SPEAKERS

Dr Alex Constantinidis is the Chief Information Security Officer for QNB Group. He is an accomplished information risk and security professional with Banking and Big Four consultancy background. Alex has worked in various capacities across the three lines of defense focusing on protecting organisations from Cyber Security threats. Alex has a track record in identifying security vulnerabilities, and he been a presenter at International Information Security Conferences and hacker boot camp courses.

With over 16 years in IT and cybersecurity, V. Susan Peediyakkal specializes in Cyber Threat Intelligence (CTI), boasting a background in federal government and international intelligence. A 19-year US Air Force veteran, she gained recognition as one of the "10 Women in Security You Should Know" by Dark Reading in March 2018. Susan co-directs BSides Sacramento, serves as Chief Wellness Officer at Mental Health Hackers, and is an ambassador for the Women’s Society of Cyberjutsu. Additionally, she contributes to EC-Council’s Global Advisory Board for Certified Threat Intelligence Analysts. Recently, Susan completed Carnegie Mellon University's CISO certification program.

Ashraf Aboukass, a seasoned cybersecurity expert with 20 years of experience and a master's degree in cybersecurity from the University of Oxford, currently serves at QatarEnergy in Doha, Qatar. Recognized for his innovation and commitment to staying at the forefront of industry trends, he holds multiple certifications and frequently conducts presentations and seminars. Ashraf excels in risk assessment, mitigation, and tailoring solutions to clients' needs. As a cybersecurity consultant, he aids diverse industries in safeguarding their networks, systems, and data. His active involvement in the cybersecurity community, through presentations, publications, and mentorship, underscores his influential role. In summary, Ashraf is a highly respected and accomplished cybersecurity expert, contributing significantly to the field during his two-decade career.

Ben is a business oriented cyber security leader who helps organisations understand their cyber security risk posture, thus enabling businesses with the knowledge to develop appropriate risk based mitigation strategies. He has been in the cyber security industry for two decades, through which he has accumulated deep technical skills across all cyber security disciplines. He has also initiated, implemented and managed multi million dollar cyber security projects and operational run teams.

Abdulla is a cybersecurity professional with 16 years of experience, plays a pivotal role in the cybersecurity team at Qatar Foundation. A native of Qatar, he earned his bachelor’s degree in computer systems administration in UK, and his master’s degree in computer and information systems Security in UK before coming back to Qatar to pursue a career in cybersecurity. In his role, as Head of Cyber Security, Abdulla leads the development and execution of cybersecurity program and strategies, working closely with the IT team to safeguard digital assets against malware, ransomware, and cyber threats to reduce attack surface and achieve highest level of maturity.

Yuri Kramarz is a principal engineer and trusted advisor working as part of Talos Intelligence in Qatar. For over a decade, he has been dedicated to both offensive and defensive cyber security across a number of different enterprise verticals. His experience stretches from leading global offensive and defensive security engagements to responding to major data breaches and security incidents in the globally. He has worked on securing ICS and OT environments as well as responding to incidents involving the same technology. He is also an active security researcher, with over hundred publicly disclosed vulnerabilities.

Kamran Saifullah, a young and dynamic Cyber Security enthusiast, currently leads various aspects of cybersecurity, including Penetration Testing, Red Teaming, Purple Teaming, and Digital Forensics at The Commercial Bank of Qatar - Security Assessments Unit. Beyond his individual achievements, Kamran actively contributes to community initiatives, striving to advance the industry's innovation. He is notably recognized for identifying and reporting security vulnerabilities to diverse Qatari organizations, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to enhancing digital defenses and reducing potential attack surfaces in the digital landscape.

Kenan Begovic is a seasoned information security professional with over 25 years of experience across various industry verticals, specializing in “greenfield” implementations. As one of the pioneers of information security in Southeast Europe and GCC,  Kenan managed information security governance, risk, and operations for intelligence/law enforcement, government departments, Islamic finance industry leaders, and sports and entertainment companies. In the past decade, he held the lead position in Information Security for the organizer of FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and he founded avant-garde security consultancy firm GROUP40, which specializes in developing offensive security capabilities for government entities (headquartered in Istanbul). Currently, Kenan is the Group Director of Information Security (CISO) for one of the world’s leading media groups, where he is tasked with establishing and improving information security in all of the Group’s companies spread across five continents and 11 countries. Also, proudly, he is currently a research Ph.D. candidate at Qatar University, soon finishing his research in the area of risk-based/probabilistic access control systems.

Rana Khalil is an accomplished Application Security Engineer currently steering the digital safety ship in Canada's dynamic public and private sectors. With her cutting-edge expertise, she's not only securing applications, but also shaping the future of cybersecurity across the nation.

She holds a Bachelor's and Master’s degree in Computer Science and is OSCP certified. She has spoken about her research at various local and international conferences, and received several awards and honorable mentions for her contributions to the cybersecurity community.

Rana has also founded her own online academy where she teaches web application penetration testing. Her mission? To make cybersecurity education affordable and keep the digital frontier safe, one application at a time.

Seasoned Cyber Security Consultant, With with a near decade of experience Cybersecurity. Started out as a Pentester where he gained many skills and knowledge in the Cyber Security field and achieved multiple professional certificates and ended up currently working as an Incident Responder at one of the largest companies in the middle east.

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Youssef, drawing from his extensive cybersecurity expertise and fueled by his passion for CTF games, is dedicated to honing his problem-solving skills and effectively tackling complex security challenges.

Alex has over two decades of distinguished experience in the realm of cyber security. Most of his career was spent working with industry giants. Alex has created a reputation as an authority in Incident Response & Digital Forensics. Having spearheaded investigations into some of the most intricate cyber incidents, many of which involved state-sponsored actors, Alex has an uncanny ability to derive substantial insights from sparse or degraded digital evidence.

This knack for 'making the most out of the least' has positioned Alex as one of the top players of the DFIR field.

Evangelos Mantas is currently employed in the Financial Sector in the Purple Teaming Security Operations and is pursuing a MSc degree in University of Oxford on Software and Systems Security. His cyber security research revolves around offensive/defensive operations against drones and the threats and challenges drones pose to modern warfare and public safety having presented the work in conferences around the world. He is a Visiting Scholar and SME of NATOs Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE) and visiting instructor on NATOs Counter Improvised Explosive Devices Centre of Excellence (C-IED COE) on Unmanned Systems Forensics. If it wasn’t for cyber security he would opt for petting dogs professionally.

As an AI and Machine Learning engineer, they excel in fostering data-driven analytics practices. In their role at QatarEnergy's Cyber Security team, they specialize in enhancing security through advanced data-driven strategies, including pattern-based and unsupervised behavior profiling. Their proficiency in development, modeling, MLOps, and governance makes them a leader in transforming cybersecurity with comprehensive machine learning applications. Their background in service and solution development enhances their ability to create ML-powered services. Beyond work, they are passionate about outdoor sports and martial arts.

Basher, an accredited Senior Data Scientist, offers over 8 years of extensive experience in diverse industries. His expertise spans Strategic Planning, Advanced Analytics, Machine Learning, Cybersecurity, Business Intelligence, Data Modeling, and more. He holds a Bachelor's in Information Technology from SRM University in India and a Master's in Data Science from the Illinois Institute of Technology, emphasizing his practical expertise and commitment to excellence in data science.

​Cybersecurity veteran with 8+ years of experience in red teaming, bug bounty hunting and vulnerability research.

Keynote speaker and a mentor who helped hundreds of students launch their cybersecurity careers, listed on  international hall of fames like Google, Microsoft and The United States department of energy.

​Cybersecurity veteran with 8+ years of experience in red teaming, bug bounty hunting and vulnerability research.

Keynote speaker and a mentor who helped hundreds of students launch their cybersecurity careers, listed on  international hall of fames like Google, Microsoft and The United States department of energy.

Dr. Fadi Aloul is the Dean of Engineering and a Professor of Computer Science & Engineering at the American University of Sharjah (AUS), UAE. Leading a college with 85 faculty, 25 lab instructors, 15 administrators, and 2400+ students, he oversees seven undergraduate programs, nine master’s programs, and one doctoral program. With a PhD in Computer Science & Engineering from the University of Michigan, he's a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and a Certified Reviewer for the UAE Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA). Dr. Aloul has received awards, including the GEDC Airbus Engineering Diversity Award and Sheikh Khalifa Award for Higher Education. He has 145+ publications, 1 US patent, and is a sought-after speaker at international conferences in Cyber Security, AI, and Education.

Sarah is the Director of Corporate Information Security in Ooredoo Qatar her responsibilities cover GRC, security architecture and planning, security operations center for enterprise and telecom infrastructures.
She has been working in the field of information security for more than 15 years in both government and private sectors. She has lead Ooredoo’s cyber security readiness and operation during the FIFA world cup Qatar 2022 and lead multiple strategic security projects and initiatives.

She is a telecom engineer who possesses a masters degree in cyber security and professional international certifications like CISSP, CISM, CRISC and CDPSE and a member of ISC2 and golden member in ISACA.

Umar Javed serves as the CEO of CyDefOps and is the founder of Project Killchain. At the heart of his professional ethos lies a profound passion for cybersecurity, cultivated through extensive experience in protecting mission-critical networks in the defense, law enforcement, and government sectors against a diverse array of cyber threats. His expertise is marked by a comprehensive skill set encompassing red and blue team operations, threat hunting, incident response, and digital forensics. Beyond his leadership at CyDefOps, Umar has contributed to global cyber defense initiatives through his work with the NATO Cyber Security Center (NCSC) and the National Crime Agency (NCA) in the UK.

Shahid Parvez Hakim is a seasoned cybersecurity expert with over seven years of experience across the entire security domain. He currently serves as a Principal Product Security Engineer at Abnormal Security, where he leads and contributes to nearly every aspect of security. Beyond his work at Abnormal Security, Shahid has played a pivotal role in securing some of the world's foremost AI and blockchain products. He is also an accomplished author and educator in the fields of adversarial simulations, vulnerability service discovery, red teaming, attack kill chain optimization, threat modeling, secure architecture implementation and reviews, penetration testing, and automation. Shahid has identified and responsibly reported security vulnerabilities to over 2000 organizations worldwide. He is particularly skilled in analyzing protocols to discern an organization’s internal tech stack.

Dr. Ali Al-Rashid is an expert in the field of cybersecurity, with a PhD in computer science and engineering from a prestigious university. His research focuses on the intersection of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and security systems. Dr. Ali Al-Rashid has published numerous research papers in reputable journals and has presented his findings at major conferences in the field. His work has been instrumental in the development of advanced security systems and the integration of AI into cybersecurity strategies.

In addition to his academic accomplishments, Dr. Ali Al-Rashid has extensive experience in the government sector, working with various organizations to develop and implement cybersecurity solutions. His expertise spans a wide range of topics, including security systems, cloud security, endpoint security, mobile security, IoT security, and AI.

Dr. Ali's commitment to staying at the forefront of the field has earned him numerous accolades and awards. He has numerous patents in AI and security systems. Moreover, his insights are sought after by organizations looking to enhance their cybersecurity posture.