Blog

Top 12 Influencers in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity has never been more important to global businesses than it is now. As the demand for top cybersecurity programs increases for organizations in the swiftly changing digital economy, so does its talent. 
 
We’ve identified the top 12 cybersecurity influencers we see forging the path and making the greatest impact in the industry today, (in alphabetical order):
 

Will Ackerly
Co-Founder & CTO, Virtru
Will invented The Trusted Data Format (TDF), an open standard used today by a variety of government agencies for the secure transfer of data. It is the underlying principle in which Virtru was founded.
@virtruprivacy
 

Vijay Balasubramaniyan 
Co-Founder, CEO & CTO, Pindrop
Vijay spearheads Pindrop, a security solution provider for the future of voice. The company counts eight of the ten largest banks and the majority of the largest insurance companies in the U.S. as its customers. Vijay holds patents in VoIP security and scalability and is a frequent speaker on phone fraud threats at technical conferences.
@pindrop
 

Dr. Bart Butler
CTO, ProtonMail
As CTO of ProtonMail, and a former experimental particle physicist, Bart is an expert on cryptography. Previously, he worked at CERN as a researcher at the Large Hadron Collider. He has a PhD in Particle Physics and was a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard.
@BartCButler
 

Jim Dolce
CEO, Lookout
Jim has been the Founder of four successful technology companies and builds on that accomplishment by helping Lookout earn and maintain world leadership in AI-based network detection and response (NDR). He has re-architected Lookout’s products, leadership, and workforce to serve large businesses and government agencies that aim to embrace the benefits of mobility without the loss of security. 
@Lookout
 
 

Troy Hunt
Information Security Author & Instructor, Pluralsight and Founder, Have I Been Pwned
Troy trains technology professionals, creates top level courses on web security, actively aggregates data breaches to address malicious web activity, travels the globe speaking at major technology events, and is recognized as a Microsoft MVP (most valuable professional).
@troyhunt
 

Diana Kelly
Cybersecurity CTO, Microsoft and Co-Founder, SecurityCurve
With 25+ years of cyber risk and security experience, Diana provides top advice and guidance to CSOs, CIOs and CISOs at some of the world’s largest companies, in addition to being CTO at Microsoft. She is a practitioner, author, thought leader, and speaker, shaping the ever changing world of cybersecurity.
@dianakelley14
 

Dr. Bryan Kissinger
VP and CISO, Trace3
With in-depth industry experience, Bryan is a top level implementer of next-gen security solutions that prevent and detect current and forecasted threat vectors. He leads a team of professional security advisors focused on solving complex client security challenges, as well as managing Trace3’s internal security program. 
@Trace3
 

Joseph Marks
Staff Writer, The Washington Post
Joseph pens the Cybersecurity 202 newsletter for The Washington Post in which he breaks down the latest in policy and politics in cybersecurity with thoughtful and expert commentary.
@Joseph_Marks_
 

Raluca Ada Popa
Founder & CTO, PreVeil
Raluca helps spearhead PreVeil, a leader in providing encrypted email and file sharing. She has developed practical systems that protect data confidentiality, and conducts research in security and cryptography. She is the recipient of the Intel Early Career Faculty Honor Award and a Google PhD Fellowship.
@ralucaadapopa
 

Hitesh Sheth
President and CEO, Vectra 
A leader in threat detection and response for cloud, data centers and enterprise infrastructure, he champions securing enterprises from cloud to ground using powerful AI models that detect and enable action in real time.
@Vectra_AI
 

Dr. Ambareen Siraj 
Professor, Computer Science, Tennessee Tech and Founder, WiCyS (Women in CyberSecurity) 
Ambareen’s research areas include smart grid security, sensor alert fusion with alert correlation and alert clustering, security metrics, and workforce development. She has authored/co-authored roughly 40 journal and conference articles in these areas. She established WiCyS, a non profit that brings together women in cybersecurity to share knowledge, experience, mentoring and networking. 
@ambareensiraj
 

Kevin Tolly 
Founder, The Tolly Group
Kevin heads The Tolly Group, a leading, global provider of independent testing and third-party validation services for the technology industry. Kevin has over 30 years of experience in information technology, and is a prolific, award-winning analyst/author.
@TollyGroup