Global News & Analysis

New Security Executives Announced   

Security executives on the move! Which industry leaders have recently begun new roles? Visit SecurityMagazine.com for the complete articles.

Jeffrey Horn – New Police Chief at Merced College

Longtime Merced County, Calif. law enforcement veteran Jeffrey Horn has joined Merced College as Police Chief. Horn, who attended Merced College as a student in the past, brings more than 24 years of experience to his new position, having worked most recently as the Merced Police Department's administration sergeant. He will continue to serve as rangemaster and oversee firearms training. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Horn

Jason Kees – New Chief Information Security Officer at Ping Identity

Jason Kees has been appointed Ping Identity's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). He will spearhead security initiatives that support new services and offerings while ensuring the security, safety and reliability of IT infrastructure. With more than 20 years of experience in the security domain, Kees most recently served as Vice President and CISO at Groupon, where he built the enterprise security organization from the ground up. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Kees

Andrew Obadiaru – New CISO at Cobalt

Andrew Obadiaru, Cobalt’s new CISO, brings more than 20 years in the security and technology industry and a rich history of managing and mitigating risk across changing technologies, software and diverse platforms. As CISO, Obadiaru will be responsible for maintaining Cobalt’s systems, services, data confidentiality, integrity and availability. Prior to joining Cobalt, Obadiaru was the Head of Information Security for BBVA USA Corporate Investment banking, where he oversaw the creation and execution of cybersecurity strategy. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Obadiaru

John McAvoy – New Chief of Campus Safety and Security at Lynn University

Lynn University appointed John McAvoy, Chief of Campus Safety and Security at Lynn University. He will oversee a team of officers responsible for providing 24/7 campus safety, and ensure the wellbeing of students, employees and guests. McAvoy is skilled in crime prevention and emergency management, and brings decades of law enforcement experience from serving the New York Police Department and university campuses. Prior to joining Lynn, McAvoy served as chief of police at Shepherd University. Congratulations! Image courtesy of McAvoy

Arnaud Treps – New CISO at Odaseva

Arnaud Treps brings over two decades of strategic security experience to Odaseva as the CISO. In this role, Treps will lead the company’s global security initiatives, including software, infrastructure, privacy and compliance. Treps most recently served as the Deputy CISO at Accor, where he took a hands-on approach to leading projects such as PCI compliance, application security, infrastructure and overall organization security. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Treps

Jesse Kinser – New CISO at Pathwire

Jesse Kinser has been named CISO at Pathwire. Kinser will report to Pathwire CEO Will Conway and lead a team of security professionals to establish a creative approach to grow the organization’s security posture. Prior to joining Pathwire, Kinser was CISO at LifeOmic, a healthcare-focused software company. She has also held numerous technical roles in software engineering, R&D, compliance and software development. Her career started in the Department of Defense, where she focused on cybersecurity issues at a national level. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Kinser

Devin Ertel – New CISO at Menlo Security

Devin Ertel has been appointed CISO at Menlo Security. In this role, he is responsible for providing internal cybersecurity direction and policy insights to both the company and Menlo Security customers. As CISO, Ertel will spearhead global efforts to reduce the company’s risk and security exposure. Before joining Menlo Security, he served as CISO at BlackHawk Network, where he managed a team responsible for security, risk and compliance. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Ertel

Fermín Serna – New Chief Security Officer at Databricks

Fermín Serna has been appointed Chief Security Officer (CSO) at Databricks. Serna will lead Databricks' network, platform and user security programs along with governance and compliance efforts. Serna brings over 20 years of enterprise information security expertise to the Databricks leadership team and will oversee the expansion of the organization's cybersecurity. He joins Databricks from Citrix, where he led a global security and data privacy practice as the CISO. Congratulations! Image courtesy of Serna

Submit Nominations for the 2022 Top Cybersecurity Leaders

Security magazine and its partner for the Top Cybersecurity Leaders, (ISC)², are looking for enterprise information security executives, who have made and continue to make significant contributions in the cybersecurity space to their organizations and/or the enterprise-level information security profession.    

We want leaders who are not only mitigating risk within their organizations and furthering the profession of cybersecurity, but also innovative, forward-thinkers and thought-leaders in the industry. The goal of the program is to highlight cybersecurity professionals who are making a difference in their organization and/or in the industry as a whole. Entrants and nominees do not need to be members of (ISC)² to apply to this program. Nominations will be considered based on the overall positive impact that their work has had on their shareholders, organizations, colleagues and the general public.    

The 2022 Top Cybersecurity Leaders will be honored in the March 2022 digital edition of Security magazine and online. Nominations are due by December 1, 2021. Submit your nomination here.  

Sport Spectators’ Perceptions of Safety in 2021

The National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (NCS⁴) at The University of Southern Mississippi (USM) has published its Spectator Sports Safety and Security Survey results in an industry report.     

The purpose of this survey was to gauge sport spectators’ perceptions of safety and security practices, including those related to COVID-19, as the sports industry prepares to return to full capacity stadiums and arenas.    

The NCS⁴ study found that 73.2% of respondents considered safety and security regulations when deciding to attend an event. Seventy-seven percent of respondents indicated that they prefer security measures to be visible at an event. Just under two-thirds of survey participants described themselves as aware of their event's safety and security measures before attendance. The preferred methods of pre-event security information communication were via email, event website or ticket.    

In its COVID-19 focused questions, the NCS⁴ found that approximately 68% of survey participants were fully vaccinated. Two-thirds of not-yet-vaccinated respondents did not plan to get vaccinated against COVID-19. Additionally, 28.2% of participants have attended a sporting event without vaccination. Participants selected high percentages of approval for temperature checks, digital health passes and enhanced cleaning and sanitizing services.    

The report included advice for security protocols at sporting events, highlighting the approval ratings for measures such as law enforcement presence, venue personnel presence and screening detection technologies, among others.    

Visit www.securitymagazine.com for the full article.