Benjamin Bergersen

Benjamin Bergersen is an IT executive and cloud shared services security expert. He is the CIO and Senior Agency Official for Information Security Risk Management (SAO-RM) for the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). Mr. Bergersen transforms IT services for the Agency to utilize a hybrid strategy of shared services and cloud services with increased savings and efficiencies. Using IT accelerators and analytic IT systems, Mr. Bergersen supports the Agency’s important mission of helping companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority development projects in emerging economies.

Before joining USTDA Mr. Bergersen, served as the Information Security Officer for MAX.gov Cloud Shared Services providing security shared services to 180 federal agencies across government and protecting the $3.9 Trillion dollar federal budgeting at the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), White House. In this role, he oversaw IT transformation with information security continuous monitoring (ISCM) and enterprise risk management across software development, utilizing agile development, security in a Development/Operations environment (SecDevOps), and Security in the Software Development Lifecycle (Security in SDLC). MAX.gov became the first federal agency FedRAMP authorized cloud service provider for Software as a Service (SaaS). This work led to Mr. Bergersen receiving the Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA) from (ISC)2 for best information security business process improvement.

As the Chief Information Officer for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Department of Commerce, Mr. Bergersen provided collaborative nationwide services for mission security and assurance. This included developing technology services to accelerate and enhance the capabilities of special agents, auditors, and attorneys to perform investigations and audits across five national operating locations. Mr. Bergersen received a Commerce Department Bronze medal and a GovTek GTRA Executive Collaboration award for his accomplishments in this role.

As the Information Security Program Manager in the U.S. Antarctic Program he provided security shared services protecting a billion dollars in annual scientific research and 51 universities with the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Navy. The environment included multiple continents, airports, harbors, critical infrastructures, research laboratories, data centers, and 10 global operating locations, including South Pole Station. Mr. Bergersen earned A+ FISMA grades two years in a row for NSF’s FISMA information security grade as rated by U.S. Congress.

Benjamin created and led the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) executive education program at Carnegie Mellon University. He was also a volunteer New York State Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), and an American Red Cross first aid instructor trainer. He holds multiple cyber security and governance certifications including CISSP, CISSP-ISSAP, and CISSP-ISSMP from (ISC)2; CGEIT, CISA, and CISM from ISACA; PMP from PMI; as well as being an ITIL Service Manager. His education includes an MBA from George Mason University, a Bachelor’s of Science in Criminal Justice from SUNY Brockport, and a CIO certificate from Carnegie Mellon University. Lastly he is a graduate of the Senior Executive Service Candidate Development Program (SES-CDP) for the federal government.