Mark Weatherford Joins The Chertoff Group Effective May 1

WASHINGTON -- (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The Chertoff Group, a global security advisory firm that provides consulting, risk management and merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory services, is pleased to announce that Mark Weatherford, one of the nation’s leading experts on cyber security, is joining the firm as a principal in the Washington, D.C. office. Mr. Weatherford will help expand our consulting and security services lines of business which offer clients trusted advice and expertise on how to effectively manage risk, build more resilient organizations, and deliver innovative products and services to the market place that truly help mitigate today’s persistent threats. His work at The Chertoff Group will begin on May 1.

“Mark is an incredible thought leader in the world of cybersecurity, having spent decades tackling the most challenging information technology and network security issues facing government and critical infrastructure,” said Michael Chertoff, Chairman and Co-Founder of The Chertoff Group and former Department of Homeland Security Secretary. “His innovative ideas, trusted leadership and proven experience in the security field match our firm’s already assembled team of professionals and will no doubt be of great value to our clients. We are very excited to have him joining our team.”

Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the Chertoff Group, Chad Sweet joins Michael Chertoff in welcoming Mr. Weatherford: “Whether helping organizations assess their current state of cyber security, providing them advice on how to manage risk consistent with key business imperatives, or working with them to determine remediation actions immediately following a cyber incident, Mark Weatherford will be a great addition to our team and enable The Chertoff Group to help even more organizations seeking this type of critical advice.”

Most recently, Mr. Weatherford served as the Department of Homeland Security’s first Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity for the National Protection and Programs Directorate. In this position, he worked with all critical infrastructure sectors as well as across federal government to create more secure network operations and thwart advanced persistent cyber threats. Under his leadership, DHS expanded efforts to share actionable cyber threat information with private sector partners and to assist in identifying pre-incident vulnerabilities as well as forensics and remediation activities following a cyber incident. During his tenure, Mr. Weatherford made realigning the organization to meet present and future operational challenges and building a highly skilled cybersecurity workforce at DHS his top priorities. DHS has reached new levels of cybersecurity maturity through these efforts.

Before joining DHS, Mr. Weatherford was Vice President and Chief Security Officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) where he directed the cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection program. Prior to joining NERC, Mr. Weatherford was appointed by Governor Schwarzenegger to serve as California’s first Chief Information Security Officer. Prior to working for the State of California, he served as the first Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Colorado, where he was appointed by two successive governors.

Mr. Weatherford previously worked at Raytheon Company where he successfully built and directed the Navy/Marine Corps Intranet Security Operations Center (SOC) in San Diego, California, and was also part of a team conducting security certification and accreditation with the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. A former U.S. Navy Cryptologic Officer, Mr. Weatherford led the U.S. Navy’s Computer Network Defense operations and the Naval Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT).

Mark Weatherford earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona and a master’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School. He also holds Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certifications. He was one of the Information Security magazine “Security 7 Award” winners in 2008, was awarded SC Magazine’s prestigious “CSO of the Year” award for 2010, and was named one of the “10 Most Influential People in Government Information Security” by GovInfo Security in both 2012 and 2013.

About The Chertoff Group

The Chertoff Group is a global security advisory firm that provides consulting, risk management and merger and acquisition (M&A) advisory services for clients in the security, defense and government services industries. With decades of trusted leadership experience across both government and financial services, The Chertoff Group advises clients on how to manage their risk, protect against a broad array of threats and crises, and grow their businesses within a complex national security market. The Chertoff Group, and its investment banking subsidiary Chertoff Capital, have advised on multiple M & A transactions totaling more than $4 billion in deal value. Headquartered in Washington D.C., the firm maintains offices in London, New York and San Francisco. For more information about The Chertoff Group, visit www.chertoffgroup.com.