Risk Readiness: Managing Risk Before & After Transactions
Presented By: Cyber Defense Labs
There have always been liabilities and risks that come to light during the due diligence process. But the rise of AI and growing cybersecurity concerns have created new complications for getting deals done. That doesn’t mean your company has to be exposed. Join a rousing conversation about ways to insulate your company against these new risks, how to identify the warning signs of breaches, and tips for de-risking your company.
Moderator:
President and CFO
Cyber Defense Labs
Marla Beckham serves as President and Chief Financial Officer for Cyber Defense Labs. Marla has a financial leadership and M&A background with Deloitte, Shell Energy, TXU Energy, Atlantic Aviation, and Epic Fuels.
Marla understands the financial importance of cybersecurity in one’s own organization as well as in deal preparation for M&A, noting that it is one of the foremost business risks modern companies face today. She understands the investments necessary to protect the high-value data assets of an organization. Marla shares the passion that Cyber Defense Labs brings when working with companies to build a culture and mindset around cybersecurity.
Marla holds a Texas CPA license and is a graduate of Texas Christian University.
Panelists:
Chief Operating Officer
Cyber Defense Labs
Jerry Bessette is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for Cyber Defense Labs, a cybersecurity based in Dallas, Texas where he leads operational efforts and client delivery.
He has previously served as COO at a Digital Forensics company as well as a Senior Vice President with Booz Allen Hamilton where he led readiness, resiliency, and incident response for their commercial clients. His teams have addressed the full incident lifecycle, including pre-incident preparation, tabletop exercises, incident response, threat actor negotiation, and post-incident remediation. Jerry has led response efforts on numerous major ransomware attacks and helped Fortune 500 clients understand and address emerging threats.
Jerry retired from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) after a 24-year career as a special agent and executive manager. In his last assignment, he served as chief of the technical operations section for the FBI cyber division, where he managed the national cyber incident response team and technical operations. He also led the FBI investigation into the 2014 cyber-attack against Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Jerry is a certified information security manager (CISM). a certified chief information security officer (CISO), and he began his professional career as a United States Marine Corps Officer.
Managing Partner
Align Capital Partners
Rob Langley is a Co-Founder and Managing Partner of Align Capital Partners. ACP is a lower-middle market PE firm that has raised more than $1.5bn and completed 100+ acquisitions since founding in 2016. Rob sits on the firm’s investment committee and is actively involved in all aspects of the firm’s strategic and investment objectives.
Managing Director
Trive Capital
Brad is a Managing Director at Trive Capital, where his responsibilities include identifying and evaluating investment opportunities.
Prior to joining Trive, Brad was a Vice President at Prudential Capital Group, a private investment arm of Prudential Financial, Inc. While at Prudential, Brad was responsible for sourcing, executing, and managing investments in a wide range of industries, including aerospace and defense, transportation, distribution, consumer finance, real estate, restaurants and equipment rental.
Brad began his career as an Associate at PricewaterhouseCoopers, where he was a member of the Investment Management audit practice. Brad received his BS in Business Administration and Accounting from the Williams School of Commerce, Economics and Politics at Washington and Lee University.