Rob Karas came to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2010 to create the first ever Red Team for the Federal Government. Mr. Karas has over 22 years in the information security field and significant experience in creating penetration testing and security teams. At DHS, he directs the National Cybersecurity Assessments and Technical Services (NCATS) program. NCATS conducts vulnerability scanning and penetration testing for the Federal government, State, Local, Tribal and Territorial governments as well as Private Sector/Critical Infrastructure stakeholders. Prior to DHS, Mr. Karas worked in the private sector for 12 years developing security operations and penetration testing teams and 5 years at DISA, where he helped originate the Automated Systems Security Incident Support Team (ASSIST) and Vulnerability Analysis and Assistance Program (VAAP) programs. He has a B.S. in Information Management from James Madison University and maintains a variety of leadership, information assurance and technical certifications.