Nssplus Bio

Network Security Systems Plus, Inc

Company Background
Management Team

Network Security Systems Plus, INC 5205 Leesburg Pike, Suite 505 Falls Church, VA 22041

Founded in 2000, Network Security Systems Plus, Inc. (NSSPlus), is a prime SBA 8(a) certified veteran-owned small business specializing in Certification and Accreditation (C&A) and Information Assurance (IA) products, Computer Network Defense (CND) and Cyber Security Services, and other services involving complex cyber technologies. NSSPlus represents a team of 75 highly-talented, well-trained, and certified professionals that deliver comprehensive support services for engineering, C&A, and IA products and network security services.

Company Background
For over the past 10 years, NSSPlus has been key in the success of several aggressive C&A and IA programs for the DoD and federal government, to include, but not limited to various Department of Defense (DoD) Components such as Military Health System (MHS)/TRICARE Management Activity (TMA), Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), Fort Belvoir, Department of State and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) and Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

NSSPlus provides technical and project management support to the MHS/TMA IA Program Office as the MHS/TMA IA Laboratory (IA Lab). The IA Lab provides technical management support which includes Certification and Accreditation (C&A) boundary definition support, vulnerability/mitigation strategy review, training, C&A Database management/reporting, research/white paper development, help desk support, and vulnerability report creation.

NSSPlus conducts and manages DoD Certification and Accreditation efforts as well as supports Information Assurance initiatives. NSSPlus conducts industry research on emerging IA and security technologies and methodologies for the purpose of assisting IA and IT staff in formulating policies, guidance and procedures to ensure the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of enterprise networks and healthcare applications and support systems. NSSPlus supports the development of new and existing network security design; conducted security evaluations, and security policy development and implementation.

NSSPlus provides IA engineers, team leads and security analysts who perform comprehensive evaluations of the technical, non-technical and physical security features of the Information Systems (IS) and applications. These security evaluations validate that TRICARE component's system development, design, and implementation of security features are compliant with the Federal, DoD, and MHS/TMA C&A requirements.

NSSPlus performs assessment and security evaluations of firewalls and DMZ configurations for compliance with DISA's STIGs and reviews/recommends approval of TRICARE network connectivity and the implementation of new technologies for the purpose of establishing a C&A boundary.

NSSPlus also gives technical project management support to the MHS/TMA IA Program Office for their MHS/TMA IA Lab. The MHS/TMA Lab provides technical management support which includes, but is not limited to, Certification and Accreditation (C&A) boundary definition support, mitigation strategy review, training, C&A Database management/reporting, research/white paper development, help desk support, vulnerability report creation, and Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) development and support the various MHS/TMA IA C&A efforts for all regions/contractors to include the Site and Program Offices.

In other areas, NSSPlus team leads performs as project managers on assigned C&A efforst and have overall responsibility of ensuring that each system is completed in a timely manner. They develop and maintain timelines, monitor Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&Ms), and track status to ensure milestones are met and activities are completed as required/scheduled. They are the main points of contact between the TRICARE component and the MHS/TMA IA Program Office's Certification Authority (CA) and Designated Accrediting Authority (DAA) and act as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) as it relates to their C&A efforts.

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Management Team

Felix A. Thomas, CEO and President, CISSP, CHSP, CRISC

Felix A. Thomas, Founder, CEO and President, CISSP, CHSP, CRISC

As the Founder, CEO and President of NSSPlus, Felix A. Thomas is a true IT pioneer and American Success story. With over 40 years of an extensive IT background starting in 1972 with mini and mainframe computers and IT industry leaders such as Honeywell and Raytheon Data Systems. Mr. Thomas started as a field and systems engineer and then developed extensive experience in virtually every aspect of the IT industry including programmer analyst, software developer, Information System Manager as well as Division MIS manager. He spent over seven years in New York City and ten years of his IT career in Silicon Valley California and worked on the Columbia Space Shuttle Simulator Program among many other high technology projects in Silicon Valley at that time. Mr. Thomas earned his Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from New York Institute of Technology in 1979 and worked on his Masters Degree at Gold Gate University in Mountain View California. He has been a Certtified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), since 2001. He is a Certified HIPAA Security Professional (CHSP) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC).
In 1989 Mr. Thomas then successfully opened his own business on St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands among whose many clients included U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Justice, U.S. Virgin Islands Bureau of Internal Revenue, Legislature of the U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands Housing Authority, and the U.S. Virgin Islands Office of Management and Budget. Mr. Thomas then moved backed to the mainland in 2000 and continued his IT career by successfully starting NSSPlus. (To this day, Mr. Thomas maintains close ties with Virgin Islands recently establishing an Internship program for promising IT students from the Virgin Islands with Howard University.) Mr. Thomas' management team consists of:

Sadiyq Karim, Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, CISSP, CCIE, MCSE

Sadiyq Karim, Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, CISSP, CCIE, MCSE

As Vice President and Chief Technology Officer of NSSPlus, Sadiyq Karim has more than 15 years of extensive experience in Information Technology systems, engineering, integration, application development and network consulting involving complex enterprise infrastructures with industry leading knowledge of DoD and Federal inter-networking technologies and security solutions required for voice, video, data, and data center network and security architectures.

Besides serving as Vice President and Chief Technology Officer for NSSPlus, Mr. Karim is the Program Manager directing a DoD web hosting and Certification & Accreditation program involving 20 companies and multiple government entities. He has served as a Sr. Systems Engineer and Systems Engineer for Cisco, and as a Systems Engineer for numerous commercial companies. Mr. Karim is a graduate of George Mason University, a CISSP since 2005, and a Cisco Certified Internetworking Engineer (CCIE, #11261) since 2003, a Microsoft Certified System Engineer (MCSE) since 1999 and is also certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2007.

James Pappion, Chief Financial Officer and VP, MPA

As Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for NSSPlus, James Pappion has more than thirty-five years in financial management. Mr. Pappion has served as Senior Financial Reporting & Business Analyst, Senior Defense Analyst, Finance Manager, and Senior Financial Analyst for such industry leaders as Lockheed Martin and Unisys Corporation. He served as Deputy Director for DoD's premier financial management academic institution at the U.S Air Force War College and served as Budget Chief and Executive Officer at major commands and at the Department of the U.S Army level. After 23 years, Mr. Pappion retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel. He has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting and a Masters Degree in Public Administration with an emphasis in Comptrollership from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.

James Lopez, Vice President of Security Research , CISSP, MCSC, GCIH

As Vice President of Security Research for NSSPlus, James Lopez is an extremely accomplished Information Assurance/Network Security Engineer with more than 19 years of extensive experience in assessing physical, system, and network security of complex IT Infrastructures. Mr. Lopez is a Subject Matter Expert on emerging technologies, scanning tools and security policies. He is responsible for advising the Military Health System/Tricare Management Activity (MHS/TMA) Program Office, Certification Authority (CA) and Designated Approving Authority (DAA) on Information Assurance and Security Directives, security research, network and security assessment tools and DoD Information Systems Agency (DISA) Standards and Guidelines. Mr. Lopez has been actively engaged as a Senior Systems Administrator, Technical Project Leader, Team Leader, Programmer Analyst, and Programmer. He has a Bacholors of Science in Computer Science from the University of Maryland.
Mr. Lopez is a (CISSP, #49540), a MCSE and a Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Certified Incident Handler (GCIH).

Jennifer Wheeler, Vice President for Information Assurance, CISSP, ISSAP, GSEC, GIAC, GCIH,CRISC, CISA, CISM, and FITSP-M

As Vice President for Information Assurance for NSSPlus, Jennifer Wheeler has over 15 years in the IT industry. Ms. Jennifer Wheeler has been key in the success of several aggressive C&A and IA programs for the DoD and Federal government and has been highly successful in supporting Information Assurance initiatives within the DoD, MHS, and other federal agencies. Ms. Wheeler has delivered outstanding technical project management, consulting and Subject Matter Expert (SME) support to the MHS/TMA IA Program Office and has consistently demonstrated the ability to deliver high quality products and services to the MHS/TMA IA Program. Ms. Wheeler holds a Bachelor of Science in Decision Science from George Mason University and a Masters of Science in Network Security from Capitol College. She received extensive industry certifications to include CISSP, Information Systems Security Architecture Professional (ISSAP), GIAC Security Essential Certified (GSEC), GIAC GCIH, Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control (CRISC), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), and a Federal IT Security Professional - Manager (FITSP-M).

John Grumko, Director of Business Development

As Director of Business Development for NSSPlus, John Grumko is responsible for all aspects of business development including the development of the strategic direction for NSSPlus. Mr. Grumko brings a wealth of national and international business development experience to NSSPlus having served as Vice President, Managing Director, Business Development Officer, Consultant, and Managing Director for numerous IT organizations and other companies. Mr. Grumko is a graduate of the University of South Florida. He maintains overall responsibility new business and business development in the federal agency and Department of Defense sectors.

Ms. Kemba Thomas, Director of Operations, CISSP

As NSSPlus Director of Operations, Ms. Kemba Thomas has over 18 years of solid technical, management and consulting experience in information technology supporting the DoD, Federal Agencies, Local Governments and private industry. As Director of Operatons she maintains responsibility for daily operations of the company to include Human Resources, Payroll, Cash Management, corporate benefits, and new employee hire. Ms. Thomas has served as Operations Manager, IA Lab Manager, Systems Manager, and consultant. Most recently, she has managed and continues to manage complex Certification and Accreditation (C&A) efforts supporting the MHS/TMA DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP) Program. Ms. Thomas was awarded her CISSP in 2008 and her Security+ in 2007. Ms. Thomas is currently completing her Bachelor Sience in Management at George Mason University.

Greg Forster, New Business Acquisition and Proposal Development,CAP, CRIS, MCDBA, and MCSE

Greg Forster, Director for New Business Acquisition and Proposal Development,CAP, CRISC, MCDBA, and MCSE

As Director for New Business Acquisition and Proposal Development, Greg Forster brings considerable experience and insights to the proposal process through his 11 year work experience with the advanced technologies deployed within DoD, DON, DISA, Army, Air Force, TMA, DOJ, State Department, FAA, DoT, and other Federal Agencies. Mr. Forster has a comprehensive background in DoD and Federal Certification and Accreditation (DIACAP and NIST), Information Assurance, Risk monitoring, IS control design and implementation, IS control monitoring and maintenance, system security processes, security architecture methodologies, business processes, DoD Policy and industry best practices.

Mr. Forster has been involved with many DoD/Federal Agencies working groups that introduce new technology and procedures into DoD including IPv6 and Cloud Technologies. Having served as Senior Subject Matter Expert (SME), Team Lead, Systems Security Analyst, IA Engineer/Analyst and Technical Writer, Mr. Forster also has considerable experience with continuous process improvement processes including CMMI, ISO, Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and ITIL and has developed product technology reviews, system assessments and requirements analysis. Mr. Forster has a long successful history of winning proposals as Proposal Manager, Capture Manager, Volume Lead, Technical Lead as well as technical writer. Mr. Forster has a BA from the University of Delaware and is a Certified Authorization Professional (CAP), and is Certified in Risk and Information System Control (CRISC) and achieved his MCDBA and MCSE designations.

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