Captain Derek Rieger is the Deputy Director of the St. Louis Fusion Center, a federally recognized intelligence sharing and counter terrorism agency, where he oversees the cyber division. The St. Louis Fusion Center serves as a regional collection point for suspicious activity reporting, information sharing conduit for local, state, federal agencies, and critical infrastructure, and supports the region in all matters with a nexus to criminal or terrorism activity. Derek’s main priority is securing the nation’s cyber domain and assisting Fusion Center partners in preventing, detecting, and responding to cyber incidents. In addition, he also serves as the Central Region Coordinator for the National Cyber-Threat Intelligence Network (CIN), where he coordinates cyber and intelligence activities within the National Network of Fusion Centers for 11 states.
Captain Rieger has proudly served in public safety for his entire professional career, which began post 9/11, when he joined the fire service as a firefighter/paramedic. He maintains his medical licenses today; in case he’s called into action to serve the public on the front lines again. Over the years, Derek has transitioned to the homeland security arena, where he utilizes his formal education in cybersecurity from Maryville University. He holds certifications as a criminal intelligence analyst, cybersecurity analyst, critical incident handler, and ethical hacker. Derek actively collaborates with several State and Federal cyber task forces, such as Missouri’s SEMA ESF#14, FBI-St. Louis Cyber Squad, and USSS Cyber Fraud Task Force. He also sits on the Missouri Governor’s Homeland Security Advisory Council (HSAC).
In his free time, he still loves to discuss all things cyber, attending cyber conferences, and actively mentors newcomers to the cybersecurity field in the St. Louis region. His passion is continuing education, which is priority for any information security professional to stay one step ahead of their adversaries.