Chris Snider

Chris Snider

Problems happen to everyone, and it is how we react to those problems that shape our perceptions of future encounters. Some shy away, while others charge ahead to solve them. Chris is one of the latter, always determined to solve the issues and never give up.

Chris, the Chief Information Security Officer for Just One Technology, grew up in the Midwest, and surprisingly, enlisted in the Navy right out of high school. He aspired to take his passion for taking things apart and putting them back together and put it to good use on computers and electronics. His aspirations took flight as he entered into the Navy’s electronics field to become an electronics technician. He nurtured and grew his problem solving abilities over his twelve year career in the Navy, and his duty stations offered him opportunities to expand his knowledge and feed his skills. Throughout his career, Chris has been involved with some form of security – physical, operational, data, information - but it was his final duty station where his knowledge and experience in Information Assurance and Information Security grew rapidly.

While serving under Tony Thornton, then CIO of the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, Chris served as the leading petty officer in charge of all the enlisted military in the IT department, and also served as a senior member of the Information Security and Information Assurance teams. While there, he helped establish the secure computing enclave, allowing the hospital staff to get secure communications without having to depart the premises. It was here where Chris also earned not only his Associate’s Degree in Computer Science, but also his Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), one of the most highly sought after security endorsements in the Information Security world.

After receiving his honorable discharge from the Navy in 2009, Chris went to work for Booz Allen Hamilton supporting various projects. One of the projects involved working with the Joint Chiefs of Staff and getting the Office of the CIO prepared for their Command Cyber Readiness Inspection (CCRI) where a rating of Excellent was obtained. He went on to support the office of the Platform IT and Research and Development Designated Approving Authorities at the Navy Yard, where Chris’s evaluations and input guided the issuance of Authority to Operate letters to commands for operation of systems.

After Booz Allen Hamilton, Chris went to work for iDirect Government where he established the standardized framework for hardening and securing the software that came installed on the hardware installed in multiple communications teleports worldwide. After building the framework, Chris also structured the program for periodic updates of that system and software, where it was previously static. While at iDirect Government, Chris continued to pursue his passion for learning, and earned three Bachelor’s Degrees - Electronics Engineering Technology, Cyber and Network Security, and Cloud Computing. Continuing on this path, he hopes to attain his Masters in Information Technology Management.

Chris is an avid cook, and barbeque is his specialty. Building on a base of his upbringing, he puts his own flair on his own recipes for sauces and barbeque rubs, calling his style Kansas City Outlaw. He is self taught, and pursues it relentlessly, and builds his own smokers and pits when he has the chance. His wife and son support and encourage his desire to one day compete at the highest levels of the barbeque circuit, and enjoy in the partaking of his creations. His plans also include obtaining his private pilot’s certificate for fixed and rotary winged aircraft.