Merritt Baer

Reco added Merritt Baer as its first Chief Information Security Officer, week of June 17, 2024. Baer previously served in the Office of the CISO at Amazon Web Services for more than five years.

SecurityWeek reports that Reco, a data security startup, expanded its leadership team when it hired Baer.

According to the profile, Baer handled strategic initiatives for the AWS security shop, from internal sharing of threat intelligence to streamlining policy and contract vehicles. According to the profile, Baer helped customer executives adjust to changes in access needs and employee behavior, such as the move to fully remote work. According to the AWS profile, Baer had spent about four years at AWS and held the title of Principal in its OCISO. Baer said in the profile that her current role in the OCISO involves security facing both internally and externally. Baer said she worked closely with the AWS Trust and Safety team on projects increasing automation for high volume issues. The profile says Baer gave the AWS private equity staff expertise on a framework for judging the security maturity of target acquisitions. Baer said she had helped lead AWS efforts to add tighter security controls for prototyping and co-development work by AWS teams. According to the profile, Baer helped lead a ransomware working group at AWS that offered customers education and architectural guidance. Baer said she was building a business case for extended free tiers and timelines so that security service teams could make their capabilities more broadly available.

The profile says Baer had presented at the Women in Business Summit and at the Day of Shecurity conference.