CISO appointment
William Wetherill named Chief Information Security Officer at DefenseStorm
William Wetherill is the Chief Information Security Officer of DefenseStorm. William was promoted internally from the role of CISO.
Records: DefenseStorm · William Wetherill · Career profile on CISO Spotlights ↗
| Person | William Wetherill |
|---|---|
| New role | Chief Information Security Officer |
| Company | DefenseStorm |
| Previous role | CISO, DefenseStorm |
| Announced | November 14, 2023 |
| Added to the record | September 30, 2026 |
| Source | Business Wire (company announcement) |
Context from the record
- DefenseStorm is filed under Cybersecurity Vendors, North America, on our record.
Other Cybersecurity Vendors appointments in the fourth quarter of 2023
- Nichole Windholz, Chief Information Security Officer, Onspring
- Joseph Bell, Chief Information Security Officer, Forcepoint G2CI
What this move signals
DefenseStorm announced a leadership transition naming William Wetherill as its new Chief Information Security Officer, succeeding Robert Thibodeaux, who retired after nine years in the role. Wetherill previously led the company's Cyber Threat Surveillance Operations Team.
What the sources say
According to the release on Business Wire, Wetherill became the new CISO of DefenseStorm effective January 1st, 2023. The release also states that he has prior experience as a CISO and holds the certifications expected for the position. Wetherill says in the release that he intends to apply his expertise in incident response, risk management, strategic planning and cybersecurity program maturation.
DefenseStorm says Wetherill is a Certified Information Security Manager and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional. DefenseStorm says Wetherill has over 27 years of experience in IT, almost a third of it directly in cybersecurity. Before becoming CISO, he served as Director of Cybersecurity Operations at DefenseStorm, the leadership page says. DefenseStorm says Wetherill built and managed the Information Security Program at the University of North Carolina in Wilmington, where he was previously the Chief Information Security Officer.
According to the release, the company's GRID ACTIVE data engine is designed to give real-time access to, analysis of and action on critical threat data.
Business Wire reports that DefenseStorm completed a $15M Series C raise, which JAM FINTOP, whose limited partners include over 80 community and mid-size banks, led with $5M. The remaining $10M came from existing investors, bringing the company's total funding to $67M, according to the same release. According to the news page, DefenseStorm recently completed a Series C-1 raise, and existing investor partners including Live Oak Ventures, Curql and Georgian led the round.
Sources
- Business Wire (company announcement)
- Leadership. DefenseStorm, published May 2, 2023.
- News. DefenseStorm, published May 2, 2023.
- What we're seeing: Cyber threats targeting banks and credit unions in the first half of 2026. DefenseStorm, published May 27, 2026.
- DefenseStorm Secures $15M in New Financing Round, Including $5M from Community and Mid-Size Bank Venture Fund JAM FINTOP. Business Wire, read November 10, 2026.
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