Susan DiBiase Lutz, CEO
As CEO of TrustELI, Ms. Lutz brings nearly a quarter century of multidisciplinary experience in strategic selling, marketing, strategy planning, profit and loss, and technology solution implementation to TrustELI, Inc. Her expertise in global systems integration and her extensive experience in telecom have been in demand around the world - including Singapore, the Philippines, London and New York.

In addition to her current position with TrustELI, Ms. Lutz serves as CEO of ETSec, Inc., an enterprise security solutions, strategy and services company which she founded in 2001. Prior to founding ETSec, Ms. Lutz held numerous sales, marketing and executive management roles in several high-profile organizations. Ms. Lutz launched her career with RCA America as an engineer, quickly moving up the ranks to Marketing professional. She then went on join Cable & Wireless Company, bringing in several multi-million dollar contracts. From there, she held a series of executive-level positions with firms in the burgeoning markets of Southeast Asia, where she was instrumental in successfully orchestrating a $100 MM telecom merger between three major industry players. Ms. Lutz returned to the States in early 1996 to help launch a new GE Capital business unit that garnered more than $35 million contract value within its first year of operations.

Susan left GE Capital to help co-found and build SecureIT, an early pioneer firm in the evolution to secure enterprise computing. Here Ms. Lutz herself generated 90% of the company's revenue base, driving SecureIT's rapid success and culminating in SecureIT's acquisition by VeriSign Corporation. Susan was retained as a key leader in the transition that followed, holding several key executive positions over the next five years. In these roles she helped drive the business to $150 MM in revenue and build its practice up to 200 consultants.

Ms. Lutz' global technology background is enhanced by a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Rutgers University and ongoing graduate business education. She frequently presents on secure computing issues to various organizations, and is an active member in professional industry organizations including: ISSA, CSI, New Jersey Tech Council, and the Women in Technology Forum.

Howard A. Schmidt, Chairman
As TrustELI’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Howard has had a long and distinguished career in defense, law enforcement and corporate security spanning almost 40 years. Just before joining TrustELI, Howard served as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Security Strategist for online auction giant eBay. In the fall of 2004 he assumed the position of Chief Security Strategist for the US CERT Partners Program for the National Cyber Security Division.

He retired from the White House after 31 years of public service. He was appointed by President Bush as the Vice Chair of the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as the Special Adviser for Cyberspace Security for the White House in December 2001. He assumed the role as the Chair in January 2003 until his retirement in May 2003.

Prior to the White House, Howard was the first Chief Security Officer for Microsoft Corp., where his duties included CISO, CSO and forming and directing the Trustworthy Computing Security Strategies Group.

Before Microsoft, Mr. Schmidt was a supervisory special agent and director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) Computer Forensic Lab and Computer Crime and Information Warfare Division. While there, he established the first dedicated computer forensic lab in the government.

Before AFOSI, Mr. Schmidt was with the FBI at the National Drug Intelligence Center, where he headed the Computer Exploitation Team. He is recognized as one of the pioneers in the field of computer forensics and computer evidence collection. Before working at the FBI, Mr. Schmidt was a city police officer from 1983 to 1994 for the Chandler Police Department in Arizona.

Mr. Schmidt served with the U.S. Air Force in various roles from 1967 to 1983, both in active duty and in the civil service. He had served in the Arizona Air National Guard from 1989 until 1998 when he transferred to the U.S. Army Reserves as a Special Agent, Criminal Investigation Division where he continues to serve. He has testified as an expert witness in federal and military courts in the areas of computer crime, computer forensics and Internet crime.

Mr. Schmidt had also served as the international president of the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) and the first president of the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IT-ISAC). He is a former executive board member of the International Organization of Computer Evidence, and served as the co-chairman of the Federal Computer Investigations Committee. He is a member of the American Academy of Forensic Scientists. He serves as an advisory board member for the Technical Research Institute of the National White Collar Crime Center, and was a distinguished special lecturer at the University of New Haven, Conn., teaching a graduate certificate course in forensic computing.

He served as an augmented member to the President’s Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology in the formation of an Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection. He has testified before congressional committees on computer security and cyber crime, and has been instrumental in the creation of public and private partnerships and information-sharing initiatives. He is regularly featured on CNN, CNBC, Fox TV as well as a number of local media outlets talking about cyber-security.

Mr. Schmidt has been appointed to the Information Security Privacy Advisory Board (ISPAB) to advise the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on information security and privacy issues pertaining to Federal Government information systems, including thorough review of proposed standards and guidTrustELInes developed by NIST.

Howard is associated with a number of corporate boards in both advisory and director positions.

Mr. Schmidt holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration (BSBA) and a master’s degree in organizational management (MAOM) from the University of Phoenix. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate degree in Humane Letters.

Robert Smith, CTO
As CTO of TrustELI, Inc., Mr. Smith brings over ten years of technology design, support and management to the company. In addition to his current position with TrustELI, Smith serves as CEO and CTO of Secure Networking Company (SNC) AG, Europe’s largest managed security service provider. Founded by Smith in 2001, the organization has developed security solutions for some of Europe’s leading telecommunication companies, including Arcor, Colt Telecom, and PSI Net Germany.

Previous to his positions in TrustELI and SNC, Mr. Smith has taken leadership roles in various technology companies including VeriSign, Inc. and Global Technologies, Inc. He began his management career at American Megatrends, Inc. supervising local and international sales forces while managing the releases of several diagnostic computer programs. Mr. Smith then moved on to Global Technologies Inc., where he managed the domestic release of two other programs and the design of several more products.

In June,1998, Mr. Smith came on board as a product manager of VeriSign, Inc. During his less than two years at the company, Mr. Smith worked on several large-scale projects for such organizations as European Bank, Cocs-Cola, AT&T, First Union and NASA. He also designed Go Secure!, a program that enables secure communications over the Internet by creating a Virtual Private Network (VPN), for both Cisco Systems and Check Point. After two other product launches, Mr. Smith moved to Germany to found SNC.

Salvatore F. Barabuscio, Vice President Operations
In his roll as V.P. of Operations, Mr. Barabuscio brings over 25 years of expertise in strategic planning, finance, customer relations, personal management and logistical support to the TrustEli Family.
 
Mr. Barabuscio is a graduate of Cabrini College and holds degrees in both History and Philosophy. He has served as Director of Operations for De Lang Landen Financial Services Corp. After leaving De Lang Landen he joined Canon Financial Services, Inc., the captive leasing company of Canon USA where he held the position of Director of Asset Management. In this roll, he was charged with the management of the company’s $1.3 Billion in assets. Throughout his career, Sal has participated in a variety of senior-management duties. In addition, Sal has held the positions of Vice President of Operations with Fleet Leasing Corp. and Director of Accounts Receivable for Eaton Financial Corporation/AT&T Leasing Services.

Greg M. Shanken, VP, Sales & Business Development
Greg Shanken brings over 15 years of IT sales and management experience to TrustELI, the majority of which was spent within the security market. Prior to joining TrustELI, Greg was a top producer as a Regional Sales Manager at CipherTrust, a leading enterprise email security appliance vendor. Greg joined CipherTrust when the company was in startup mode and in the early stages of the email security space. His contributions helped create the credibility and recognition as a market leader, as he consistently closed and managed the largest deals at the most prestigious financial and F500 accounts. Combining strategic and aggressive business development efforts with effective leveraging of territory reps and the channel resulted in explosive growth during his tenure. Prior to CipherTrust, Mr. Shanken made his mark at Verisign, where he was a top producer in the security division with the same focus on F500 clients and delivered outstanding results. 

Mr. Shanken brings with him a unique and eclectic a set of skills that provide value to the organization well beyond the sales and management arena. While maintaining a laser focus on consistently exceeding revenue and profitability objectives, his out-of-the-box and critical thinking bring fresh perspectives on strategy and implementation that consistently enhance the company’s position in the marketplace. Mr. Shanken has a business degree from Lehigh University.