Previously, Fran had worked for IBM in the marketing and chip manufacturing divisions and National Steel Corporation in the engineering division. Fran has an electrical engineering degree from the University of Notre Dame and an MBA in Finance from the University of Pittsburgh. In 2015, he obtained his CISSP certification. Fran lives in the Chicago suburbs with his wife and four children.

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Prior to joining IBM X-Force IRIS, Christopher was a consultant at CrowdStrike, where he was heavily focused on incident remediation. He also worked to create complex scenarios and tabletop exercises for organizations to understand the need for preparedness. Before CrowdStrike, Christopher spent more than 15 years working for L-3 Communications. It was in this position that Christopher started his career in IT, discovering his passion for security after working tirelessly to secure the organization. Christopher is a frequent industry events speaker, having spoken at conferences including Blackhat, RSA, Interop, CISO Executive Summit, multiple ISSA chapters, DoD Cybercrime Conferences and many locally sponsored events. When he’s not working, Christopher can be found competing in Ironman Triathlons or doing Crossfit.

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Rich has a rich background in cyber-security, having worked in every level of security, from very deep technical to managing & leading the security practice. Over the last several years, he has had the privilege of working with and advising enterprise companies with the very best security practices in the country. Chip's cyber-security heritage has provided him unique insight to help customers elevate their security practice.

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Rainier Varilla is a graduate of University of Wisconsin, and received his Masters in Cybersecurity at Syracuse University.