CISO Forum Canada 2024: Executive Strategies for a Resilient Future
The CISO Forum Canada 2024 convened top cybersecurity executives and industry thought leaders for its exclusive, high-level event, focusing on the future of digital defense and risk management. The forum was hosted at the Sheraton Parkway Toronto North Hotel & Suite, providing a dedicated environment for candid peer-to-peer discussion.
Themes and Highlights
The 2024 agenda was anchored in executive strategy, large-scale risk management, and public-private sector collaboration. Key themes likely included:
Critical Infrastructure & Enterprise Resilience:
With CISOs from major organizations like CN Rail (Vaughn Hazen), WestJet (Manas Giri), and Ontario Power Generation (Ranjika Manamperi), the discussions centered on protecting national critical infrastructure and ensuring enterprise-level business continuity.
Government & Public Sector Security:
Participation from Daniel Couillard (Canadian Centre for Cyber Security at CSE), Bob Gordon (Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange), and various municipal leaders (City of Toronto, City of Markham, Town of Midland) highlighted strategies for securing government and community services.
The Evolving CISO Role:
The presence of advisors like Bil Harmer and David Mahdi emphasized strategic issues, governance, and how the CISO role is evolving to manage complex risk portfolios and align with business objectives.
Speakers and Sponsors
Speakers: The diverse speaker list featured a strong contingent of practicing CISOs and security leaders from a wide range of Canadian and global organizations. Notable participants included:
Octavia Howell (VP, CISO at Equifax Canada)
Puroo Maheshwari (Managing Director, Cybersecurity at CPP Investments)
Maggie Calle (VP & CISO at Varicent)
The depth of experience covered areas from defense operations (Mohsen Azari) to IT leadership in public service (Sumon Acharjee) and specialized sectors like automotive manufacturing (Colin Dhillon).
Sponsors/Partners:
The forum was supported by an extensive ecosystem of global tech giants and specialized security vendors, demonstrating broad industry commitment. Major sponsors included AWS, BELL, IBM, JUNIPER NETWORKS, and MNP.
Specialist partners focused on various defense layers, such as:
Endpoint & Cloud Security: VEEAM, GUARDICORE, ZSCALER, WEDGE NETWORKS.
Threat Intelligence & Risk: TENABLE, RECORDED FUTURE, SECURITY SCORECARD.
Consulting & Services: MNP, STRATEJM, LONG VIEW, CALIAN.
The continued involvement of local and national partners like the Canadian Cyber Threat Exchange and regional entities (Oshawa, Town of Ajax, Durham REGION) underscored the conference’s commitment to the Canadian security community.
YouTube Playlist
A collection of related content, including possible session recordings and event highlights, can be found on the organizer’s YouTube channel playlists: https://www.youtube.com/@siberxorg/playlists.
