"It's not about who's on stage.
2024 THREAT
CONFERENCE
October 5–8, 2024
It's about who's in the room."
National Security is Everyone's Business.
Join The Cipher Brief and national security leaders from government and the private sector as we engage in exercises and expert-led conversations on issues including China, Taiwan, Ukraine, Russia, Quantum, AI/ML, Cyber, Emerging Tech, Espionage, Alliances, Digital Transformation and Foreign Malign Influence.
Cipher Brief sessions are expertly crafted and focused on ways the public and private sectors can most efficiently work together to address key national security challenges.
To keep conversations at the highest level possible, attendance is by invitation only and is limited to professionals working in the national security space.
Come prepared to engage in exercises meant to raise awareness of key national security threats and leave more connected than ever to the national security community.
What Experts are saying about the Cipher Brief Threat Conference
2024 Conference Speakers
Bill Burns was officially sworn in as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency on March 19, 2021, making him the first career diplomat to serve as Director. Director Burns holds the highest rank in the Foreign Service—Career Ambassador—and is only the second serving career diplomat in history to become Deputy Secretary of State.
Director Burns retired from the State Department U.S. Foreign Service in 2014 before becoming president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
Director Burns is a crisis-tested public servant who spent his 33-year diplomatic career working to keep Americans safe and secure. Prior to his tenure as Deputy Secretary of State, he served as Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs from 2008 to 2011; U.S. Ambassador to Russia from 2005 to 2008; Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs from 2001 to 2005; and U.S. Ambassador to Jordan from 1998 to 2001. He was also Executive Secretary of the State Department and Special Assistant to former Secretaries of State Warren Christopher and Madeleine Albright; Minister-Counselor for Political Affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow; Acting Director and Principal Deputy Director of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff; and Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs at the National Security Council.
Director Burns received three Presidential Distinguished Service Awards and the highest civilian honors from the Pentagon and the U.S. Intelligence Community. He is the author of the best-selling book, The Back Channel: A Memoir of American Diplomacy and the Case for Its Renewal (2019). He earned a bachelor’s degree in history from LaSalle University and master’s and doctoral degrees in international relations from Oxford University, where he studied as a Marshall Scholar.
General David Petraeus (US Army, Ret) served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were combat, including command of the Multi-National Force-Iraq during the Surge, U.S. Central Command, and Coalition and U.S. Forces in Afghanistan. He subsequently served as Director of the CIA. He is now a partner in a global investment firm (and chairs the firm’s global institute), a member of a number of private and public boards, engaged in several academic appointments, a private venture capitalist, and a regular contributor to discussions on global security and economic issues. He graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy in 1974 and later earned a Ph.D. in international relations and economics from Princeton University.
General Michael Hayden is a retired four-star general who served as director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. General Hayden also served as the country’s first principal deputy director of national intelligence and the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the country. Hayden previously served as commander of the Air Intelligence Agency and Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center and served in senior staff positions at the Pentagon, U.S. European Command, and the National Security Council.
Dr. Michael Vickers served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence from 2011 to 2015, the Chief Executive Officer of the Defense Intelligence Enterprise, an $80 billion, 180,000-person, global operation that includes the National Security Agency, Defense Intelligence Agency, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, National Reconnaissance Office, Defense Security Service, and the intelligence components of the Military Services and Combatant Commands. He played a major policy and planning role in the operation that killed Usama bin Ladin. From 2007 to 2011, he served as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations, Low-Intensity Conflict and Interdependent Capabilities. Earlier in his career, he served in the Special Forces and in the CIA’s Clandestine Service, and had operational and combat experience in Central America and the Caribbean, the Middle East, and Central Asia.
The Honorable Susan M. Gordon is former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI). Prior to ODNI, Gordon served in multiple leadership roles in the IC including as Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and 27 years at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where she held senior executive positions in four of the Agency’s directorates. In 1998, she designed and drove the formation of In-Q-Tel, a private, non-profit company created to deliver innovative technology solutions for the agency and the IC.
Admiral Stavridis (Ret.) was the 16th Supreme Allied Commander at NATO and 12th Dean of The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where he earned a PhD in international affairs. He is currently Vice Chair, Global Affairs and Managing Director at The Carlyle Group and Chair of the Board of the Rockefeller Foundation. Admiral Stavridis is the author of twelve books, including Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans and Sailing True North: Ten Admirals and the Voyage of Character. 2034: A Novel of the Next World War speculates about a US-China conflict. His latest book, To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision, was released in May 2022.
Manning currently serves as the Chief of Commercial Strategy for DARPA (the Defense Advance
Research Project Agency), a DOD Agency, with an annual +$4.3B budget for high risk, future high
value R&D technology research investments.
Manning is a co-founder of 1920 Group, a women-led firm and Element3, a critical material
extraction company. Prior, Manning was a technology investment executive at two leading US
public energy companies, Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) and Cimarex (NYSE: CTRA), that
advanced the US as a “global energy powerhouse”. Manning was co-founder of investment firm
Malibu IQ, (NASDAQ: NVTS). Manning was Managing Director of Nanoholdings, a clean-tech
venture fund, backed by Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB); and two term Texas Governor Rick Perry
appointee to Texas’ $480M+ Emerging Tech Fund.
Manning started her career as an entrepreneur with several successful nanotechnology startup
exits, including Zyvex, Authentix (acquired by the Carlyle Group), and former New York new media
telecom corporation Winstar (NYSE: IDT), that commercialized DOD wireless communications
technology. Manning was voted as one of the “Top 25 Women in Technology” in Texas.
Daniel “Dan” Richard currently serves as Associate Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation. Previously he served as the Chief of Staff to the Director of CIA and as the Senior Deputy General Counsel. As Senior Deputy General Counsel, he was responsible for overseeing all operational legal guidance and served as the Agency’s Acting General Counsel from January to June 2017 until the General Counsel was confirmed.
Mr. Richard was born and raised in Washington, DC. He obtained his B.A. in History with an emphasis in Russian from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1991. He went on to get his M.A. in National Security Studies from Georgetown University in 1992 and his J.D. from George Washington University Law School in 1995. After graduating from law school he served as a legislative assistant for a Congressman from Southern Florida before joining CIA in 1996 as an analyst. He transferred to the Office of General Counsel in 1998 and has served as a component attorney in various operational components. From 2005 to 2007, he also served on detail to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence General Counsel’s Office. Recently, Mr. Richard graduated from the National War College here in Washington D.C. studying U.S. strategy towards China.
Mr. Richard is the 2014 recipient of OGC’s Stewart Award, OGC’s highest honor, and for the last fifteen years Mr. Richard has served as an Adjunct Law Professor at George Washington University Law School, teaching Intelligence Law. He is married and has two children.
Rob served 34 years at the NSA, where he spent his final years as the head of the Agency’s cybersecurity directorate. He also served on the White House National Security Council as a Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator, as well as Acting Homeland Security Advisor. Throughout his career, he led operations pursuing the most sophisticated hackers and innovated technologies to protect vital national assets — including the the US classified networks and nuclear authorization codes. He remains dedicated to upholding our national security in the cyber realm.
Kelly Bissell joined Microsoft as CVP in 2022.
Prior to this, Bissell led Accenture’s Global Security business and oversaw security services including strategic consulting, cyber defense, digital identity, response and remediation services, and managed security services. With more than 25 years of security industry experience, Bissell specializes in breach incident response, identity management, privacy and data protection, secure software development, and cyber risk management. His role at Accenture spanned strategic consulting, proactive risk management and digital identity to cyber defense, response and remediation services, and managed security services—across all industries.
Sandra is a cybersecurity leader with 26 years of intelligence experience. She leads Google Threat Intelligence and joined Google in 2022, following Google’s acquisition of Mandiant. Sandra is a U.S. Air Force Reserve offi cer, serving as a faculty member and on the Board of Visitors at the National Intelligence University. She is a member of the Aspen Institute Cybersecurity Working Group, the strategic council of the Silverado Policy Accelerator, and the Institute for Security and Technology’s Ransomware Task Force Steering Committ ee. Sandra also joined the Board of Directors at Crane NXT. Sandra is pursuing her PhD at Johns Hopkins University as an Alperovitch Institute Fellow. She has an MBA from MIT and holds four additional master’s degrees in cyber-policy, international aff airs, science and technology intelligence, and military operational art and science. Sandra speaks English, Spanish, and German and resides in Virginia.
Jennifer Ewbank, served as Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency for Digital Innovation from October 2019 until January 2024, where she led transformation of one the world’s most sophisticated and secure digital technology ecosystems.
Lieutenant General Michael Groen (US Marine Corps, Ret.) served over 36 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career as the senior executive for AI in the Department. Groen also served in the National Security Agency overseeing Computer Network Operations, and as the Director of Joint Staff Intelligence, working closely with the Chairman and Senior Leaders across the Department. He is an experienced Marine commander and multi-tour combat veteran. Groen earned Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School
Mark Montgomery formerly served as the Executive Director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Before this position, he served as Policy Director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of Senator John S. McCain. In this position he coordinated policy efforts on national defense strategy, capabilities and requirements, defense policy and cyber issues. Mark served for 32 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear trained surface warfare officer, retiring as a Rear Admiral in 2017. His flag officer assignments included Director of Operations (J3) at U. S. Pacific Command; Commander of Carrier Strike Group 5 embarked on the USS George Washington stationed in Japan; and Deputy Director, Plans, Policy and Strategy (J5), at U. S. European Command. He was selected as a White House Fellow and assigned to the National Security Council, serving as Director for Transnational Threats from 1998-2000. Mark graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in history from Oxford University, and completed the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power training program.
Douglas H. Wise served as Deputy Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency from August 2014 until August 2016. Following 20 years of active duty in the Army where he served as an infantry and special operations officer, he spent the remainder of his career at CIA.
Goff is a 35-year veteran of the CIA where he was a 6-time Chief of Station with extensive service in Europe, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia including several war zones. He served as Chief of Operations for Europe and Eurasia. Goff also served as Chief of CIA's National Resources Division, working extensively with "C Suite" level US private sector executives in the financial, banking, and security sectors.
Glenn Corn is a former Senior Executive in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who worked for 34 years in the U.S. Intelligence, Defense, and Foreign Affairs communities. He spent over 17 years serving overseas and served as the U.S. President’s Senior Representative on Intelligence and Security issues. He is an Adjunct Professor at the Institute of World Politics.
218
In-Person Attendees
in 2023
61
Speakers
90+
3
18
Companies
Represented
Exercises
Sponsors
Sponsor the 2024 Conference
Don't just follow. Help us lead.
Your company can drive and engage in high-level, non-partisan conversations about top global security threats while exchanging ideas with Cipher Brief Experts and currently serving global security decision makers.
This unique, invite-only conference curates important conversations, bridging the gap between the public and private sectors through panel and speed roundtable discussions, exclusive breakout events, and intimate fireside chats.
If you are interested in becoming a 2024 Threat Conference sponsor, please send a message to info@thecipherbrief.com.