Dean Macris

Dispel named Dean Macris as its CISO. At the time of the announcement, Macris was to continue his service as Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy alongside the new role.

The appointment of Macris was made by Dispel's Board of Directors, the company says. The company says Macris is responsible for aligning Dispel at the corporate and product level with ISO 27001, SOC 2, IEC 62443, NERC CIP, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171 and NIST 800-172. According to the release, his responsibilities will also include contributing to product design and engineering across the system lifecycle.

The company says Macris brings cybersecurity experience in both information technology and operational technology. SecurityWeek reports that Macris earlier served as Cyber Technical Director for Naval Special Warfare and as Theater Operations Officer of US Forces Korea. The Cyber Express reports that Macris was responsible for managing the Signature Secret Network, a classified information system, at General Dynamics Electric Boat. According to the company, Macris taught Cyber Systems as an instructor at the United States Coast Guard Academy and led development there of the Seagoing Vessel Testbed for Industrial Controls, housed in the Control Environment Laboratory Resource.

The company says Macris holds an MBA from the University of Connecticut and a Systems Engineering BS from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.

SecurityWeek describes Dispel as a provider of OT zero trust access and control solutions. Founded in 2015, Dispel offers zero-trust remote access, managed attribution, data streaming and DMZ unification for industrial control systems, according to The Cyber Express. The Cyber Express reports that Dispel's clients account for roughly half a trillion dollars of manufactured output each year worldwide.