Douglas Hertle brings over 20 years of cybersecurity experience to the stage, along with the dubious distinction of being the only security professional who’s ever had to defend ice cream from physical threats. Douglas invented an actual locking mechanism for Ben & Jerry’s pints, because when you can’t trust people with root access, you definitely can’t trust them with Half Baked.

As a CISSP-certified professional, Douglas has spent two decades in the cybersecurity trenches watching hype cycles crash against reality. He’s genuinely excited about emerging threats and defensive technologies, but also carries the battle scars of seeing “revolutionary” security solutions deployed before anyone read the documentation. This combination of optimism and hard-earned cynicism means his talks cut through vendor marketing and focus on what actually stops attackers in the real world.

Douglas believes effective cybersecurity requires understanding both sophisticated technical exploits and the human behaviors that make them possible. Because whether it’s social engineering or ice cream theft, someone always finds a way around your controls.