WaterSide Chat: Ensuring a Secure Digital Utility

In today's world, security and data protection are of the utmost importance. As utilities embrace new technologies and begin to digitize their processes, they need to understand how they can best protect themselves and their customers. In this WaterSide Chat we will hear from a trusted leader in the information security industry to discuss what utilities should look for as they evaluate vendors. Additionally, we will hear from a utility IT professional and his perspective on best practices that utilities should embrace internally.

John Verry, Managing Partner of Pivot Point Security, has led hundreds of high-profile security assessments across a diverse cross-section of noteworthy systems in the government, legal, telecommunications, critical infrastructure, finance and transportation sectors over the last dozen years. As a certified ISO 27001 Lead Auditor, John is a proponent of the ISO framework to help companies establish, maintain and continuously improve a robust Information Security Management System (ISMS). As a certified Third Party Risk Management Professional, John established the TPRM line of business at Pivot Point Security and has successfully built many innovative TPRM programs. John is also the host of Pivot Point Security’s Security Awareness Education platform; he teaches various practical tips & lessons to educate clients on real world information security risks. Under John’s direction, Pivot Point Security has experienced 18 years of continued growth. Sree Pulapaka joined SAWS in 2016 as Vice President/Chief Information Officer. He was most recently the Director of Enterprise Business Innovation and Analytics for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) in Washington, D.C., and has a successful track record of managing complex information technology programs across a number of sectors including: aviation, healthcare, telecommunications and water and wastewater. He was the section head for nearly four years at the Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, one of the largest water and wastewater utilities in the country serving 1.8 million residents. During his tenure, he supported compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations/standards, including consent decrees for sanitary sewer overflows. After serving as a consultant for large IT services companies such as Computer Sciences Corp. (CSC) and SAP (BusinessObjects), Pulapaka was part of the IT executive management team at Johns Hopkins University and Health System, a 50,000-employee organization. He earned his Master of Science in engineering from Texas Tech University.