By Media Sonar.
Whether you’re an MSP who already offers security services to clients or are looking to expand offerings to include security services, there are a number of ways to expand security knowledge and expertise. In addition to resources available through portals like Media Sonar’s Security Resource Center, there are a number of individual experts who are dominating the industry that MSPs can learn from and network with in order to deliver more value to their clients. Over the course of this article, and in no particular order, Media Sonar shares 20 security experts and thought leaders for MSPs to engage with.
1. Ann Johnson
Corporate Vice President, Business Development, Security, Compliance & Identity at Microsoft
Ann Johnson oversees the team responsible for helping organizations become operationally resilient and to unlock the security, compliance and identity capabilities of Microsoft’s intelligent cloud and next-generation AI. She is a member of the board of advisors for The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC), an Advisory Board Member for Executive Women’s Forum on Information Security, Risk Management and Privacy (EWF), an Advisory Board Member for HYPR Corp, and a member of the board of advisors for Cybersecurity Ventures. Johnson is also the host and co-creator of Afternoon Cyber Tea where she meets with security thought leaders to discuss the trends shaping the cyber landscape and what should be top-of-mind for the C-suite and other key decision makers.
2. Chris Roberts
CISO, Boom Supersonic
Chris Roberts is the CISO for Boom Supersonic and has served as an advisor for global organizations across the spectrum of industries. He is involved in both tactical and strategic discussions with clients – talking about risk, maturity, collaboration, communication, and how to effect change. Over the years, he’s been a part of a number of organizations and initiatives including, but not limited to, the Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP), The International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)², and the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA).
3. Bob Carver
Principal Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence & Analytics, Verizon Wireless
Bob Carver began his security career working in the financial industry and later started the first dedicated cybersecurity monitoring and incident response team for a Fortune 20 company. Bob has been involved in cyber risk management, incident response, and threat intelligence. He has been a speaker, moderator and expert panel participant discussing many cybersecurity topics including Cybersecurity Risk Management, The Internet of Things and Insider Threats at conferences across North America, Europe and the UK. He was also on an expert panel for CES (Consumer Electronics Show) in Las Vegas discussing “Focusing on Security in Product Innovation” and was on an Advisory Board with MasterCard discussing current and future cyber threats.
4. Jane Frankland
Owner & CEO, KnewStart
In her 20+ years of cybersecurity experience, Jane Frankland has held a number of senior executive positions, sat on the board of Black Hat Exec and SC Magazine, and has been actively involved in OWASP, and The Council for Registered Ethical Security Testers (CREST). Frankland also authored the Amazon Best Seller, IN Security, created the IN Security Movement, Code of Conduct, and The Source, a platform for women in security and businesses who value them. Frankland is represented by The London Speaking Bureau and shares her expertise with forward-thinking companies, governments, the United Nations, EU Commission, World Digital Assessment Council, and events like Harvard Asia, Black Hat, and WebSummit.
5. Brian Krebs
Reporter and Publisher, Internet Security and Cybercrime, Krebs on Security
Brian Krebs maintains a daily blog on computer security and cybercrime at KrebsOnSecurity.com and has been writing about Internet security for the past two decades. During his tenure as a reporter for The Washington Post from 1995 to 2009, Krebs authored more than 1,300 blog posts for the Security Fix blog, as well as hundreds of stories for washingtonpost.com and The Washington Post newspaper. With a focus on computer crime and the cybercrime underground, Krebs is passionate about making the important computer security issues understandable, interesting, and timely for readers.
6. Naomi Buckwalter
Director of Product Security at Contrast Security
In addition to her role at Contrast Security, Naomi Buckwalter is also the vCISO at Cybersecurity Partners of Philadelphia LLC, Staff Product Security Engineer (Head of Security) at Studio, and Founder & Executive Director of Cybersecurity Gatebreakers Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to closing the demand gap in cybersecurity hiring. With over 20 years of cross-discipline IT and Information Security experience, she has held roles in Software Engineering, Security Architecture, Security Engineering, and Security Leadership. As a cybersecurity career adviser and mentor for people around the world, her passion is helping people, particularly women, get into cybersecurity.
7. Chuck Brooks
President, Brooks Consulting International
Chuck Brooks is a globally recognized thought leader and subject matter expert in Cybersecurity and Emerging Technologies, having written over 300 articles and speaking at dozens of conferences worldwide. Chuck is also Adjunct Faculty at Georgetown University’s Graduate Applied Intelligence Program and the Graduate Cybersecurity Programs where he teaches courses on risk management, homeland security, and cybersecurity. Chuck has served at executive levels in both government and industry. He is a two-time Presidential Appointee and was one of the group of initial people hired to helped set up the Department of Homeland Security, including the Science & Technology Directorate.
8. Dr. Anton Chuvakin
Security Advisor at Office of the CISO, Google Cloud
Before Dr. Anton joined Google Cloud, he was a Research VP and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner for Technical Professionals (GTP) Security and Risk Management Strategies (SRMS) team. At Gartner, he covered a broad range of security operations and detection and response topics, and is credited with inventing the term “EDR.” He is an author of the books “Security Warrior” and “PCI Compliance” and a contributor to “Know Your Enemy II,” “Information Security Management Handbook” and other books. His blog “Security Warrior” was one of the most popular in the industry. In addition, Mr. Chuvakin has taught classes and presented at many security conferences across the world, having recently addressed audiences in the U.S., the U.K., Singapore, Spain, Russia, and other countries.
9. Eugene Kaspersky
CEO of Kaspersky
Eugene Kaspersky is a world-renowned cybersecurity expert who has dedicated the last quarter of his life to computer security, particularly the fight against malware in all its forms. He began his career in 1989 with the discovery and removal of the ‘Cascade’ virus. His ongoing work developing disinfection modules for malicious programs became the foundation for Kaspersky, the world’s largest privately held vendor of cybersecurity solutions. Today, he stands at the forefront of the concept of Cyber Immunity, ensuring that all connected systems are secure by design. His blog shares personal opinions and insights on current topics in IT security news and industry development.
10. Graham Cluley
Cybersecurity Researcher at GrahamCluley.com
Graham Cluley has been working in the computer security industry since the early 1990s – starting as a programmer, writing the first ever version of Dr. Solomon’s Anti-Virus Toolkit for Windows. Subsequently, he was employed in senior roles by Sophos, where he helped found the Naked Security blog and McAfee. In 2011, he was inducted into the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame. Since 2013 Cluley has focused on independent blogging, podcasting, and speaking at conferences and media events about computer security issues. He has given talks around the world for NATO, Microsoft Future Decoded, RSA, Infosec, Web Summit, Digital Transformation EXPO, EICAR, AVAR, ICSA, ISSA, Virus Bulletin, Ja.net, Campus Party, amongst many others.
11. Kevin Mitnick
CEO at Mitnick Security Consulting, Chief Hacking Officer at KnowBe4
Kevin Mitnick is a public speaker, author, hacker, and security consultant for Fortune 500 companies. He teaches Social Engineering classes to dozens of companies and government agencies and performs penetration testing services for the world’s largest companies. Mitnick’s last book ‘Ghost in the Wires: My Adventures as the World’s Most Wanted Hacker’ is a New York Times bestseller. In addition to hosting a weekly talk radio show on KFI AM 640 in Los Angeles, he has made appearances on 60 Minutes, The Learning Channel, Tech TV’s Screen Savers, Court TV, Good Morning America, CNN’s Burden of Proof, Street Sweep, and Talkback Live, National Public Radio, and as a guest star on ABC’s spy drama “Alias”.After having been arrested and sentenced for hacking 40 large organizations, Mitnick became a white hat hacker who helps big corporations and governments. He is a frequent guest at broadcasts like CNN, FOX News, and BBC, where he educates or comments about security issues. Being a part-owner of KnowBe4, he creates training programs to spread security awareness.
12. Paul Asadoorian
Chief Innovation Officer at CyberRisk Alliance
Paul Asadoorian is the Founder and CEO of Security Weekly, a security podcast that covers topics of cybersecurity and hacking. Paul is the primary host to several shows, including Paul’s Security Weekly and Enterprise Security Weekly, all dedicated to providing the security community with valuable knowledge and insights, the latest security news, interviews with the industry’s finest, and technical how-to segments. Paul is also the CEO of Offensive CounterMeasures, a software company dedicated to producing security products aimed at defenders, and a founding member of Active Countermeasures, a startup dedicated to providing reliable sources of actionable intelligence. Paul has also spent time as an instructor for The SANS Institute, an IANS faculty member, and has presented at security conferences including RSA, Derbycon, Brucon, SOURCE Conference, and more.
13. Steve Morgan
Founder & Editor in Chief at Cybersecurity Ventures
Steve Morgan is a researcher, journalist, publisher, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures, Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine, and Executive Producer at Cybercrime Radio. He’s co-author of the popular books “Hacker’s Movie Guide: The Complete List of Hacker and Cybersecurity Movies” (PDF) and “Women Know Cyber: 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime.” Over the past 7 years, Steve has written more than 1,000 articles for CSO, CIO, Forbes, DarkReading, Entrepreneur, Sand Hill, and others. His annual reports on cybercrime and cybersecurity contain de facto standard statistical information found in major media outlets, academia, governments, vendors, associations, and experts globally.
14. Theresa Payton
CEO at Fortalice
Theresa Payton is a visionary in the digital world, leading the way as an inventor of new security designs and has an approved U.S. patent in security. She made history as the first female to serve as White House CIO and currently helps organizations in both the public and private sectors protect their most valuable resources. Before overseeing IT operations as CIO for President George W. Bush and his administration, Payton held executive roles in banking technology for two of the country’s top financial institutions. After serving in the White House, she went on to co-found Dark Cubed, a cybersecurity product company, and Fortalice Solutions, world-class cybersecurity consulting firm. Payton was a former star on the CBS TV series Hunted, a frequent guest on The Today Show, Good Morning America, Fox Business, and Fox News and has been featured on CBS News, CNN, NBC News, and MSNBC, as well as Canadian and Irish news outlets. She is the host of Cybercrime Magazine’s podcast, The CISO Minute.
15. Troy Hunt
Founder at Have I Been Pwned
Troy Hunt is a Microsoft Regional Director and MVP for Developer Security, an ASPInsider, and a full-time author for Pluralsight—a leader in online training for technology and creative professionals. Troy has been building software for browsers since the very early days of the web and possesses and is heavily involved in Have I been pwned? helping millions of businesses and private web users to identify whether their emails or phones have been tampered with or their data was stolen. Troy blogs regularly about web security and is a frequent speaker at industry conferences across the globe and throughout the media to discuss a wide range of technologies. Troy has been featured in a number of articles with publications including Forbes, TIME magazine, Mashable, PCWorld, ZDNet and Yahoo! Tech.
16. Dr. Magda Chelley
Chief Information Security Officer, Managing Director, Responsible Cyber
Dr. Magda Chelly is an award-winning global cybersecurity leader who has authored two books with a third being published in 2022. Magda’s appearances discussing cybersecurity on national and international TV, Radio, and News Magazines have raised her profile as the media’s go-to expert on subjects requiring accurate yet straightforward insights on cybersecurity topics. In her career, Magda has worn several hats including Information Security Officer for multiple organizations, developing businesses in the cyber advisory space, and co-founding a cybersecurity start-up in Singapore. Her research writings around cybersecurity have been featured by IEEE, RSA Conference, World Congress on Internet Security (WorldCIS-2016), CYBER RISK LEADERS Magazine.
17. Eric Vanderburg
Vice President, Cybersecurity at TCDI
Eric Vanderburg is an information security executive, thought leader, and author known for his insight on cybersecurity, privacy, data protection, and storage. Some have called him the “Sheriff of the Internet” since he and his cybersecurity team at JurInnov protect companies from cyber threats, investigate data breaches, and provide guidance on safe computing. In addition to being the Vice President of Cybersecurity at TCDI, Eric is affiliate faculty at the Cleveland Marshall College of Law. He also serves on the editorial board for The Health IT Security Journal (HITSF) and on advisory boards for a number of colleges.
18. Grugq
Vice President of Threat Intelligence at Comae Technologies
Grugq is a pioneering information security researcher with two decades of experience at almost every level of the field. He has worked extensively with threat intelligence, disinformation, digital forensic analysis, binary reverse engineering, rootkits, mobile phone security, Voice over IP, telecommunications and financial services security. Grugq has been quoted and referenced routinely in The New York Times, Washington Post, Forbes, Wired, TechCrunch, BoingBoing, VICE and BBC News. Grugq’s quotes and insights are so frequently referenced at security conferences that he’s informally known as the “most quoted man in infosec”.
19. Rinki Sethi
Vice President and CISO at Bill.com
Rinki Sethi is responsible for leading both information security and IT at Bill.com. Prior to Bill.com, she was the VP and CISO at Twitter and Rubrik, Inc. Rinki has been at the forefront of developing cutting-edge online security infrastructure at several Fortune 500 companies such as IBM, Palo Alto Networks, Intuit, eBay, Walmart.com, and PG&E. Rinki has served on the development team for the ISACA book, “Creating a Culture of Security” by Stephen Ross and was the recipient of the “One to Watch” Award with CSO Magazine & Executive Women’s Forum in 2014 and more recently the Senior Information Security Practitioner Award with ISC2 in 2018. She led an initiative to develop the first set of national cybersecurity badges and curriculum for the Girl Scouts of USA.
20. Shira Rubinoff
Cybersecurity Executive, Author and International Advisor
Shira Rubinoff is a recognized cybersecurity executive, cybersecurity and blockchain advisor, global keynote speaker, and influencer, who has built two cybersecurity product companies and led multiple women-in-technology efforts. She currently serves as President of the NYC-based technology incubator, Prime Tech Partners & the social-media-security firm, SecureMySocial. Ms. Rubinoff is the author of “Cyber Minds”, aimed at business leaders and published by Packt Publishing and also created numerous video series including a series of interviews with the top executives of the most prominent cybersecurity and technology companies as well as provides guidance to numerous Fortune 100 companies in areas related to cybersecurity and company thought leadership and consults various organizations in areas of business development and organizational dynamics. She has published many articles, and lectures, on topics related to the human factors of cybersecurity, blockchain, AI, and related topics.
