InfraGard Tech Fest

Schedule of Events

11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m. Check-in and Networking 

11:15 a.m.  – 11:45 p.m. Welcome, Chapter Business and Sponsor Presentations 

11:45 p.m. – 12:00 p.m. Lunch Provided 

12:00 p.m. – 12:45 p.m.          ODNI 2024 Annual Threat Assessment 

Kirby Wedekind, Protective Security Advisor, CISA 

12:45 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.        Reimagining Ransomware Defense 

James Case, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, Baptist Health 

Chris Freedman, Chief Executive Officer, OnDefend 

1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m.           FBI Cyber Threat Briefing 

Jessica Chew, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, Unit Chief, FBI Cyber Division 

2:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.           Closing Remarks 

Thank you to our sponsors!

Lunch Sponsors

Platinum Sponsor

Speaker Bios

Kirby Wedekind, Protective Security Advisor, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) 

Kirby Wedekind serves as the Department of Homeland Security’s Protective Security Advisor for northeast Florida. He is responsible for outreach, engagement, and coordination with the local critical infrastructure community –  including private industry, academia, non-profit organizations, and government agencies – to reinforce cybersecurity, physical security, and resilience initiatives. He is a task force officer assigned to FBI Jacksonville’s Cyber Task Force and chairman of the advisory board for Jacksonville University’s Department of Computing Science & Center of Cybersecurity. Dr. Wedekind is a Jacksonville native who previously served for 10 years in the US Marines with combat deployments to Iraq (2009), Afghanistan (2011-2012), and with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (2016). He holds a B.A. in English from Wake Forest University, an Executive Master’s degree from Georgetown University in Emergency and Disaster Management, and doctorate (PhD) in Defence and Security from Cranfield University at the Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. 

James Case, Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, Baptist Health 

James Case joined Baptist Health as the Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer in 2021. In this position, he is responsible for leading the cyber security program for the enterprise, with an emphasis on protecting patient and caregiver information.   

James has over 30 years of information technology experience in multiple industries, including healthcare and financial, with a proven ability to align business strategic goals with regulatory compliance and internal policy requirements, all while keeping a focus on customer service. Prior to joining Baptist Health, James led the information security program for global fraud at Citibank as VP Information Security Officer. Prior to that, he was the Manager of Information Security at Baptist Health. 

James was nationally recognized as a “Hospital and Health System CISOs to Know” by Becker’s Hospital Review in 2023. In 2022, he was elected to the Board of Directors of CHIME’s Association for Executives in Healthcare Information Security (AEHiS). James also sits on the Healthcare and Public Health Sector Coordinating Council (HSCC). 

A graduate of Clemson University, James earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and holds certifications as Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Project Management Professional (PMP), and GIAC Security Leadership Certification (GSLC).  

On the weekends you will find James at the beach with his wife, son and daughter. 

Chris Freedman, Chief Executive Officer, OnDefend 

Chris is a highly accomplished business leader with a diverse background in diplomacy, business, and philanthropy. Chris began his career serving as a diplomat with the Atlantic Treaty Association and founding a regional real-estate development firm. He continued his career by founding and managing various corporations in the U.S. including, MyBenefitsLab, a national online provider of diagnostic testing with the nation’s largest laboratories and national physician’s network. In 2016, Chris Co-Founded OnDefend, an international cyber security firm, where he currently serves as the CEO. Civically, Chris has also served several charitable organizations, including Best Buddies Jacksonville and the American Red Cross of Northeast Florida. Chris graduated with the highest honors from the University of Florida. 

Jessica Chew, Supervisory Intelligence Analyst, Unit Chief, FBI Cyber Division 

Jessie Durham Chew is a Unit Chief in FBI’s Cyber Division where she leads an analytic cadre and oversees intelligence production on malicious nation-state cyber threats.  Jessie has successfully enabled the intelligence portion of several operations to disrupt Russian cyber actors.   

  

Throughout her career Jessie has written and briefed a multitude of analytic products to varying domestic and international senior law enforcement and policymaker audiences to include the Director of National Intelligence, Director of the FBI, and members of the National Security Council. Jessie served as liaison to Interpol providing subject matter expertise to enhance the analytical capability of Interpol’s WMD analysts. 

  

In her 14 years of FBI experience Jessie has also supported the Counterterrorism and Weapons of Mass Destruction missions in various analytic, liaison, and leadership roles. Prior to her FBI career Jessie was a criminal analyst with the Albany Police Department and a market analyst with Continental Tire Company.