Robert Lane

President and CEO

Mr. Lane is a 24 year Information Technology veteran. After receiving IT services sales training from Hewlett Packard he focused on IT support for the commercial sector, particularly small business. Over time it became clear that data security was paramount therefore his focus became providing IT support and data integrity/security.

In 2000, Mr. Lane started Applications & Systems Engineering, Inc. (ASE, Inc.). with a focus on Information Assurance and compliance, including FISMA and HIPAA.

Throughout his career Mr. Lane has always maintained a strong relationship with HP and other top manufacturers to compliment ASE’s services offering. These relationships give ASE the advantage to design, install and manage secure and compliance based networks for small businesses particularly medical practices and federal contractors.

Mr. Lane’s main function other than President and CEO of ASE is business development, LAN/WAN systems design and business operation consulting. Mr. Lane has designed servers, end user systems, telecommunication systems and assisted companies with re-engineering of business processes to comply with regulations such as SOX, HIPAA and NIST.

During this time Mr. Lane has obtained the following certification:

  • HP Global Services Sales Training, 1989
  • Cisco Sales Professional, 1992
  • HP Procurve Accredited Sales Provessional, (ASP) 2009
  • Certified HIPAA Security Expert (CHSE), 2012

Leighton Johnson

CTO & Senior Security Engineer

Mr. Johnson brings 35 years of experience in cybersecurity, cyberterrorism, computer security, information operations and assurance, software development, systems engineering and integration, and communications equipment operations and maintenance. He is formerly the CIO for Lockheed Martin’s IS&GS directorate. He has taught auditing, certification, forensics and risk management courses globally.

Leighton Johnson is a top Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) expert who worked on the team that developed CMMC requirements and a CMMC-AB Provisional Assessor Level 1-3 for this DoD program.

He holds several security certifications, including:

  • CMMC-AB Provisional Assessor Level 1-3
  • Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
  • Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP-ISSEP and CISSP-ISSMP)
  • Certified in Risk & Information Systems Control (CRISC)
  • Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT)
  • Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE)
  • Certified Authorization Professional (CAP)
  • Cybersecurity Fundamentals Certificate (CSX-F and CSX-A)
  • Federal IT Security Professional Auditor Certification (FITSP-A)

He is a contributing author to the Encyclopedia of Information Assurance on Security Incident Response and Configuration Management. He wrote Computer Incident Response and Forensics Team Management and Security Controls Evaluation, Testing and Assessment Handbook. 

Terry Hope

CIO & Senior IT Network Engineer

Mr. Hope brings over 25 years experience in computer and network design, integration, installation, operation and support to ASE.

He performs:

  • LAN integration, configuration and Installation,
  • Network management,
  • Diagnostics and performance analysis,
  • Customer support and technical analysis.

Mr. Hope’s strengths include extensive knowledge in: MS Windows, Linux, Macintosh, Novell Netware, DOS, LAN configurations and topologies, networking protocols, multi-platform communications, software applications, voice and data communications systems, including VoIP, computer applications and systems training, hardware and technical support.

Mr. Hope has a degree in Electrical Engineering Technology with Computer Concentration from Old Dominion University.

Nicholas Choate

Senior IT Engineer

Mr. Choate brings over 25 years of experience in the IT industry to ASE. His broad range of skills encompasses:

  • Troubleshooting,
  • Designing,
  • Re-engineering,
  • Implementing and managing peer to peer, client server and virtual computing environments.

He has extensive experience with MAC, Microsoft and VM Ware. Mr. Choate has many years of experience as a full time employee Network Administrator for various commercial entities before becoming a service provider. He possesses senior-level executive experience in decision-making, policy direction, business strategies, R&D, and complex IT environments. He exhibits diverse skills in re-engineering, marketing, budgets and risk management, multi-site technology, systems analysis and Disaster Recovery Planning and Implementation. Mr. Choate has a Bachelor of Science, Industrial Education Technology.