The inaugural Ottawa Cybersecurity Tech Forum is a full-day, practitioner-first event hosted at the beautiful National Arts Centre. It is designed for network architects, SOC analysts and security engineers managing enterprise, private sector, public sector and critical infrastructure environments. We’re cutting out high-level sales pitches to deliver hands-on, technical deep dives on the Palo Alto Networks platform. Whether you configure policy sets daily, write automation playbooks or architect zero trust frameworks, this day is built to optimize your stack and eliminate operational friction.
Deep-Dive Technical Tracks: In-depth architecture and implementation sessions across key Palo Alto Networks platforms.
Hands-On CTF Challenges: Put your skills to the test in real-world threat hunting and defensive scenarios. (Bring your laptop for CTF tracks!)
Threat Intel & Industry Trends: Hear from industry experts on the emerging threat vectors critical to your organization, including how Frontier AI is reshaping cybersecurity.
Peer Networking: Network directly with regional technical experts and peer engineers to swap real-world deployment playbooks and solve shared challenges.
A decade-plus security engineer, Ed @Low Level specializes in exploit research, embedded platforms and hypervisors. Through his 1.1M+ subscriber YouTube channel and The Low Down podcast, he turns complex systems, assembly and exploit dev into masterclasses for over 140 million viewers. Ed will take the stage live to break down next-gen AI attack vectors with real-time reverse engineering and a zero-fluff blueprint to stop them cold, while answering your burning questions!
If you look at logs, manage firewalls, write security scripts or design defensive architecture, this event is engineered for you. Join us at the National Arts Centre to learn, sharpen your technical edge, refine your configurations and help strengthen Canada’s cybersecurity posture.
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Register now to lock in your spot.
For our partners: Please note that you must be an event sponsor to attend.
Earn a Palo Alto Networks certification in Network Security, Security Operations or Cloud Security, sponsored by our partner, Minose. Exam details and seat availability are coming soon. To express interest and receive updates, select the Certification Day option when registering.
Are you registered to our Fuel User Group yet? This is the official community for Palo Alto Networks professionals to share deep-dive technical knowledge and real-world cybersecurity best practices. Joining the Ottawa Chapter provides local practitioners with exclusive access to hands-on workshops, a virtual test lab and networking opportunities with peers across the National Capital Region's public and private sectors.
Sign up for the Ottawa Fuel User Group.
Machine-speed attacks require autonomous defense. Drawing on Palo Alto Networks partnership in Anthropic’s Project Glasswing, this session covers research into the Claude Mythos frontier model, demonstrating how automated patching and AI-driven SOC operations counter AI-amplified threats in real time.
Modern security depends on the network and security architecture working together. In this session, Arista will explore how its networking platform integrates with Palo Alto Networks to improve visibility, simplify operations and enable more consistent security across the data centre, campus, cloud and AI infrastructure.
Attendees will see how combining Arista’s network telemetry, automation and segmentation capabilities with Palo Alto Networks security can help organizations reduce complexity, accelerate threat response and build a more secure foundation for the next generation of applications and AI workloads
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Speaker: Joshua Kaya, Senior Systems Engineer, Arista Networks
Post-quantum cryptography is only part of the quantum-security journey. In this joint session, Palo Alto Networks and Quantropi will explore how Digital Quantum Key Distribution (D-QKD) can bring quantum-safe keying to existing network infrastructure without requiring dedicated quantum communication hardware.
See how Quantropi D-QKD can integrate with Palo Alto Networks Next-Generation Firewalls using standards-based interfaces to protect IPsec communications, strengthen cryptographic resilience and help defend sensitive data against Harvest Now, Decrypt Later threats.
The session will move beyond quantum theory and focus on the architecture, integration and practical deployment of quantum-safe networking today.
Join renowned cybersecurity researcher and YouTube influencer Ed @Low Level as he takes the stage to break down the realities of AI-assisted exploits. Through live reverse-engineering, vulnerability research and an interactive audience Q&A, discover how attackers weaponize modern automation—and the exact technical controls defenders need to stay ahead.
Daniel Kroese is Palo Alto Networks vice president of Public Policy and Government Affairs, where he leads the company’s efforts interfacing with policymakers and government stakeholders. He brings a wealth of legislative and executive branch cyber policy experience to the company.
Daniel most recently served as staff director to ranking member Katko on the House Homeland Security Committee. In this role, he formulated and advanced an aggressive bipartisan cybersecurity agenda for the committee. He previously served as a top lieutenant to director Krebs at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) where he was active in legislative affairs and policy activity as well as responsible for standing up several of CISA’s risk management collaboration efforts with the private sector. Prior to joining CISA, Daniel was chief of staff to then congressman John Ratcliffe who chaired the House Homeland Cybersecurity Subcommittee.
At Palo Alto Networks, he leverages this experience to lead the Public Policy and Government Affairs team’s efforts to promote greater resilience throughout the entire cybersecurity ecosystem.
Daniel also serves as a visiting fellow at the National Security Institute. He lives in Virginia with his wife and two children. In his free time he is an avid rock climber and outdoor enthusiast.
Senior Director and Assistant General Counsel for Public Policy & Government Affairs
Palo Alto Networks
Sam Kaplan is a senior-level policy, legal and national security professional with over 18 years of experience in the public and private sector. Sam currently serves as Senior Director and Assistant General Counsel for Public Policy & Government Affairs at Palo Alto Networks, where he provides legal advice and guidance on domestic and international legislative, regulatory and policy matters. Sam’s main areas of focus are cybersecurity law, artificial intelligence regulation and governance, privacy and data security, international data flows, and public-private capacity building.
Sam comes to Palo Alto Networks from Meta Platforms where he led the team responsible for global product policy on Facebook’s News Feed and News Tab. In that role, he covered a wide range of legal and policy issues, including AI/ML fairness, algorithmic transparency, platform integrity, election security, misinformation and harmful content. Prior to his tenure in the private sector, Sam spent over 13 years in the Federal Government, most recently serving in several senior leadership roles in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including as the Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Policy, and the Department’s chief privacy officer.
Prior to DHS, Sam worked at the U.S. Department of Justice in a number of law enforcement and national security roles at the Office of Legal Policy, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Major Crimes and Narcotics Division at U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Sam additionally served as counselor to a member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board, where he oversaw privacy and civil liberties issues within the U.S. Intelligence Community. Sam is a graduate of the University of Denver, Strum College of Law, and has a Master's Degree in International Studies and Homeland Security from the Korbel School of International Studies.
Patrick Hamel is the Solutions Consulting Manager for Federal and Atlantic Canada at Palo Alto Networks, where he leads a team of experts helping government organizations modernize their security operations and accelerate SOC transformation. With extensive experience supporting Canada’s public sector, Patrick has been at the forefront of initiatives around platformization, Zero Trust adoption, sovereign cloud compliance, and automation of cyber defense at scale.
Prior to his leadership role, Patrick worked directly with customers to architect solutions across network security, cloud security and automation — bridging technical depth with strategic outcomes. He is passionate about enabling Canadian organizations to strengthen resilience against emerging threats while simplifying operations through integrated platforms and AI-driven security.
Rudy Ortega is the Director of the Security Operations Center (SOC) at Palo Alto Networks, where he leads the team responsible for safeguarding the company's global cybersecurity operations. With a deep background in cyber defense and incident response, Rudy has spent his career at the forefront of evolving security challenges. His expertise lies in architecting and managing large-scale, AI-driven security platforms that enable real-time threat detection and automated response.
As a Senior Solutions Consultant at Palo Alto Networks, Mark leverages his expertise in cyber security, defense and intelligence to anticipate the current and future needs of senior leaders across the federal government and strengthen our country’s cyber defenses. Mark is proud to serve as the longest tenured Solutions Consultant at Palo Alto Networks in Canada and has been fortunate enough to work with a range of public sector organizations including federal departments, provincial ministries, Crown Corporations, and municipal educational organizations. He currently specializes in defense and intelligence across the federal
government enterprise.
Chris King is a Senior Principal Product Manager at Palo Alto Networks where he is driving Model Security strategy and is transforming Prisma® AIRS into a comprehensive platform protecting enterprise AI. Previously, as Head of Product at Protect AI, he built the first enterprise-grade AI security solutions and led the company to a successful acquisition. He brings deep expertise in securing AI systems at enterprise scale, from model protection to emerging threats like agentic AI systems.
Alim is a Director of Product Management at Palo Alto Networks, where he leads strategy for regulated cloud products, including the company’s approach to Sovereign Cloud. He focuses on enabling governments and regulated industries worldwide to meet sovereignty, compliance and data protection requirements while accelerating secure cloud adoption. With a global perspective shaped by experience across enterprise infrastructure and cybersecurity, Alim works closely with customers, partners and policymakers to deliver trusted solutions that balance regulatory mandates with innovation.
Blaine Matton is National Director, Advanced Solution Sales for the Canadian Public Sector at Bell Business Markets, where he leads strategic engagements and business development for public sector clients across Canada. With over two decades of experience spanning network, security, cloud and managed services, Blaine has been at the forefront of Bell’s contributions to the Government of Canada’s digital transformation and modernization initiatives in network and security.
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Throughout his career at Bell, Blaine has held progressive roles in technical architecture, solution strategy and business development, deepening his expertise in federal procurement, hosting strategy and infrastructure delivery. Currently, Blaine is focused on developing sovereign solutions for Canada’s public sector, bringing together best-in-class network, security and hosting capabilities to create offerings that are managed and hosted within Canada, supporting data residency, compliance and security for public sector institutions.
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Blaine is passionate about enabling Canadian organizations to achieve operational excellence and regulatory compliance through secure, resilient, and locally managed platforms. He is committed to advancing Canada’s digital sovereignty and empowering public sector organizations to thrive in a secure, modern environment.
Devin Somppi is the Chief Technology & Security Officer at CIRA (Canadian Internet Registration Authority), where he leads the development and execution of strategies for cybersecurity, technology infrastructure and risk management.Â
With a strong background in security architecture and operations, Devin has previously held senior roles at Decisive Group, Bell Canada, Export Development Canada and BoxFabric. His areas of expertise include network security audits, implementation of zero-trust architectures, SIEM deployment (notably IBM QRadar), incident response and vendor-agnostic security and infrastructure solutions.Â
He is based in Ottawa and holds educational credentials from Algonquin College.
Victor Tavares is the Sr Director of Solutions Consulting for Palo Alto Networks in Canada, where he is responsible for customer and partner facing solutions engineering teams. Victor has more than 25 years of experience in the data networking and information security industries, where he has worked with most of Canada's largest public sector, enterprise, service provider organizations. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks in 2014, Victor led the Enterprise Systems Engineering team at Juniper Networks in Canada, which he joined through Juniper’s acquisition of network security pioneer NetScreen Technologies in 2004. Victor’s technical background extends to cybersecurity, software engineering, systems, cloud and datacenter.
Chris Gaba is the Global Sales Director of Prisma Secure Browser at Palo Alto Networks, where he leads a team focused on assisting companies migrate from legacy tools and modernizing their security stack. Chris's team works closely with companies to strengthen their enterprise security, provide the last mile of defense with a cloud based DLP engine, implement guardrails around GenAI applications, stop unique malicious URL's & AI generated phishing attacks and more.Â
Chris brings more than 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, with a proven track record of helping companies reduce risk, enhance resilience, and improve their overall security posture.
Heather is a cyber security executive, leveraging 30 years of experience in both the public and private sectors to advance innovative technology solutions that benefit both governments and citizens.
She is never one to run away from a challenge, including the work needed to strengthen Canada’s cyber security posture across the public sector. Having worked for companies such as Bell, Cisco and Zscaler advancing cyber security strategies at all levels of government, Heather now leads Palo Alto Networks Canadian Public Sector practice where she helps governments transform securely with the power and scale of cloud through modern workplace enablement, infrastructure modernization and Zero Trust Security.
By helping governments embrace the cloud, Heather is helping public sector leaders at all levels of government strengthen cybersecurity.
Kyle Wilhoit, Technical Director of Threat Research at Palo Alto Networks Unit 42, has over two decades of experience in cybersecurity. With expertise in cybercrime and nation-state espionage threat research, Kyle drives technical research and capability development for Unit 42 Threat Intelligence. His prior roles at Palo Alto Networks and other companies (DomainTools, Trend Micro, FireEye,etc.) focused on threat hunting and malware analysis.
A frequent speaker at international security conferences and a Black Hat US Review Board member since 2017, Kyle has consulted for governmental bodies like the IAEA, US Congress and the US Department of Commerce. His research has been featured in major media outlets (ABC, CNN, BBC, The New York Times, WIRED, MIT Technology Review) and he has co-authored two books on industrial control systems security and threat intelligence.
Anupam Upadhyaya is the Senior Vice President of product management for all SASE platforms, including Prisma® Access, SD-WAN, GlobalProtect, Enterprise Browser and ADEM at Palo Alto Networks. He has over 20 years of experience in networking and security. Prior to Palo Alto Networks, Anupam held senior product management roles at Cisco Systems, Aerohive Networks and Aruba Networks. He holds a master’s degree in marketing and finance from Santa Clara University and a bachelor’s degree in computer science from IIT, India.
Vitaliy Sivetskiy is a Senior Manager of Product Management at Palo Alto Networks, driving the product strategy for the next generation of software firewalls across public and private cloud platforms. His track record includes pioneering the company’s Pay-As-You-Go monetization model and leading 0-1 product launches that significantly reduce time-to-adoption for critical cloud security services. He holds an MBA from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and an EE degree from Rice University.
Jessica Souder leads AI Security and Public Sector engagement for the Prisma AIRS team at Palo Alto Networks. She previously directed Government and Defense at Protect AI, acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2025, and has over 20 years of national security and international experience, including service as a CIA Operations Officer. Jessica also led stakeholder engagement for the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology and holds degrees from Penn State, George Washington University and MIT’s Sloan School of Management.
