The ORBIE Awards are presented by regional CISO leadership networks across North America. The ten leaders below all won ORBIEs in 2026, through DallasCISO, BostonCISO, TorontoCISO, CapitalCISO, BayAreaCISO, and OhioCISO. Their careers span eye care, fitness software, national laboratories, county government, and life insurance. One served as deputy director of the National Security Agency’s Red Team. Another is a retired Army National Guard colonel with two Bronze Star Medals. A third spent more than two decades rising from network administrator to the top security seat in her county.
Derek Morton – VP & CISO, Alcon
Derek Morton has spent more than 25 years at Alcon, starting as an application and infrastructure developer in 2001. He went on to direct infrastructure architecture and engineering, lead data protection during Alcon’s time with Novartis, and head IT security before becoming VP and CISO in October 2021, leading the company’s global enterprise cybersecurity program. Morton has driven a global digital transformation that aligns security with business priorities, supporting initiatives such as AI-driven services, digital commerce, and smart surgical solutions while building future-ready talent and extending enterprise security governance. He holds a degree from Tarleton State University and serves on the advisory board of the Mayfield College of Engineering. He won the 2026 DallasCISO ORBIE in the Super Global category.
Richard Weiss – CISO, MRO
Richard Weiss began as an IT manager at Symix and a systems administrator at Richmond American Homes, then led IT support services at WorldatWork. Over more than nine years at HMS, he moved from IT management into infrastructure operations and then information security, serving as the named systems security officer for federal contracts with agencies including CMS, the VA, and TMA, and continuing as senior director of information security after Gainwell Technologies acquired the company. After serving as CISO of AccentCare, Weiss became CISO of MRO in May 2024, where his work has focused on targeted vulnerability remediation, expanded multi-factor authentication, faster security reviews, and staff development. He is a founding member of the DallasCISO advisory board and won the 2026 DallasCISO ORBIE in the Corporate category.
Astrid Lambert – CISO & Senior Director, Cambridge Health Alliance
Astrid Lambert brings expertise spanning information security, healthcare analytics, database administration, and website development. As CISO and senior director in the IT department at Cambridge Health Alliance, she oversees strategic initiatives and implements measures to protect sensitive healthcare data and meet regulatory standards, while her analytics work has helped the organization make data-driven decisions. She holds degrees in industrial-organizational psychology and industrial engineering and is a CISSP. Lambert also volunteers her time and expertise with organizations across the healthcare community. She won the 2026 BostonCISO ORBIE in the Enterprise category.
Arif Hameed – CISO, C&R Software
Arif Hameed began in IT audit at RBC and worked in IT controls and operational risk at RBC Capital Markets. At TD he served in its business information security office and third-party cyber risk management, and at Equifax he worked in client cybersecurity, presenting a multi-client collaborative cybersecurity audit at the RSA Conference in 2020. He became the inaugural CISO of Munich Re New Ventures, and in March 2023 joined C&R Software, a division of Constellation Software, as CISO, building a standalone cybersecurity program following an acquisition. Hameed has spoken at InfoSec World, SecureWorld, and RSAC 365, volunteers with ISACA and the Cloud Security Alliance, sits on academic cybersecurity advisory committees, and joined the TorontoCISO advisory board in 2026. He holds CISSP, CISA, and CRISC certifications and won the 2026 TorontoCISO ORBIE in the Corporate category.
Kat Poff – CISO & Deputy Director, Calvert County Government
Kat Poff has spent 26 years in Calvert County Government’s Technology Services department, rising from system administrator to network administrator, network supervisor, and acting infrastructure manager. Passionate about building a team dedicated to monitoring the network and stopping threats, she led the formation of the county’s cybersecurity team in late 2021, which also promotes cybersecurity awareness among county residents and government employees. Poff now leads the county’s cybersecurity as its cybersecurity manager and serves in its deputy director role. She holds the CISSP and GISP certifications and a master’s certificate from the National Association of Counties’ Enterprise Cybersecurity Leadership Academy. She won the 2026 CapitalCISO ORBIE in the Corporate category.
Huy Ly – Head of IT Infrastructure/Security, Monolithic Power Systems
Huy Ly began in IT support at Sterling Software and managed up to 200 servers as a systems administrator at Sun Microsystems. Over 11 years at Oracle, he led a global team of 120, consolidating development IT infrastructure from acquisitions including BEA, Siebel, PeopleSoft, and JD Edwards, and his storage work earned Oracle a NetApp innovation award in 2008. He went on to lead SaaS hosting operations at Intuit, platform architecture at Ancestry.com with a $30 million capital budget, and global IT at Nimble Storage. Ly joined Monolithic Power Systems in March 2020 to lead IT infrastructure and security, where he has built an AI organization, deployed a private AI platform, introduced an AI-powered security operations center, and secured access to private AI and large language models with phishing-resistant, identity-based controls. He spoke at Identiverse in 2026 and won the 2026 BayAreaCISO ORBIE in the Super Global category.
Erwin Lopez – CISO, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Erwin Lopez began as an application design and security analyst at Hewlett-Packard, then spent 11 years at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, first as a computer scientist and application security engineer and then as a senior security engineer on its incident response team. He joined SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory as deputy CISO in 2016 and became CISO in September 2018, investing in automation and modern security capabilities and engaging teams early to protect research while supporting the laboratory’s mission. Lopez has served on the board of the Bay Area CSO Council since 2020 and is passionate about mentoring the next generation of security professionals. He holds CISSP, GCIH, GPEN, GREM, and GAWN certifications and won the 2026 BayAreaCISO ORBIE in the Large Corporate category.
Azeem Nizam – CISO, ABC Fitness Solutions
Azeem Nizam began as a network security architect at NextCard, designing infrastructure for online banking and credit card transactions. Over more than a decade at Progent, he led its information security consulting division and helped grow its IT practice from 25 to more than 100 consultants, while also integrating 3PAR’s network into HP with zero downtime as a co-architect. After heading information security at CareDx and QuinStreet, he delivered Forescout’s first SOC 2 certification and integrated two acquisitions. Nizam became CISO of ABC Fitness Solutions in September 2021, unifying a security function largely inherited through acquisitions, earning ISO 27001 certification for its Glofox, Ignite, and EVO product lines and PCI DSS certification for EVO and Ignite, and building an AI security program on NIST AI RMF and ISO/IEC 42001. Three of his former direct reports now serve as CISOs, and he has run a summer cybersecurity mentorship program for college students since 2019. He is vice chairman of BayAreaCISO and won the 2026 BayAreaCISO ORBIE in the Corporate category.
John Virden – AVP for Security, Compliance & Risk Management & CISO, Miami University
John Virden served 27 years in the U.S. Navy, including as deputy director of the National Security Agency’s Red Team, which grew from 14 to 140 security professionals during his four years there. He went on to support Navy cyber and electronic warfare readiness at Booz Allen Hamilton and served as a cyberspace operations planner with special operations forces in Kabul. After serving as CISO of the University of California, Riverside, he returned to his alma mater, Miami University, in November 2019 to lead security, compliance, and risk management as CISO. Virden credits a team of analysts, security engineers, and student security operations responders for protecting the institution. He holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and master’s degrees in computer science and national security and strategic studies, and won the 2026 OhioCISO ORBIE in the Corporate category.
Paul J. Mocarski – CISO & VP IT Infrastructure, Sammons Financial Group
Paul J. Mocarski spent more than 18 years at Sherwin-Williams, moving from systems integration and disaster recovery to internet systems engineering and then leading global information security, where he trained the CEO and senior executive team on the company’s incident response plan. As CISO at Valspar, he established its formal security practice and led infrastructure and security planning for its merger with Sherwin-Williams. Mocarski joined Sammons Financial Group in June 2017 as VP of IT infrastructure and CISO, embedding security across risk, legal, privacy, compliance, and business teams in initiatives such as its Microsoft 365 deployment and enterprise generative AI adoption. A retired Ohio Army National Guard colonel with 31 years of service, he served in Iraq, commanded the 147th Regiment, and received two Bronze Star Medals. He holds a master’s in physics and won the 2026 DallasCISO ORBIE in the Large Enterprise category.
Recognized by Their Peers
These ten leaders show the many ways security leadership earns recognition. Virden and Mocarski brought decades of military experience to universities and financial services, while Morton, Poff, and Lopez built long careers inside the organizations they protect. Nizam and Hameed have rebuilt and unified security programs after acquisitions, while Weiss brings federal health compliance experience to MRO. Ly and Lambert connect security with AI and data. Each earned a 2026 ORBIE from their regional CISO peers.
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John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.