John Paul Cunningham named Chief Information Security Officer at Silverfort

Silverfort appointed John Paul Cunningham as Chief Information Security Officer. Cunningham previously served as CISO at Bank of Hope and held similar security positions at Docupace, Ares Management and JPMorgan Asset Management. He will design and implement Silverfort's cybersecurity program.

According to the company, Cunningham will also work with customers and partners to help them understand the strategic benefits of modern identity protection. Cunningham told Dark Reading that his role covers both corporate security to protect Silverfort from cyber threats and involvement in identity and security strategy and product strategy. He told Dark Reading that the role also lets him evangelize within the industry on ideas about identity security and AI.

The company says Cunningham has more than 24 years of experience managing cyber risk at Fortune 100 companies, plus another 8 years in the Fortune 1000. At Bank of Hope, according to the release, he was responsible for working with the board on operating models meant to reduce cost and cyber risk while meeting rigorous compliance standards. The release says that at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, Ares Management and Docupace he built security operations, risk management and information security programs from scratch. Dark Reading reports that his background spans financial sector duty and military service, as well as his current work protecting Silverfort's corporate infrastructure. Cunningham told Dark Reading that while he was working at JPMorgan Chase, the bank came to him saying it needed somebody to look at security and information risk management. Cunningham also told Dark Reading that in the military he held a law enforcement role rather than a technology role.

The company says Silverfort extends modern identity security to sensitive resources targeted by attackers, such as service accounts, command line interfaces and legacy applications. Cunningham told Dark Reading that he looks at physical security, including how to keep Silverfort's people in Israel safe from possible physical threats.