MTA Cybersecurity Consortium

Dr. Riza Aditya

Cyber Security Authority, Thales

Riza Aditya has more than 20 years of Cyber Security experience in various roles and domains. In the role of Cyber Security Authority, he ensures Cyber Security is adequately considered in solution, balancing the needs from Customer and internal stakeholders. He contributed to definition and validation of Cyber Security in various domains, including: Rail Signaling, Air Traffic Management, Electricity Transmission and Distribution, and Banking and Finance. He has a Ph.D for research in cryptographic protocol.

Janno Lieber

Chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)

John (“Janno”) Lieber was confirmed as Chair and CEO of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in January 2022, following his nomination to that position by Gov. Kathy Hochul. Lieber has been serving as MTA Acting Chair and CEO since July 2021 and is the Authority’s 15th Chair since it was founded in 1968.

In this position, Lieber provides strategic, financial, and operational leadership for the MTA, the largest public transportation agency in North America. He also heads the MTA Board of Directors, senior leadership team, and a total workforce of more than 60,000 employees.

From 2017 to 2021, Lieber served as President of MTA Construction & Development, the organization responsible for planning, developing, and delivering capital projects across the MTA. In that position, he led the creation and implementation of the MTA’s 2020-2024 $51.5 Billion Capital Program. He also managed the integration and transformation of construction and development management practice at the MTA.

Prior to the MTA, Lieber served as President of World Trade Center Properties LLC, where he was responsible for managing all aspects of the Silverstein organization’s efforts to rebuild at the World Trade Center site, including planning, design, and construction issues; business, financing, and legal matters; and public affairs, government, and community relations.

Earlier in his career, he held positions in the administrations of President Bill Clinton and NYC Mayor Ed Koch and worked as an attorney in private practice.

Jesse Whale

Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer, Amtrak

Jesse Whaley is an accomplished thought and action leader across multiple disciplines encompassing technology, security, intelligence, and criminal investigations. He has consistently delivered award-winning cybersecurity performance and groundbreaking improvements for the U.S. Department of Defense, international governmental alliances, and private companies.

As Amtrak’s current Chief Information Security Officer, Jesse leads the management of cyber risk and information security matters. He manages everything from traditional enterprise technology risks to unique challenges with the operational technology that securely moves trains and safely delivers passengers to their destinations. Jesse authored and is delivering a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy to strengthen the company’s security posture while supporting the digital transformation of the business.

Previously, Jesse transformed cybersecurity operations at the Pentagon. He designed and built major programs to protect the nation’s military headquarters from cyber threats, including cyber intelligence fusion, cyber hunt, and user activity monitoring in support of the DoD Insider Threat Program. Jesse held many other leadership positions throughout DoD, including leading defensive cyberspace operations at a regional cyber center. He delivered unique critical technology capabilities as a Director within the military intelligence community and served as an IT Director (CIO equivalent) overseas. Jesse also provides expert advisory services.

Jesse is especially known for leading revolutionary global initiatives. His accomplishments include successfully leading teams through resolution of over 10,000 cybersecurity incidents and over 500 criminal investigations. Jesse and his teams have received numerous awards. In 2017, Jesse was named the Pentagon IT Senior Civilian Employee of the Year. Jesse is active throughout the technology and security communities as a member of (ISC)2, ISACA, Evanta’s Washington DC CIO/CISO Governing Body, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) Rail Information Security Committee (RISC), and HMG Strategy’s Washington DC CISO Advisory Board.

Jesse also served ten years in the U.S. Army as a CID Special Agent and a Digital Forensic Examiner. Jesse has lived and worked across the globe, developing trusted partnerships with his counterparts in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

Joel D. Waugh

Sr. Director, Cybersecurity & CISO, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

With more than 20 years of experience installing, managing and securing information systems, Joel Waugh brings unique insight and experience to his position as WMATAs Chief Information Security Officer.

From 1990 to 2011, he proudly served in the US Army. Notable accomplishments during his career include a deployment to Bosnia and Herzegovina in support of NATO peacekeeping operations and two deployments to Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Upon retiring from the Military in 2011, Joel joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation, where he spent 8 years building a customer-focused cybersecurity program around the National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) Risk Management Framework. Joel’s career at the FBI culminated as the Chief, Information Security Risk Management, responsible for the security for over 500 hosting environments and information systems across multiple security enclaves.

Since January 2019 Joel has been with WMATA. First in the role of Director of Cybersecurity, where he led a dynamic team in the implementation of a robust cybersecurity framework founded on a Federal-style assessment and authorization process. For the last six months, Joel has served as the Senior Director of Cybersecurity and CISO, in charge of risk management, defensive operations and cybersecurity governance.