🤝 Upskill & mentorship
Resume workshops, mentor networking, and hiring-focused sessions. A big part of the day — students meet sponsors, sponsors meet the next hire, and practitioners find the folks who will answer their questions after April 24th.
Who we are
Started by industry. Built at the intersection.
MOCS is industry-founded and sits at the intersection of academia, government, and industry for OT cybersecurity. Organized by Security for the Folks (XFTF) and hosted by Marquette University's Center for Cybersecurity — we built this summit to put practitioners, students, agencies, and hiring teams in the same room.
🦅 What MOCS stands for
Midwest OT Cybersecurity Summit. OT means operational technology — the control systems, PLCs, and industrial networks that run manufacturing plants, utilities, and critical infrastructure. IT security plays by different rules in these environments, and the people defending them don't always get a dedicated conference close to home.
MOCS is more than a "how to break in" event. Upskilling and mentorship are a big part of the day — career paths, resume workshops, and mentor networking sit alongside the technical content. A Midwest-local, one-day, practitioner-focused event covering ICS/OT defense, career growth, and hands-on sessions you can bring back to work on Monday.
Organized by Security for the Folks
XFTF is a cybersecurity maker space — a place to build, tinker, teach, and learn together. That's the theme: community, experimentation, and skills that transfer. No vendor spin, no paywalls.
Marquette University's Center for Cybersecurity hosts the summit on campus and sponsors student registration. Together we're putting 200+ attendees in the same room on April 24th.
Our team
The people behind MOCS.
Five people — practitioners, academics, students, and program operators — kept building this summit together. Security for the Folks is the mentorship circle that seeded it; Marquette University's Center for Cybersecurity makes it happen on the ground.
Founder · MOCS
Chirag Malkan
Founder, MOCS · Founder & CEO, Malkan Solutions · Adjunct Professor, Marquette
Spent 20+ years at GE Healthcare and Rockwell Automation before founding Malkan Solutions. Returned to Marquette in 2024 to teach ethical hacking — and launched MOCS to put Midwest OT practitioners in the same room.
chiragmalkan →
Academia · Research
Dr. Debbie Perouli
Associate Professor, Computer Science · Marquette
Cybersecurity and privacy researcher. Holds a $2.6M NSF grant to train the next generation of IT security pros. Awarded GenCyber grants by NSA & NSF.
debbie-perouli-mu →
Industry Relations
Kevin Umba
Director of Industry Partnerships · MOCS
Bridges MOCS with industry sponsors, presenting companies, and the OT practitioner community. Owns speaker relationships, sponsor activations, and the partnerships pipeline. MS Computer Science, Marquette Cybersecurity.
kevin-umba →
Founder · XFTF
Vikram Malkan
Founder, Security for the Folks (XFTF)
Founded Security for the Folks — the grassroots cybersecurity maker space that seeded MOCS. Built the mentorship circle that brings practitioners, students, and professors into the same room across Wisconsin.
vikrammalkan →
Business Development
Nwamaka Jessica Ottor
Head of Business Development · MOCS
Drives MOCS business development — sponsorship growth, new partner cultivation, and the revenue programs that keep student tickets free. Marquette University, Center for Cybersecurity.
nwamaka-jessica-ottor →Why attend
Three reasons to be in the room.
A practical, community-driven OT cybersecurity conference for defenders, students, and hiring teams.
🛡️ OT hands-on learning
Real-world OT and ICS topics across manufacturing, industrial control, and critical-infrastructure environments. No marketing decks.
✅ CPE credits
Earn Continuing Professional Education credits through attendance. Certificate provided on request after the summit.
Watch
The summit in sixty seconds.
A quick look at what MOCS is about — the people, the room, and what you'll walk away with.
By the numbers
One day, a lot happening.
12
Sessions
3
Rooms
7.5
Hours
$0
Students
Behind the scenes
The road to MOCS 2026.
From late-night planning sessions to venue walkthroughs and fresh merch — a look at the work and heart that went into building this summit. Hover to pause the strip; click any photo to enlarge.
Nov 2024
Where it all started
First planning sessions
Nov 2025
Cyber Career Talk at Marquette
Building community momentum
Nov 2025
Career paths & skills
Packed room at Marquette
Apr 3, 2026
Representing at BSides MKE
Community table
Apr 3, 2026
Inspired at BSides MKE
Taking notes from the best
Apr 10, 2026
Venue scout — AMU
We Are Marquette
Apr 10, 2026
Main hall walkthrough
AMU Room 227
Apr 10, 2026
Planning the layout
Seating, tables, sightlines
Apr 10, 2026
AV & projector test
Every seat, good view
Apr 10, 2026
Breakout rooms
AMU 252 & 254
Apr 16, 2026
The merch has landed 👕
midwest-otcs.org
Apr 16, 2026
SFTF community badge
www.xftf.org
Nov 2024
Where it all started
First planning sessions
Nov 2025
Cyber Career Talk at Marquette
Building community momentum
Nov 2025
Career paths & skills
Packed room at Marquette
Apr 3, 2026
Representing at BSides MKE
Community table
Apr 3, 2026
Inspired at BSides MKE
Taking notes from the best
Apr 10, 2026
Venue scout — AMU
We Are Marquette
Apr 10, 2026
Main hall walkthrough
AMU Room 227
Apr 10, 2026
Planning the layout
Seating, tables, sightlines
Apr 10, 2026
AV & projector test
Every seat, good view
Apr 10, 2026
Breakout rooms
AMU 252 & 254
Apr 16, 2026
The merch has landed 👕
midwest-otcs.org
Apr 16, 2026
SFTF community badge
www.xftf.org
Milestones
The full story.
Chronological look at every milestone from first planning meeting to conference week.
November 2024
Where it all started
The founding team gathers for the first planning sessions — whiteboarding the vision for a community-driven OT cybersecurity summit in Milwaukee.
November 18, 2025
Cyber Career Talk at Marquette
Building community momentum with a Cyber Career Talk at Marquette — connecting students with cybersecurity professionals months before MOCS.
November 18, 2025
Career paths & skills that matter
Packed classroom at Marquette — students engaged with speakers covering real-world cyber career paths and the skills employers look for.
April 3, 2026
Representing at BSides MKE
Security for the Folks sets up a community table at BSides MKE — spreading the word about MOCS 2026 and connecting with the local security community.
April 3, 2026
Getting inspired at BSides MKE
Walking the BSides MKE vendor floor for inspiration — seeing what great community conferences look like up close and taking notes for MOCS.
April 10, 2026
Venue scout — We Are Marquette
First full walkthrough of the Alumni Memorial Union. Standing in the lobby in front of Marquette's golden eagle — it's getting real.
April 10, 2026
AMU Room 227 — the main hall
Walking through the main session room for the first time. Projector up, tables in rows — envisioning hundreds of attendees filling these seats.
April 10, 2026
Planning the room layout
The team walks the floor, planning where sponsor tables go, sightlines to the screen, and how best to accommodate all attendees.
April 10, 2026
AV & projector walkthrough
Testing the projector and screen in the main hall — making sure every seat in the room gets a great view of the presentations.
April 10, 2026
Breakout room exploration
Checking out AMU Rooms 252 and 254 — intimate, well-equipped spaces perfect for hands-on and technical breakout sessions.
April 16, 2026
The merch has landed 👕
MOCS 2026 t-shirts arrive just days before the summit — repping midwest-otcs.org. These will be worn with pride by the team on April 24th.
April 16, 2026
SFTF — community badge
The XFTF shirt arrives alongside MOCS gear. For the Folks, by the Folks. See you April 24th.
Thanks for reading our story.
Every sponsor logo, every student ticket, every speaker who said yes — that's how this summit gets built. If you haven't grabbed a seat yet, April 24th is coming fast.