| Event Name: |
Cyber Threats to the Defense Industrial Base
Website
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| Event Date: |
06/17/2026 |
| Event Time: |
1800-1930 |
| Event Organizer: |
Kansas City Chapter |
| Event Sponsor: |
Data Locker |
| Description: |
Last year we explored the physical infrastructure
underpinning national security - cleared spaces,
energy, facilities. This event tackles the other
side of the coin: the digital threats targeting
defense contractors, federal networks, and the
industrial base that supports the warfighter.
Nation-state actors are increasingly targeting the
defense supply chain through sophisticated cyber
campaigns, and companies of all sizes are
navigating a rapidly evolving compliance
landscape. With a dense concentration of defense
contractors and federal facilities across the
region, this conversation hits close to home.
Format: Panel discussion + networking (evening
event)
Key Topics:
- The evolving cyber threat landscape targeting
the defense industrial base - nation-state actors,
ransomware, and supply chain attacks
- CMMC 2.0 compliance: what defense contractors
need to know and how to prepare
- Protecting sensitive data across the defense
supply chain - from primes to small business
subcontractors
- CISA Region 7's role in supporting the defense
community and private sector
- Insider threats, zero trust architecture, and
the convergence of IT and OT security in defense
manufacturing
Why this is important to Kansas City: The region
is dense with defense contractors navigating CMMC,
and the concentration of sensitive manufacturing
and federal facilities makes cyber defense a daily
reality, not an abstract concept. This positions
AFCEA KC as a practical resource for the companies
that make up the local defense industrial base. |
| Event Subject: |
Networking, Technology, Cybersecurity, Cyber Threats, CMMC |
| Event Speaker: |
Moderator: Brian Weaver- Founder & CEO at Torch.AI
| AFCEA KC President
Confirmed Panelist:
1. David Carpenter- Director, Midwest
Cybersecurity Center @ Firepoint Innovations |
ANG Advisor to PACAF Cyber Operations
2. CEO at Invary
3. Marisa Fish- Senior Data Engineer, George Mason
University - College of Engineering and Computing |
| Event Category: |
Social Event |
| Event Theme: |
Protecting the Networks Behind the Mission |
| Location: |
Keystone CoLAB
Kansas City, MO |
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