Wyoming’s cybersecurity leadership spans higher education, state government, community banking, federal cyber coordination, and private-sector technology. The leaders in this feature are working across very different environments, from protecting public institutions and statewide systems to strengthening security in regional financial services and enterprise operations. Together, their backgrounds show how cybersecurity leadership in Wyoming is shaped by practical risk management, infrastructure stewardship, compliance, and the ability to connect technology strategy to real operational needs.
Casey Dearcorn — Chief Information Officer and Chief Information Security Officer, Northwest College
At Northwest College, Casey Dearcorn serves as chief information officer and chief information security officer, leading the institution’s technology and security strategy across infrastructure, budgeting, policy, compliance, risk management, and end-user awareness. The role includes managing staff, overseeing a $1.4 million technology budget and $6 million in equipment, maintaining a secure computing environment, and guiding the college’s transition to a secure virtual computing and server infrastructure with redundancy. Over a long tenure at the college that also included database administration and desktop support leadership, Casey has built experience across enterprise systems, disaster recovery, SIEM architecture, vulnerability management, incident response planning, social engineering defense, and cybersecurity frameworks aligned with NIST, FERPA, GLBA, PCI, GDPR, and other requirements.
Mikki Munson — Cybersecurity Advisor for Wyoming, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
Mikki Munson is the cybersecurity advisor for Wyoming at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, bringing a background that combines federal cyber coordination, emergency management, and long military service in the Wyoming Air National Guard. Before joining CISA in 2023, Mikki worked in emergency management for the State of Wyoming, adding experience in public-sector preparedness and statewide coordination. That mix of federal, state, and military service places the role at the intersection of cybersecurity support, resilience planning, and cross-agency collaboration across Wyoming.
Miguel Angel Penaranda — Chief Information Security Officer, State of Wyoming
Miguel Angel Penaranda serves as chief information security officer for the State of Wyoming, where the role focuses on risk management, governance, compliance, security incident response, and threat intelligence for state systems and critical infrastructure. Before taking on the Wyoming post, Miguel spent more than two decades with the State of South Dakota, including four years as chief information security officer, three years as deputy chief information security officer, and eight years leading the security operations center. That background includes statewide incident response planning, security audits, awareness training, application security assessments, inter-agency coordination, and the development of cybersecurity frameworks aligned with NIST standards.
Andrew Beard — Chief Information Security Officer, Converse County Bank
At Converse County Bank, Andrew Beard serves as chief information security officer, focusing on customer data protection, infrastructure security, operational resilience, and the alignment of technology initiatives with broader business goals. Andrew’s career at the bank spans roles as vice president and senior vice president before moving into the chief information security officer position, reflecting a progression that blends technology leadership with business strategy and vendor management. Earlier roles at Evolent Health, CIGNA Healthcare, Allegro Development, and Boston Avenue Capital added experience in process improvement, data integrity, analytics, systems support, and operational efficiency, shaping a profile that connects cybersecurity with business operations and customer-facing reliability.
Josh Tozer — Chief Information Security Officer, PDS
Josh Tozer is chief information security officer at PDS in Casper, following a role at More Power Technology Group where the title also included chief information security officer alongside information technology project manager and senior network engineer responsibilities. That combination points to a background grounded in both security leadership and hands-on technology delivery, including infrastructure, project planning, and systems administration. Earlier work in information technology support and field services adds to a profile built through operational IT roles before moving into formal security leadership.
Cybersecurity Leadership Across Education, State Systems, Banking, and Advisory Work
Wyoming’s cybersecurity leadership includes executives and advisors working inside colleges, state government, banks, and enterprise technology organizations. Their experience reflects a strong emphasis on risk management, secure infrastructure, compliance, incident readiness, and public-sector coordination, showing how cyber leadership in Wyoming is being shaped by people responsible for both strategy and day-to-day operational resilience.
Explore more profiles of the leaders shaping cybersecurity across numerous industries in our CISOs to Watch collection.