Learning eXchange Track:

Cybersecurity Issues in 2026

Overview
Join us for engaging discussions on cybersecurity, featuring four expert speakers who will cover cutting-edge topics shaping the industry. Each session will offer practical insights, highlight emerging trends, and provide actionable strategies to help professionals enhance their security stance in an ever-evolving threat landscape. This event aims to promote learning, dialogue, and collaboration among practitioners dedicated to safeguarding digital environments.

Securing the Future: Embracing New Digital Certificate Standards

Xavier Belanger

• IT Security Architect
• UNCW / Information Technology Services
• Xavier_Belanger@linkedin.com
  
  
• Bio: Xavier has more than 25 years of experience working in high education organizations as system administrator, network administrator and now as IT security architect at UNCW.
  
  He has a specific interests around cryptographic tools and mechanisms used to protect sensitive data and user identity

• Session Details: We are now in 2026 and managing security certificates gets a little more challenging.
  
  We’ll discuss new requirements around reduced certificate lifetime (47 days!), adoption of TLS 1.3 and preparation for post-quantum cryptography (PQC).

Cybersecurity Leader’s Guide to Developing an Adversarial Mindset

Thomas Hill

• CISO
• nCino
• Thomas_Hill@linkedin.com
  
  
• Bio: Thomas serves as nCino’s Chief Information Security Officer, leading cybersecurity and technology compliance. He has more than 25 years of technology and industry experience, with cybersecurity expertise specializing in security for Fintech, Digital Banking, and Cloud Security.
  
  He holds a Bachelors of Management of Information Systems, an MBA with concentrations in Cyber Security, and holds many industry certifications in security and privacy (i.e., CISSP, CISM, and CIPT).

• Session Details: For university students pursuing cybersecurity careers and industry professionals: master the adversarial mindset that separates good security professionals from great ones. Develop critical thinking skills to identify vulnerabilities, anticipate threats, and strengthen systems before attacks occur. Core competencies for careers in cybersecurity, law, consulting, and any field demanding critical analysis in a complex digital landscape.

Product Security and the Agent Experience (AX)

Jordan Pike

• Staff Manager, Product Security
  GitHub
• Jordan_Pike@linkedin.com
  
  
  
• Bio: Jordan Pike supports Product Security at GitHub, where he oversees the team's building tools that enable internal engineers to understand and secure their code. Leading the partnership between security, product, and engineering, focuses on the secure design and architecture of GitHub Copilot products.

• Session Details: In 2026, the primary consumer of your developer platform could likely be autonomous agents capable of planning, coding, and deploying. This shift demands a new discipline we need to build for called the Agent Experience (AX).
  
  While Developer Experience (DX) optimizes for human cognition, AX optimizes for deterministic, machine-readable context. Without it, agents “hallucinate" solutions or get blocked by security gates designed for humans.

The Internet of Things (IoT) Onboarding Capability (IoTOC)

C. Neil Fitzpatrick

• Senior Manager
• Quanterion Solutions
• C.Neil_Fitzpatrick@linkedin.com
  
  
• Bio: C. Neil Fitzpatrick is a professional with expertise in technology integration, information/knowledge management, process documentation and analysis (including Lean Six Sigma), modeling and simulation, cybersecurity, system planning, project management, and requirements-to-solutions development.
  
  He holds a Master of Science in Modeling Virtual Environments & Simulation from the Naval Postgraduate School (2007), a Master of Science in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix (2003), and a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Texas A&M University (1990), complemented by Command & Staff College during his military career. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps active forces for 20 years retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 2015 as a Communications Officer, Modeling & Simulation Officer, and Intelligence Analyst-Spanish Linguist.
  
  After retirement, he has led impactful projects including managing a secure multi-cloud IoT environment for the military. His military deployments included Colombia, Guantanamo Bay, Iraq, and Afghanistan.
  
  Mr. Fitzpatrick has also authored publications on military process modeling, cloud computing adoption in the Marine Corps and training method, reflecting his thought leadership in training, and modernizing information systems and operations.

• Session Details: The world is rapidly adopting Internet of Things (IoT) devices. As technology becomes more complex and the volume of data these devices generate continues to grow, organizations everywhere are struggling to manage the challenges.
  
  Both commercial and military operations face significant hurdles related to IoT and big data. These include the need for high-fidelity testing and evaluation, yet few developmental testing environments exist that adequately address IoT devices, their integration into networks, the massive amounts of data they produce, and other related issues.
  
  The IoT Onboarding Capability (IoTOC) and its underlying evaluation framework were developed specifically to meet this need. IoTOC uses a cybersecurity framework to identify strengths and weaknesses, helping organizations refine their implementation strategies.
  
  Without a structured and early approach, organizations often deploy IoT projects in an ad hoc way. This can introduce unforeseen security risks at both the device and system-to-system levels. Such implementations can hide the true attack surface, putting sensitive data, operations, systems, and critical infrastructure at serious risk of exploitation.
  
  Tools for testing, evaluating, and validating IoT systems are essential to strengthen and secure future deployments.