Security consultancy Lares has hired Dr. Mark Arnold as vice president of advisory services. Arnold will serve to expand the firm’s virtual chief information security officer (vCISO) services.
Lares enables companies to implement cybersecurity programs by outsourcing security and risk management to a CISO, which costs less than a full-time employee. Arnold brings with him more than 15 years of experience in the cybersecurity sector – a valuable asset to the Lares team.
“At Lares, we pride ourselves on delivering the highest quality talent in results in every service we offer. With the addition of Dr. Mark Arnold, we are able to bring the same world-class delivery and innovation to the security advisory space,” Chris Nickerson, founder and CEO of Lares, said. “I have personally looked at Mark’s ideas and research as the pinnacle of modern security program design. We now are joining technical and strategic forces to provide our customers, big and small, with comprehensive guidance and testing.”
Prior to joining Lares, Arnold served as senior director of security and compliance and CISO at Navasite, a provider of cloud management and managed application hosting and services. Before that, he worked as senior research principal at the solutions research & development arm of Optiv Inc, which offers consulting services to CISOs and other “security leaders.” Arnold has also worked as director of information security at PTC, as well as advanced threats and assessments managed at The TJX Companies, Inc.
He holds a degree in computer science from Northeastern University, a bachelor of science in electrical engineering from Stanford University, and a PhD in semitic philology and linguistics from Harvard University. He has also completed cybersecurity programs at the MIT Sloan School of Management and Harvard Kennedy School.
“I am incredibly honored and, at the same time, humbled to be a part of this high caliber team,” Arnold said. “The mission of Lares aligns with my own and I hope to help improve the durability of our clients given the current threat landscape.”
Lares was founded in 2008. It assists organizations in securing electronic, physical, intellectual, and financial assets via assessments, testing, and coaching. It is headquartered in Denver, Colorado.