While the title “Chief Information Security Officer” (CISO) is highly sought after, the job is tough.
On top of preventing threats and avoiding breaches, CISOs are also tasked with communicating risk, aligning with key stakeholders across the business, and – of course – managing a team of IT professionals.
So, how do you keep your head above water and excel in your role?
We can’t offer a prescriptive answer to that question (sorry!), but we can tell you that staying connected with your peers – regardless of industry or company size – can help. After all, they’re right there in the trenches with you.
Here’s a list of 12 CISOs you should connect with on both LinkedIn and Twitter for tips, advice, anecdotes, industry news, open tech roles, and even the occasional joke. “The more you know”, right?
P.S. If you’re looking for tips on how to build better relationships and influence change within your organization, check out this article: Relationship 15: A Framework For Security Leaders.
Name: Bob Lord
Bio: CSO The Democrats, former CISO Yahoo, Rapid7 CISO in Residence, Twitter alum.
Handle: LinkedIn | @BobLord
Follow him for: Bob Lord is the Chief Security Officer at the Democratic Nationalist Committee and has held senior executive infosec positions at Twitter and Yahoo (he was actually Twitter’s first-ever security hire). He’s particularly active on Twitter and shares personal security hacks, debunks cybersecurity myths for his followers, and shares great advice for security leaders.
Name: Window Snyder
Bio: A security industry veteran and former Chief Security Officer at Square, Fastly, and Mozilla.
Handle: LinkedIn | @window
Follow her for: Window Snyder has more than 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and has held positions at some of the world’s biggest brands. She worked with Apple leading security and privacy features for OS X and iOS. Follow Window for posts about her experiences as a CISO (and a parent!) and details of her favorite cybersecurity events.
Name: Michael Coates
Bio: Co-founder & CEO @Altitude Past: CISO @Twitter, Head of Security @Mozilla, @OWASP Chairman, Top 30 Security Startup.
Handle: LinkedIn | @_mwc
Follow him for: Michael Coates is the former CISO of Twitter and is the co-founder and CEO of a cloud data protection company. He’s made TV appearances and has been a speaker at the RSA Conference to share his experiences of being a leading CISO. Follow Michael for tips for CISOs and advice on how to work with security vendors.
Name: Azeem Bashir
Bio: Award-winning Global CISO | CDO |Cyber Security & Cyber Risk Leader | NED | Advisor | Speaker
Handle: LinkedIn
Follow him for: Azeem Bashi held a number of CISO and CIO positions at confidential companies. Although his previous companies are a mystery, he must be pretty good given the endless awards he’s won and certifications he’s achieved. He’s also a board advisor, CISO mentor, speaker, and government advisor. Follow Azeem for the latest cybersecurity news about data breaches, attacks and, industry research.
Name: Kevin Fielder
Bio: Dad, CISO, Health and resilience coach, Podcaster. Lover of life and learning. Passionate about helping people and building high-performing (security) teams.
Handle: LinkedIn | @kevin_fielder
Follow him for: Kevin has a huge range of CISO experience at companies ranging from Just Eat to WorldPay and FNZ Group. He’s also an active cybersecurity speaker, podcaster and is particularly active in the LinkedIn cybersecurity community. Follow Kevin for honest posts about life as a CISO (as well as honest posts about life as a Dad) and for his perspective on security attacks or breaches.
Name: Troels Ortering
Bio: Chairman, NED, award-winning CSO, passionate cybersecurity leader with a long track record in cybersecurity and privacy.
Handle: LinkedIn
Follow him for: Troels has over 20 years of cybersecurity experience, including intelligence roles within the Danish Police, Group Chief Security Officer at Barclays, cybersecurity lecturing roles and, multiple board positions. Follow Troels for his perspective on the latest cybersecurity attacks and threat actors – as well as his views on best practices and how to stay protected.
Name: Lynwen Connick
Bio: Chief Information Security Officer at Australia and New Zealand banking group(ANZ) Loves Travelling, Skiing, Mountain Biking & Orienteering.
Handle: LinkedIn | @LynwenConnick
Follow her for: With 25 years of cybersecurity experience ranging from working in Australia’s Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the CISO of one of the biggest banks in Australia – Lynwen is a great addition to your social timelines. Lynwen is highly active in the women in cybersecurity community, and shares cybersecurity events and groups that other women can get involved in. Follow Lynwen to hear about the work she’s done with the Australian Government, and for cybersecurity advice for the financial services and banking industry.
Name: Dinis Cruz
Bio: CTO and CISO of @GlasswallCDR, Transformation agent, project leader of OWASP SBot and O2 Platform projects.
Handle: LinkedIn | @DinisCruz
Follow him for: Dinis Cruz has over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity and software development, he’s also been nominated for CISO of the year and is currently writing a book. On social media, Dinis is all about knowledge sharing and contributing to the cybersecurity community. Follow Dinis for cybersecurity and general tech hacks, advice on how to apply for security roles, and details of cybersecurity events (plus you might even come across his TikTok account).
Name: Moty Jacob
Bio: Moty is a long-time CISSP, holds Security Clearance, and has several Industry certifications including checkpoint’s CCSE, PCI-DSS AUDITOR, CCNA, Certified Ethical Hacker, and many others.
Handle: LinkedIn
Follow him for: Moty Jacob has a huge list of experiences in security from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies and national governments. As well as being a top leader in cybersecurity, Moty is also a leader in Diversity and Inclusion, with almost half of his security team being made up of women. Follow Moty for his hilarious and relatable cybersecurity memes and for honest posts about his experiences as the CISO at Dunnhumby.
Name: Christopher Porter
Bio: CISO, student of infosec, manager of risk, Dad, exerciser, and @UVA alum. Former @vzdbir author, @verisframework creator.
Handle: LinkedIn | @cdporter00
Follow him for: Christopher Porter is the CISO at Fannie Mae, he previously worked with Verizon to author Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report series and co-created the VERIS framework (Vocabulary for Event Recording and Incident Sharing). On social media, Christopher is committed to sharing cybersecurity research and posts about how to help close the diversity gap in the industry. Follow Christopher for the latest phishing intel, information about how the pandemic is affecting cybersecurity, and the occasional cybersecurity joke!
Name: Becky Pinkard
Bio: Cyber security exec, published author & professional speaker. I do security because I love it.
Handle: LinkedIn | @BeckyPinkard
Follow her for: Becky Pinkard has worked in the cybersecurity industry at some of the world’s leading brands since 1996 – from Blackberry and Vodafone to Aldemore and Barclays. She’s also a published author, a regular commentator on infosec events, and won CISO of the Year at the 2020 SC Awards, Europe. Becky is an active advocate for diversity and inclusion in cybersecurity on social media. Follow Becky for posts about open cybersecurity roles, her honest advice to other security leaders, and her incredible sense of humor.
Name: Bobby Ford
Bio: Senior Vice President/Chief Security Officer at Hewlett Packard Enterprise
Handle: LinkedIn
Follow him for: Bobby Ford has held the position of CISO at world-leading organizations from Unilever and Abbott Labs to his current company – Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Bobby has also been an information security analyst for the Pentagon’s incident response team and spent much of his career in the Aerospace and Defence industry. Bobby is an active member of the cybersecurity community on social media – follow him for posts about improving diversity in cybersecurity, open tech roles, and the occasional throwback picture of his days in the army.
And, if you want to be the first to get your hands on blogs like this and others written just for security leaders like you, subscribe to our newsletter below.
