Mary Frantz is the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Officer at CyberNINES LLC and the Managing Partner of Enterprise Knowledge Partners, LLC (EKP) with over 25 years’ of experience in cyber security. She specializes in Cyber Incident Response Planning, Compliance, IT Strategy, eDiscovery, and Forensics, and is a court-vetted expert in cyber security, data breach, cloud-based delivery models, breach remediation, and forensics.

Prior to joining CyberNINES, Mary founded and led Enterprise Knowledge Partners, LLC (EKP) since 2004. With her vast experience in Cyber Incident Response, Compliance, IT Strategy, eDiscovery, and Forensics, including 15 years in executive leadership roles such as CIO, CTO, and CISO, she has built a reputation as a trusted agent and subject matter expert in her field. In 2023, CyberNINES and EKP joined forces and Mary is now the senior partner and CISO of the combined organizations.

Mary is not only a seasoned professional but also an active contributor to the field of cyber security. She has led advanced ethical hacking (red teams), security assessments, and managed multiple cyber incident response investigations across the globe. Mary has also served as a plaintiff’s technical expert in high-profile cases such as the Equifax, Yahoo, Marriott, and Facebook breaches and other cyber incidents.

In addition, Mary has held consulting and leadership positions in information technology strategy, enterprise architecture, cybersecurity, cyber incident response, and big data. She is a respected and hands-on industry and court-vetted expert in cybersecurity, data breach, cloud-based service models, enterprise architecture, remediation, and cyber forensics.

Mary has various active and non-active certifications in information systems auditing, ethical hacking, penetration testing, forensics, engineering, and architecture.

Mary is a guest lecturer at multiple law schools, an adjunct professor in cyber security at three major universities and is an instructor for beginning and advanced cyber security certification courses.  

Mary holds a quadruple major (B.A. in Math/Statistics, a B.A. in Foreign Language (Spanish and French), a B.S. in International Relations, and a B.S. in Information Systems/Operation Management) from Northern Illinois University. She also holds an MBA with emphasis in international business and finance from the University of Chicago, as well as a master’s degree in computer science engineering from Georgia Tech.

As a keynote speaker, author, and industry expert, Mary is one of the first Native American and Mexican women in her field. She is a passionate advocate for women entrepreneurs in STEM, STEM Education, a mentor and volunteer for women and minorities in business and technology, and holds board positions in both the for-profit and non-profit sectors such as the Cyber Security Summit, Minnesota STEM Partnership, Minnesota Academy of Science, Enterprising Women, and is currently Vice Chair of her home district’s Board of Education.