CISO Council

Recognized as one of the 2022 Top 20 Women in Canada, Octavia Howell has spent her career protecting some of the world’s largest financial institutions from cyber attacks. Today, she serves as Equifax Canada’s Chief Information Security Officer and is the Founder and CEO of Augustus Redefined, an organization focused on the advise ent of Black Women in Cyber. Octavia believes a security leader should mentor, motivate trust, and lead their teams to act with integrity and transparency. She often says, “A team is only as strong as their leaders and each leader casts a shadow that they will be held accountable for.” Octavia is motivated by the belief that we are placed on this earth to help each other achieve greatness (whatever that may be).

American Airlines is the world's largest airline when measured by fleet size, revenue, scheduled passengers carried, scheduled passenger-kilometers flown, and number of destinations served. David Bell serves as the Managing Director of Cybersecurity & Technology Risk Management, CISO, at American Airlines. He previously served as the company's Managing Director of Enterprise Infrastructure Services, a position he assumed in April 2013, shortly before the merger, after serving since May 2012 as Senior Manager of Platform Hosting Services. Bell joined American Airlines in April 2007 as Senior Manager, Information Systems Security, after nearly six years as Associate Director at consultancies Arthur Andersen and then Protiviti.

Larry Whiteside Jr. is a veteran CISO, former USAF Officer, and thought leader in the Cybersecurity field. He has 25+ years’ experience in building and running cybersecurity programs, holding C Level Security executive roles in multiple industries including DoD, Federal Government, Financial Services, Healthcare, and Critical Infrastructure.

Larry currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer and Chief Security Officer at CyberClan, a full service Global Incident Response and Managed Security Services Provider for the small to medium sized business.

Larry is also the Co-Founder, President, and on the Board of Directors at the International Consortium of Minority Cybersecurity Professionals (ICMCP), a 501(c)3 non-profit association that is dedicated to increase the number of minorities and women in the cybersecurity career field through providing workforce development that includes skills assessment, training, education, mentorship, and opportunity.

Since 2009, via Whiteside Security, which he founded, Larry has advised several corporate security executives and companies across the cybersecurity industry on how to make Cyber Security a number one objective to their business. He has helped CEOs and board members of private cybersecurity companies achieve their goals in sales, marketing, and customer retention.

Larry has spoken in front of C Level leadership and Board of Directors of some of the largest private and public sector organizations in America. A thought leader in the industry with extensive experience presenting at conferences such as the Gartner Security Summit, RSA Conference, and SC World Congress, Larry has been featured in many articles relating to information security and risk management.

Larry received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science at Huston-Tillotson University.

As part of Illumio’s Senior Leadership Team Michael Mastrole is the Global Head of Systems Engineering heading up the team of technologists that collaborate with customers pre and post sale to insure we are properly serving their needs.  Mike has held a number of engineering, sales, marketing and management positions with some very successful companies including McAfee, Cisco, and TippingPoint. As a security specialist, he brings a unique approach to problem solving, from both a technical and a business perspective. Mike’s strengths are in his ability to explain how technical features can meet business requirements for all levels of audience.  Mike was one of the first sales engineers for the firm making his historical knowledge of how Illumio can help secure and protect a company’s environment immeasurable.