Category: Thought Leader
Name: Vikram Phatak
Title: CEO
Company: NSS Labs, Inc.
Why nominated: A tireless advocate for continuous security validation, NSS Labs CEO Vikram Phatak has strived to change the way organizations approach security, placing an emphasis on vendor-neutral, fact-based, and unbiased empirical data that enterprises can use to make informed decisions regarding which products and services will best protect their organizations, employees, and customers.
Profile: After hearing one time too many over the expanse of his career that organizations often relied on tribal knowledge, employee instinct, or outdated and inaccurate data to make critical decisions about their security investments, Vikram Phatak became almost evangelical about the need for real-time, actionable information.
With that data, he reasoned, organizations were often left with an incomplete view of their security posture and, consequently, were exposed, along with their customers, to breaches and data theft. He brought his vison – a world in which CISOs and boards continuously monitored their security products to better safeguard their organizations and customers – to NSS Labs in 2007 where he helped drive the development and adoption of NSS's Cloud Platform for Continuous Security Validation.
With a track record of success that stretches over 20 years, Vikram previously founded Intermedia Sciences Group, one of the first internet service providers and security consulting firms in the U.S., and Lucid Security, where he created “Adaptive Intelligence,” a groundbreaking intrusion prevention technology. Later, he was named CTO of Trustwave, where he was responsible for the management and development of technology product lines.
What colleagues say: “Vik is strongly committed to his vision of making the world safer by advancing transparency and accountability in the cybersecurity industry and collaborating with him to advance that mission has been a great experience. I joined NSS Labs more than a year ago specifically for the unique opportunity to advance the company's efforts to improve the overall state of security for the industry and bring out ‘truth in security' for enterprises. This is made possible because of the work Vik has put in pioneering the space. Vik has earned the trust and respect of many Fortune 1000 enterprises and vendors in the security industry by holding NSS Labs accountable for operating with integrity, taking the high road and working as an unbiased advisor to enterprise customers.”
- Jason Brvenik, chief technology officer, NSS Labs