April O’Reilly has been working to advance emergency communications operability and interoperability with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) for more than twelve years. In her current role with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), she is the federal lead for the Southwest Border Communications Working Group, focused on solving public safety communications issues along and across the Southwest border. She is the federal coordinator for Project 25 (P25) initiatives and leads the work of the SAFECOM/National Council of Statewide Interoperability Coordinators (NCSWIC) P25 User Needs Working Group and the P25 Compliance Assessment Program Task Force. Ms. O’Reilly represents DHS on the P25 Steering Committee, ensuring that the first responder community’s needs are reflected in the P25 Standards. She also supports multiple SAFECOM, NCSWIC, and Federal Partnership for Interoperable Communications initiatives, and has developed educational materials and guidance on topics such as encryption, Inter-RF Subsystem Interface/Console Subsystem Interface, LMR funding and grant guidance, Next Generation 911, GPS, and Link Layer Authentication. Prior to this role, she supported the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee and the Government Network Security Information Exchange, developing recommendations for the White House on communications resiliency, broadband usage, and other topics. Ms. O’Reilly has a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a Project Management Professional certification.

Presenting:

• Are Your Radio Communications Really Secure? Why You Need Link Layer Authentication