Murphy is the Vice President of Audit, Regulatory Compliance, and Controls at Metrolinx. Greg plays a crucial role in ensuring the smooth operation and compliance of the agency’s various rail services, including GO Transit, UP Express, and the PRESTO payment system. He leads a team of experts focused on auditing major projects and capital delivery, operations, and systems, and also oversees regulatory compliance reviews to ensure safety of rail services in accordance with relevant legislation. With more than 17-years experience leading teams in the areas of internal auditing, risk management, and compliance, Greg is a respected leader in the public sector. He holds a Master of Arts degree from York University and holds Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) and Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) Designations.

Shujat Omer

Shujat Omer

Director, IT Audit & Operations

Metrolinx

Robert Pitcher

Robert Pitcher

Industrial Cybersecurity Assessment and Certification

DND

Rob Pitcher is the Chief of Industrial Cybersecurity Assessment and Certification at the Department of National Defence Directorate of Information Management Security , where he is currently responsible for DND contract security and the development of a new cyber assessment capability. Prior to this role, he was the manager of Cyber Engagement team with the Critical Infrastructure Directorate of Public Safety Canada where he led the industrial controls system cyber security awareness program, cyber security exercises, cyber assessments, and the Public Safety insider risk program.

Alexander Rau

Alexander Rau

Partner, Advisory Services – Cybersecurity

Alexander Rau is a Partner in KPMG in Canada’s Technology Risk Consulting (TRC) Advisory Practice focusing on Cyber Security and Cyber Incident Response. Alexander is responsible for leading KPMG in Canada’s Cyber Response Practice providing cyber security services to support and enable clients to better respond to cyber incidents before, during and after a cyber breach. With over 20 years of experience in Cyber Security, IT and Privacy, Alexander has provided leadership to a number of multinational organizations, leading and delivering incident response and strategic cyber security engagements, practice leadership, and business development. His roles have included cyber security evangelism, conducting media interviews, keynote speaker and panelist engagements. Throughout his career Alexander has leveraged his business and cyber security background to advise public sector and private enterprise clients on next generation cyber security threat prevention technologies, methodologies and resiliency concepts. Combining his knowledge and professional experiences in IT and cyber security management, consulting and strategy, with his finance and economics background, he brings unique professional qualifications, experience, and perspectives to his clients, addressing the ever-changing security landscape and its impacts on organizations.

Arunima Sharma

Arunima Sharma

Senior Specialist, Enterprise Application Resilience

City of Toronto

Arunima Sharma works as the Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Lead and part of Cyber Resilience and Advisory team for City of Toronto Cyber Security Division. Formally trained as an Electronics and Communications Engineer, she has more than 12 years of experience in the field of Emergency Response, Operational Resilience, Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery. Arunima has worked as a Business Continuity SME in diverse industries like Finance, Technology and Service Delivery, Retail Analytics, Banking and currently in Public domain. She is a Certified Business Continuity Professional (CBCP), ISO 22301 Lead Implementer and certified in Emergency Management by the Office of the Fire Marshall and Emergency Management, Ontario.