With over 27 years of Information Technology experience in the United States, specifically with distributed systems and server infrastructure, I have been a stellar contributor in the Financial, Capital Markets, Insurance, Transportation, and Telecom, Manufacturing, Healthcare as well as the Public Sector verticals. My roles have included setting strategic architectural direction, developing solution architecture, and providing engineering subject matter expertise as well as team leadership. I have been involved with the deployment and support of very large data centers, and have also lead two physical data center moves. My soft skills include excellent communication, project management, documentation and presentation skills.

I began supporting Novell Netware and Microsoft Windows servers right out of College in the early 1990s and quickly gained the Novell CNE and Microsoft MCSE certifications. During the mid 90s I was involved in a very large multimillion dollar Peoplesoft ERP project, for which my manager required a UNIX resource, and sent me to HP-UX training and certification. As a certified HP resource, I spent ten years, between 1996 and 2006 supporting various versions of HP-UX on PA-RISC and Itanium hardware.

In 1996 a project I was working on required a monitoring tool and I suggested deploying it on Red Hat Linux. At the time, Linux in the enterprise data center was unheard of, and my success using Linux meant that I would recommend it repeatedly over the years. As I would jokingly tell people afterwards, I was working with Linux when the Penguin was in diapers.

Between 2000 and 2006 I led one of the most capable UNIX Server Engineering Teams in the Midwest, at Northwestern Mutual in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. From there, I went on to introduce Linux to several very large enterprises, including United Airlines, which saved many millions of dollars by moving to Linux, and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association which also saved a lot of money by switching from the mainframe. Along the way, I picked up numerous other supporting skills including Veritas (VCS) Clustering, VMware virtualization, Amazon AWS and Azure Cloud.

My past has included starting and successfully running a technology company, and growing it to 15 employees and several million dollars in revenue. As such, I have done everything from hiring and firing, to creating HR manuals, procuring and administering benefits for employees for my company, creating sales presentations and marketing materials, as well as maintaining an in-house data center. This particular company was started in 2001 and dissolved in 2008.

Between 2010 and 2017 I led the Linux Server Engineering teams for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and Zebra Technologies. During this time I worked very closely with their CISOs on numerous Cyber Security projects and initiatives. Working with CISOs at these two companies, I picked up additional security skills including the ability to architect, engineer, support, monitor and maintain safe computer networks, servers, desktops and a secure Enterprise Computing Environment using the latest and greatest security tools in the market. I mastered the ability to monitor threats and vulnerabilities (CVEs) and remediate or mitigate them with patches, bug fixes, code changes, firmware, hardware, or OS and software version upgrades. I deployed security agents across the enterprise and utilized the same to evaluate security holes, lapses, as well as threats internal as well as external drive process improvements to reduce risk and/or improve operational efficiency. I remediated findings from internal as well as external assessments. I performed periodic penetration testing in order to validate remediation effectiveness. I lead the implementation of select new security technologies and lead the charge in incident response activities including forensic investigations. I implement and maintained security tools across the enterprise as well as private, public, and hybrid clouds, including, Qualys, Nessus, Rapid7, iptables, Secunia, SCAP, CrowdStrike, LogRhythm, Satellite Server; UNIX/ Linux Patching, SCCM, ServiceNow, and Altiris. Most recently I have been working as an independent contractor for Fortune 500 companies around the country, mostly on data center relocation, cloud and security projects. Currently I am working on a contract at Citadel Securities, LLC in downtown Chicago, Illinois. 

While I love technology, most of all, I am an extrovert — a people person. My Myers-Briggs personality is: EXECUTIVE (ESTJ-T) My career goals are lofty but achievable, and all end up in the C-Suite or Boardroom.

While I love technology, I am foremost a big picture person — a technology manager with real world business experience and smarts. I hold a mini-MBA from the International Business Management Institute in Berlin, Germany.

As an extrovert, I love to network with and meet new people, as well as to foster, develop and nurture existing relationships. I have been extremely successful at management, as well as at sales and marketing roles in the past. In addition to large and small business, I have been involved with several dozen Gubernatorial, Senatorial, Congressional and Mayoral campaigns, including all aspects of the campaign from literature creation, walk and knock, phone banking, GOTV efforts, media relations, dear neighbor letters, direct mailing, campaign creation, phone banking, fundraising, visibility, campaign website management, demographic targeting, editorial letters, as well as advertising and branding. I carefully review the position of each candidate I endorse for public office, and over ninety percent of the candidates I have endorsed thus far have won election or re-election…! I returned to my Christian faith in 2007 and was subsequently Baptized in 2009. Since then I have spent several years taking Moody Bible Institute, Trinity Divinity College, Dallas Theological Seminary, Knox Seminary and other Bible classes and hope to someday complete an MDiv. In the interim I have been extremely active in the Church community, volunteering at Churches, leading Bible Studies, and planting new Church campuses. I give generously both to Churches as well as to numerous non-profit organizations.

Arvin is a highly motivated and talented cybersecurity professional focusing in Information Assurance, Cyber Frameworks, Policies, Standards & Guideline management, Risk Management, Strategy Development, Enterprise Architecture, Systems Integration, Business Process Management, Process Efficiency, Lean Operations, IT Innovation and IT Business Operations. His Meyers-Briggs Personality Type is INTJ. He is currently a cyber risk management specialist at PepsiCo.

Arvin is a graduate of Northern Illinois University’s College of Business with a bachelor’s degree in Management Information Systems and a graduate of DePaul University’s College of Computing and Digital Media with a masters degree in Information Systems.

Throughout his life, Arvin has been a naturally inquisitive individual. As a result, he has a unique ability of not only understanding complex and technical issues but utilizing current IT solutions and capabilities with existing technologies to address the protection requirements of today’s cyber threats. Arvin is also known to create solutions when existing solutions can’t address current/future needs.

During his time at Boeing, he submitted 4 invention disclosures with 1 submission being granted by the US Patent and Trademark Office and was recognized with the prestigious title of ‘Boeing Inventor’ for his contributions.

Arvin is ISC2 CISSP certified, CompTIA Security+ certified and ISO 27001 Lead Auditor certified. He is currently working on obtaining the CCSP and CRISC certifications.

Outside of his professional civilian career, Arvin is proudly serving as a direct commission officer in the US Navy Reserves as a Cryptologic Warfare officer (Designator 1815). Additionally, he is a research fellow with the Cybersecurity Forum Initiative and guest lecturer at several universities across the State of Illinois.

In his spare time, he likes to keep physically active, collect guitars and vinyl records as well as work on classic and high end sports cars.

PAUL R. SAND, MS, CISSP® 

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS 

25+ years of leadership in Security, Information Technology (IT), voice and data communications.

Corporate Governance expert and member of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD). Have served on for-profit and not-for-profit boards of directors for 12+ years. 

As Vice President, Director, Technology Risk Officer, Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago (FHLBC) provides second line oversight of FHLBC’s technology risk and physical, personnel, and information security programs. Serves as Chairperson of FHLBC’s Technology Risk Subcommittee, is a voting member of FHLBC Operational Risk Oversight Committee and founding member of the Federal Home Loan Banking Systems Technology Risk working group.

As Senior Vice President, Operations, IP3, led design, development and delivery of  courses in CISSP Exam Preparation, CISM Exam Preparation, Cloud Computing Security, Data Protection, The Financial Management of Risk and Voice Communication Security. 

As President of Salare Security, lead commercialization of patented VoIP security technology licensed from the Illinois Institute of Technology developed via the National Security Agency’s Academic Center of Excellence in Information Assurance. Won grants from the US Army Research Office, the Illinois Homeland Security Development Office, and the Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. Won awards from the Global Security Alliance, the American Security Alliance, and Innovate Illinois.

As Working Group Chairman for the Unified Communications (UC) Security Project of the Internet Security Alliance (ISA) sponsored by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and DHS. Lead 50 volunteers from 42 companies in producing the Applicability of the Security Control Automation protocol (SCAP) to Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) Systems white paper and the pilot of a prototype system at the National Security Agency (NSA). 

As Vice President and Member of the Board of Directors of the InfraGard National Members Alliance (INMA). Developed and instituted a chapter certification and governance program for 84 chapters serving 54,000 members across the US. Developed policy and liaised between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the INMA General Counsel. Instituted an engagement and collaboration program with the InfraGard chapters to share best practices, successes and solutions to common challenges.

A recognized innovative cyber security professional. Responsible for 43 Inventions resulting in 21 issued US Patents. Inventions spanned the disciplines of cyber security, physical security, public safety, voice communications, and data communications. 

Member of the US Secret Service’s Cyber Fraud Task Force (CFTF). Provided briefings on UC Security and UC Risk Management to the ECTF and also to the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), Asset Protection Executive Roundtable (APEX), the Financial Services Technology Consortium (FSTC), and the Information Security Audit and Control Association (ISACA). 

Member of the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Security Council. Advisor for cyber security market development.

RELATED EXPERIENCE 

2011 To Present. Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago, Vice President,  Director, Technology Risk Officer. FHLBC is a $97B institution and provides liquidity to small and regional banks in Illinois and Wisconsin as a “bank for banks.” Provide second line oversight for the technology risks and physical, personnel and information security risks of the bank. Chair the Technology Risk Subcommittee and a voting member of the Operational Risk Oversight Committee of the Bank.

2011 To 2011 IP3, Inc, Senior Vice President, Operations: IP3, Inc is an cyber security and risk management advisor and training company. Clients include fortune 500, US Government Agencies, and cyber security industry associations. 

2007 To 2011 Salare Security LLC, President and CEO, Board Member: Founded company, acquired exclusive license to patent pending technology from IIT.  Quickly became a cyber security industry thought leader in Unified Communications (UC) through leadership positions in the Internet Security Alliance’s VoIP Security Project, an Officer in the FBI’s Chicago Chapter of the InfraGard (Infrastructure Protection) Chicago Member Alliance, membership in the US Secret Services Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTF), and participation in ANSI’s Homeland Security Standards Panel. Industry speaker including engagements at the NIST Security Automation Conference, IIT’s VoIP Conference and Expo, the US Secret Service, The Asset Protection Executives, The Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA) and others. Key Results: Company named a “Top Security Start-up” by the Global Security Challenge in London, UK; Company named a finalist in the Innovate Illinois competition in 2008 and 2009. 

2003 to 2007 mVerify Corporation, Vice President — Business Development: Joined mVerify Corporation in its very early stages. Defined product and market strategies and developed business relationships that moved the company into its initial and subsequent revenue generation stages. Key Results: placed software automation technology for use in testing UC deployment on the US National Command Authority’s fleet of aircraft; adapted product offering to drive the first automated testing solution for a geographic position system (GPS) based mapping application used by the Department of Defense (DoD). 

1987 to 2002 Lucent Technologies/AT&T Nework Systems/Bell Laboratories, Senior Manager: Prolific researcher and inventor responsible for 41 inventions leading to 21 awarded US Patents in voice and data communications and security. Turned market share from 7% to 15% in the voice messaging business and drove revenues to a record level $260mm for my product lines.  Lead a 20,000- person business unit wide cost reduction program that yielded a $240mm annual savings from a $10mm investment budget.  Enhance employee engagement scores from 45% to 75% in 6 months for my division by transforming front line manager behavior.

EDUCATION 

Masters of Science, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL. Master of Science in Computer Science. Specialization: Data Communications and Networking. Masters’ Project: “Simulation of Network Protocols” 

Bachelor of Arts, University of Jamestown, Jamestown, ND. Majors in Political Science, Business Administration and Computer Science. Activities: Student Association President, Varsity Football Team 

PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATIONS 

CISSP® (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) #397891.

US GOVERNMENT SECURITY CLEARANCE

Holds a US Government Secret Level Security Clearance granted through the US Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Private Sector Clearance Program (PSCP).

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS 

• American National Standards Institute (ANSI). Contributor to ANSI’s Homeland Security Standards Panel’s report: The Financial Management of Cyber Risk (March 31, 2010). Member Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel (HITSP). 
• InfraGard National Members Alliance, Board Member and Vice President.
• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). Senior Member. 
• Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Security Council. Member. Cyber Security Advisor. 
• US Secret Service, Electronic Crimes Task Force (ECTF). Member. 
• Information Security Audit and Control Association (ISACA). Member. 
• Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP). Member. 

ISSUED US PATENTS 

7,254,612 ; 7,110,515; 7,079,630; 6,980,799; 6,975,620; 6,865,390; 6,836,509; 6,823,189; 6,704,304; 6,701,156; 6,657,993; 6,611,742; 6,584,316; 6,580,787; 6,449,483; 6,405,042; 6,393,104; 6,263,068; 5,459,780; 5,450,482; 5,381,471

Joe has spent his entire career spanning more than 30 years in Information Technology based in Chicago. From the early days of personal computers, hacking together Commodore and Apple Computers till today’s advanced Threat Hunting analysis and serverless computing, Joe has been an early adopter of technology and an evangelist for securely delivering Information Technology to a wide range of organizations. Starting as a University of Illinois graduate, he worked as a system programmer/operator on the initial Cray computer installation and installed the University’s first Computer Networks including BITNET and local area networks. Then as a consultant in Chicago, he worked at several Midwest firms installing and securing over 500 Networks.  

Joe has spent his career across many vertical markets including manufacturing, financial, legal, and healthcare markets. He has managed teams at companies ranging from regional firms to global enterprises, and developed infrastructure, security and compliance programs for those companies. Bringing insight into the mind of a CISO, Joe has implemented regulatory programs to address today’s complex compliance requirements such as HIPAA/HITECH, ITAR, SOX, and GDPR. He would bring the InfraGard Board a broad background of experience working with people and security, bolstered by his CISSP (Security), CRISC (Risk) and CIPP (Privacy) certifications. In his past role at Illinois Tool Works (ITW) he was responsible for establishing a Cybersecurity Program that guided and instructed 85 Divisions on Cybersecurity from Risk Management, Incident Response, Vulnerability Analysis, and Resilience. Joe is currently a Principal Solution Strategist with Saviynt, A Gartner recognized leader in Identity Governance.

Joe has been active in the Chicago area over the past 30 years as well with his family and with Baseball and Cub Scouts.  Joe is a District Commissioner with the Pathway to Adventure Council, and Cub Master of Cub Scout Pack 39 with over 120 members.
 
With a passion for education and making connections with people, being an InfraGard member for the past six years has been a great experience. Joe’s role, if elected, would be to continue that outreach to InfraGard Members and prospective members around the Chicago Area. As an Information Technologist Joe has realized that it all starts with people, and it cannot be all about technology. Getting elected as a Board Member of the Chicago Chapter of InfraGard is a great way to contribute back to our community and our partnership with the FBI.