The CNWR president was honored for bringing practical, plain-spoken cybersecurity to the small and midsize organizations that keep Northwest Ohio running.
TOLEDO, OH, UNITED STATES, October 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Jason Slagle, President of Toledo-based managed IT and cybersecurity company CNWR, has been named to the Cyber25. The new annual list from OhioX and Ohio Tech News honors 25 people who protect Ohio’s businesses, public services, and critical infrastructure. The inaugural list was announced on October 2, just as Cybersecurity Awareness Month got underway.
Many of this year’s honorees lead security for large institutions like state agencies, major health systems, and universities. Slagle was recognized for work that happens closer to the ground. He helps manufacturers, professional services firms, and other small businesses across Northwest Ohio, Southeast Michigan, and beyond, usually without an IT department of their own, protect themselves. Ohio Tech News called him “a prominent advocate for practical cybersecurity among small and midsize organizations.” It’s a description anyone who has sat through one of his conference workshops or read his threat updates would recognize.
Honorees were chosen from nominations submitted across the state. Slagle shares the list with Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, security leaders from Nationwide and the Cleveland Clinic, and founders of some of Ohio’s best-known cybersecurity firms. He’s also one of two Toledo honorees, alongside Bill McCreary, Ph.D., Vice President, Chief Information Officer, and Chief Technology Officer at the University of Toledo, where Slagle earned his degree.
“My first reaction was, if I’m the best we’ve got, we’ve got some work to do,” Slagle joked. “But seriously, Ohio has a lot of great tech work happening. We just don’t talk about it enough. So much of it comes down to awareness, and I’m honored to be part of a list that shines a light on the people doing that work here.”
The Experience Behind the Recognition
The practical approach Ohio Tech News recognized comes from years spent hands-on with the same kinds of systems CNWR now protects. Slagle came up through the server room as a systems and network administrator, and his knack for automating the repetitive parts of the job eventually turned into a book. In 2015, Packt Publishing released Learning Puppet Security, his guide to securing a widely used tool for automating how servers are set up and managed. He also holds Red Hat and VMware engineering certifications.
Over time, his attention turned toward security, especially reverse engineering, the work of taking software apart to see how it really behaves and where an attacker could break it. He’s also known for believing in transparency in the IT industry and fighting to increase it, which, by his own account, occasionally gets him into trouble. His favorite pastimes include tinkering with AI, drinking coffee, and reporting newly discovered security vulnerabilities.
Preparing Ohio’s Next Generation of Defenders
Cyber25 also honors leaders who are preparing the next generation of defenders, and teaching is a big part of how Slagle gives back. He teaches a cybersecurity class at the University of Toledo and has led sessions at CodeMash in Sandusky, Ohio, and Wild West Hackin’ Fest in Deadwood, South Dakota, built around learning by doing. In one workshop, attendees spend half a day learning to take software apart. In another, titled “Stuck as a Skill,” he runs a Jeopardy-style capture-the-flag game where people build skills by working through security puzzles.
His talk, “People Are the Prompt Injection,” looks at AI risk through the habits of the people using the tools. He’s also joined a candid panel for technical people stepping into leadership for the first time, talking openly about what it takes to go from overwhelmed to confident in the role.
Recognition From His Peers
Cyber25 is the second major honor for Slagle in two years. In March 2025, the Global Technology Industry Association (GTIA) named him its North America Cybersecurity Leadership Award winner, recognizing his commitment to GTIA’s cybersecurity programs and his engagement with the wider community. His nominator put it simply: “As emerging threats arise, Jason is one of the first to share actionable insights and guidance.” Trade publication CRN has also turned to him for insight, quoting Slagle on how CNWR protected its clients when the “Follina” zero-day vulnerability hit Microsoft Office in 2022.
Slagle is quick to say recognition isn’t what drives him. “I do not generally do the things I do for recognition, although I appreciate it very much,” he told GTIA after the award. What does drive him is closer to home. “Small businesses are very much underrepresented in the security realm,” he said. “I believe it’s on all of us to make that a better, more secure experience for the small businesses we represent.” He has also warned that attackers are lowering their sights, and that the revenue line a business has to cross to become a target “keeps getting lower and lower.”
Three Decades Serving Northwest Ohio
Slagle leads a team that has been doing this work since 1995, when Allen Rioux founded CNWR. Rioux still serves as Chairman of the Board. Many of CNWR’s clients are manufacturers and tool-and-die shops, veterinary practices, labor unions, and churches. Some have no IT staff at all, while others have one IT person who needs backup, so CNWR shapes its support around whatever each client already has and/or needs.
CNWR runs on a single core value: “Do What’s Right.” The team backs it up with a couple of guiding principles. One is a “firefighter mentality,” which means being ready to respond the moment something goes wrong. Another is to “be the rising tide,” helping partners, vendors, and even competitors get better, too. It sounds a lot like the reason Slagle spends so much of his time sharing what he knows.
Slagle’s work extends beyond CNWR’s clients. He’s helping organize a new nonprofit that would bring Toledo’s tech groups under one umbrella, so local organizations can share resources and the region can keep its tech talent at home. He’s also involved with CyberRISE, a nonprofit working to expand cybersecurity education and help other managed service providers through active security incidents.
Business owners who want to talk through their own security can reach a CNWR specialist at cnwr.com/contact-cnwr/talk-to-a-specialist or by calling (419) 724-2697.
About CNWR
CNWR is a managed IT and cybersecurity provider serving small and midsize organizations nationwide. Founded in 1995 and based in Toledo, CNWR offers fully managed IT, co-managed support, and consulting. Its services include cybersecurity, 24/7 monitoring, disaster recovery, cloud and Microsoft 365 support, business phone systems, and remote work solutions. The team is led by President Jason Slagle, a 2025 GTIA Cybersecurity Leadership Award winner and 2026 Cyber25 honoree, and is known for fast response and plain-English service. Learn more at cnwr.com.
Jason Slagle
CNWR
+1 419-724-2697
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