David Badanes
David is a cybersecurity and policy advisor specializing in human risk, critical infrastructure protection, and cyber resilience. With over 20 years of experience across the energy, critical infrastructure, and government sectors, he previously spent eight years helping build AES’s security program and global data protection function from the ground up. An accomplished industry leader, David has testified before regulators, drafted legislative proposals, and held active roles with the Charter of Trust, Internet Security Alliance, and Edison Electric Institute. He is a two-time CSO50 honoree, a frequent conference speaker, and an author on risk management and privacy by design.
Title of Talk: From Drills to Defense: What Athletic Development Teaches Us About Cyber Culture Change
Talk Description:
Just as elite athletic performance is built through consistent, progressive training rather than a single session, resilient cyber cultures require more than periodic awareness campaigns. This talk explores how the principles of athletic development—deliberate practice, muscle memory, and team accountability—translate directly into building a workforce that instinctively recognizes and resists cyber threats. We will examine why one-off training fails, how to design "reps" that cultivate security intuition, and the strategies needed to shift cybersecurity from a compliance exercise to an embedded cultural strength. When security becomes an instinct rather than an instruction, organizations move from fragile to formidable.