Former White House CIO to Keynote MISAC Conference

California’s municipal IT leaders will be hearing from an authoritative source when they convene this fall for their annual conference.

The Municipal Information Systems Association of California (MISAC) will have the first female White House chief information officer, Theresa Payton, as one of the keynote speakers. The conference runs Sept. 24-27 at the Westin Rancho Mirage Golf Resort & Spa in Rancho Mirage.

Payton, who will speak on Sept. 25, “is a visionary in the digital world,” MISAC said in an announcement to members, “leading the way as an inventor of new security designs.” In addition to holding an approved U.S. patent in security, Payton speaks about her experience as a veteran cyber crime fighter and entrepreneur.

Before overseeing IT operations as CIO for former President George W. Bush and his administration, Payton was an executive in banking technology for two of the country’s top financial institutions. After serving in the White House, she went on to co-found Dark Cubed, a cybersecurity product company, and Fortalice Solutions, a cybersecurity consulting firm.

Those attending the MISAC conference will hear from Payton about emerging trends and techniques to help audiences combat cyber threats, from the impact of the Internet of Things to securing Big Data.

Named one of the Top 25 Most Influential People in Security by Security Magazine, Payton was also profiled in the book 100 Fascinating Women Fighting Cybercrime and was honored as the 2019 Woman Cybersecurity Leader of the Year. In 2020, Business Insider named her one of their top 50 Cybersecurity Leaders, and CISO Mag named her Cybersecurity Crusader of the Year. In 2021, The Awards Magazine named Payton one of the Top 50 Women in Tech.

Payton is the author of multiple books on IT strategy and cybersecurity, including Manipulated: Inside the Cyberwar to Hijack Elections and Distort the Truth, which The Guardian included on its list of the “Top 10 Books About Cybercrime.” Payton has been a frequent guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox Business Channel and Fox News and has been featured on CBS News, CNN, NBC News, and MSNBC, as well as Canadian and Irish news outlets. She also starred on the reality TV series Hunted, in which real people attempted to drop off the grid while highly trained investigators (including Payton) “hunted” to catch them.

The MISAC annual conference brings together public-sector IT leaders and industry representatives. The conference agenda, details and a registration link are available online.