Our aeCyber Team

John Cusimano - CFSE, CISSP, GICSP

Vice President of Industrial Cybersecurity 

John has over 20 years of experience and has performed many control system cybersecurity vulnerability and cyber risk assessments. He is a member of the International Society of Automation (ISA) and is a voting member of the ISA 99 cybersecurity standards committee. As part of that committee, he is the chair of the zones and conduits working group, and co-chair of the product development working group. He is the developer and primary instructor of the ISA courses on cybersecurity. John is a Certified Functional Safety Expert (CFSE), a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and a Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional (GICSP). John has a B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Clarkson University in New York.

Krish Sridhar - P.E., GSEC

Director of Industrial Cybersecurity

Krish Sridhar is a subject matter expert on cybersecurity solutions applied to industrial control systems.  He brings over 20 years of industry experience with process automation, high availability architectures, industrial networks and application software.  Krish has executed many cybersecurity risk and vulnerability assessment projects for chemical, specialty chemical, life sciences and CFATS compliant companies per the NIST framework and ISA 99/IEC 62443 standards.  His particular expertise and experience developing and designing holistic cybersecurity programs for industrial control systems leveraging proven IT technologies, ICS security tools and products and industry best practices.

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Krish works closely with various stakeholders within organizations to develop detailed implementation protocols, procedures, guidelines and help manage the lifecycle of a cybersecurity program.

Paul Rostick - CISSP, GICSP

CISO & Senior Principal Cybersecurity Advisor

Paul Rostick is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and an Industrial Cybersecurity Advisor for aeSolutions. He advises company executives on establishing strategic Industrial Cybersecurity Programs.

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Prior to joining aeSolutions, Paul was the CISO and Director of Cybersecurity Programs for Sunoco Logistics Partners, where he developed their first integrated IT/OT Cybersecurity Program. He has over 25 years of IT/OT/EHS experience in the Oil & Gas industry. Paul’s cybersecurity articles have been published in various industry publications, including Pipeline and Gas Journal, ISA InTech Magazine, TechTarget Search Security, and Linked-In. Paul regularly presents on Cybersecurity Program topics at industry conferences and forums, including ARCForum, AFPM, and AiCHE.

Dave Gunter

Industrial Cybersecurity Business Development Manager

Dave is an experienced process automation expert who has over 20 years’ experience with a global owner operator. In addition, Dave has worked within the consulting engineering field with numerous clients on the topics of process safety, cybersecurity and alarm management.

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Dave has participated on various industry standards committees, conducted Gap assessments vulnerability analysis on a broad range of industries. Dave's deep understanding of the challenges the end-user/owner operator faces form the backbone of his approach to solving cybersecurity problems in a complex environment.

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Dave is a published author “Implementing IEC 62443 – A Pragmatic Approach to Cybersecurity 1st Edition”.

Jacob Morella

IC Technical Project Team Manager

Jacob Morella is a Chemical Engineer with experience in industrial cybersecurity, process safety, automation, and process operations. In his current role as an Industrial Cybersecurity Technical Project Manager he leads teams that perform Cybersecurity Risk Assessments, Vulnerability Assessments, PHA/LOPA studies, and Alarm Rationalization studies. His primary focus is on implementation of CyberPHA risk assessments and leveraging his strong background in process safety & operations to improve the assessment process. Jacob is a licensed Professional Engineer, Certified Function Safety Expert (CFSE), and has a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Clemson University.

Josh Ruff - CCNA

Industrial Cybersecurity Business Manager

Josh has over 6 years of experience working on, designing, and/or executing Cybersecurity Vulnerability Assessments, Wired/Wireless Industrial Networks, Process Automation & Controls Engineering, Automation Application and Device Level Security, Standards and Procedures Development, Commissioning and Start-up, and Project Management in Oil & Gas onshore, upstream and midstream facilities.  Having been embedded for 3 years with one of the largest operators in the Bakken and being an end user of Industrial Cybersecurity products and policies, Josh is able to utilize this experience to assess and evaluate process and procedural hazards, ICS architecture, and cybersecurity risks.

Tim Gale

Industrial Cybersecurity Senior Principal Specialist

Tim Gale is an Industrial Cybersecurity and Process Safety Specialist with more than 28 years’ experience in the Oil & Gas, Specialty Chemical, Pulp and Paper, Food & Beverage, Pharmaceutical and Mining industries. Tim has performed numerous vulnerability / risk and compliance assessments using ISA 62443, NIST 800 series and NIST CSF standards. As a Process Control Engineer with experience in design, commissioning and start-up of process control / process safety systems, Tim has a unique foundation for assessing and evaluating process hazards, control system architectures and cybersecurity risks.  Drawing on experience from numerous industrial projects across North America, Europe and Asia including new construction and ICS upgrades / migrations, Tim is responsible for Cybersecurity Risk and Vulnerability Assessments and has obtained both ISA 62443 Expert and ISA 61511 SFS certifications from the ISA.

Ted Justice

Principal Specialist Industrial Cybersecurity 

Ted most recently served as a Sr. Project Manager and Industrial Controls Lead for CEC Group, and has previous experience as a Programmer, Electrical Engineering Lead, and Electronic Systems Supervisor for both consulting organizations and municipal governments. Ted holds his Associate’s Degree in Electronic Engineering.

Patrick Riley - GICSP

Industrial Cybersecurity Principal Specialist

Patrick is a subject matter expert on cybersecurity solutions applied to industrial control systems.  He has over 9 years of industry experience with designing and implementing industrial networks and application software and troubleshooting and maintaining large scale deployments.  He has performed several cybersecurity risk and vulnerability assessment projects for Oil and Gas as well as manufacturing companies per the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and IEC 62443 and NIST-800-82 standards. 

Patrick’s core competencies include Security Architecture Design, Network Security, Security Policy, Access Control and Incident Handling.   He has experience working closely with various stakeholders within an organization to develop detailed implementation design requirements, ensuring adherence to industry best practices.

Alvaro Rodriguez 

Industrial Cybersecurity Principal Specialist 

Alvaro has over 14 years in information technology with 6 years focusing on the information security domain. He initially began his IT career while serving in the Marine Corps and has gained experience and insight in different industries throughout his career such as telecommunications and ICS. He has extensive experience with network security, firewall management, and network design. Alvaro assisted refineries in strengthening their security posture by reviewing firewall policy and providing recommended upgrades and enhancements to their network for a more secure security stance. Alvaro has multiple firewall vendor expertise including Check Point, Palo Alto, Cisco, and SonicWall.  Currently, Alvaro is Network+ and Security+ certified.

Chad Vicknair

Industrial Cybersecurity Technical Project Manager

Chad Vicknair brings a true shop-floor to top-floor perspective with over 27 years in the regulated and highly hazardous chemical industry.  In 1992, while working as a maintenance contractor at a chemical facility in Louisiana, he accepted an employment offer in operations.  Driven by a natural desire to understand systems from end to end, he quickly moved through various roles developing a strong understanding of interoperability between not only systems, but the people interacting with them.  Continuing a personal pursuit of education, Chad earned a Bachelor’s degree and multiple certifications in process control and cybersecurity.  At the site level, he administered BPCS, SIS, PCN and MES systems, supported PSM, PHA, LOPA and alarm rationalization programs, and helped to develop and sustain regulatory programs for CFATS, MTSA, RCSC, and the EPA.  As a corporate global ICS cybersecurity consultant and PM, Chad navigated across multiple business functions to promote IT/OT collaboration, adaption of the NIST CSF and a risk-based approach to cybersecurity aligning the business mission with regulatory requirements

Jose Cruces

Industrial Cybersecurity Specialist 

Jose Cruces is a fully trained and certified network associate, he has extensive knowledge in building, maintaining, and monitoring secured Cisco network systems and devices. He is experienced in different networking protocols such as Single and Multi-Area OSPF, RIPv2, BGP and EIGRP. Experienced in switching technologies like extended access control lists, port security VTP, VLANs, and STP. He is skilled in ensuring efficient network operations and assisting in the initial analysis, design, planning, and coordination of LAN and WAN network systems.

Ray Landes 

Principal Specialist Industrial Cybersecurity 

Ray has over 40 years of experience in Process Automation and Controls.  He has designed IO and communications components for a DCS and Safety Controller and has spent many years with Field Service and Technical Support supporting those products.  He has extensive experience with product certifications including UL508, FM and CSA Class 1 Div II, IEC61508 and IEC62443.  One of the means of evaluating devices for Functional Safety – the FMEDA (Failure Modes, Effects and Diagnostic Analysis) was perfected with his help. He has performed the security testing and certification for many of the control and safety products and systems to ISASecure™ and Achilles™ security certification programs.  He was instrumental in the development of the ISASecure™ SSA certification scheme.  Ray has performed and assisted with Cyber Vulnerability Assessments and Risk Assessments for numerous Chemical and Oil and Gas facilities.

Dylan Tudeen

Associate Specialist

Dylan is an engineering student at the University of Houston and currently works as an Associate Specialist for our aeCyber Group.

Bret Stone

Industrial Cybersecurity Principal Specialist

Bret has over 15 years in server administration, from small office to international corporate data-centers to industrial control systems. His experience has allowed him to become highly knowledgeable in all tiers, from planning and design, to physical installation, all the way to ongoing application support and risk mitigation. He has experience with VMWare, switch/router configuration (VLANS, static/dynamic routes, security hardening), wireless networking, SAN, backup, Windows server, and database administration for ICS environments.  Working in the Bakken has given Bret a solid understanding of an industrial control system environment's requirements and challenges.  

Greg Villano

Senior Specialist Industrial Cybersecurity 

Senior Principal Specialist in Industrial Cybersecurity with over 30 years of experience with industrial automation & control systems. He’s held electrical maintenance and management related positions across a variety of industries including stone quarrying / manufacturing, hygiene / forest product manufacturing, and the maritime industry. Recent work has been in the offshore oil and gas sector of the energy industry with dedication to maritime related industrial automation and control system cybersecurity.