NASDAQ-listed security firm Splunk has hired Pamela Fusco as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO).
The hire comes as many enterprise IT and cybersecurity firms double down on their own security amid fears they could be compromised and used in a supply chain attack of the kind that hit Fireeye and Solarwinds this year.
Fusco will report to Shawn Bice, president of products and technology, and oversee "all facets of Splunk’s information security posture to protect employees, customers, systems, and assets.
Prior to Splunk, Fusco held CISO and chief security officer roles at Digex, Merck, and served as Head of Global Information Security at Citibank. Most recently, she has been running a passion project dubbed "Zulu Tails" that uses smart pet tags and cryptography to help reunite pets with their owners.
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Back at Digex, one of the US's first internet service providers -- ultimately subsumed into Verizon -- Fusco was affectionally dubbed a "madwoman" by a colleague in one 2003 interview for her ferocious focus on security; the interview describes her team preparing for attacks by "conducting a full security audit every 24 hours", using honepots, digital forensics and their own active incident response to "not only identify common attacks but to trace the source of the hostile actions, block them and then try to identify the attackers."
Earlier in her career, Fusco was a US Navy cryptologist who supported special operations for national intelligence, advising the White House in the process. She currently serves on the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) board of directors as CFO; and is a founder of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and SAFE-BioPharma.
“Splunk is essential for organizations and governments as they navigate the ever-changing threat landscape and I’m honored to lead its exceptional security team,” said Fusco in a release. “I’ve trusted Splunk to help secure operations on numerous occasions and there is no other cloud-first company that truly turns data into doing. Succeeding in cybersecurity requires anticipating change, and Splunk is on the cutting-edge of security innovation.”
Splunk is a machine data specialist used to deliver operational and cybersecurity intelligence by over 15,000 customers in 110 countries, including Tesco and Nationwide in the UK. It reported annual recurring revenue of $2.3 billion in Q4, 2020.
