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John N. Stewart

Senior Vice President

Chief Security & Trust Office

John N. Stewart formed and leads Cisco’s Security and Trust Organization, which underscores the company’s commitment to address two of the most critical and top-of-mind issues for boardrooms and world leaders alike. Under Stewart’s leadership, the organization’s core missions include protecting Cisco’s public- and private-sector customers, enabling and ensuring Cisco Secure Development Lifecycle and Trustworthy Systems efforts across the company’s portfolio, and leadership in data protection and privacy, trust and assurance, and cybersecurity efforts with governments globally.

Throughout his 25-year career, Stewart has led or participated in widely ranging security initiatives from IT design for elementary schools to national security programs. He is a Board Director for ReFirm Labs and SpyCloud, special advisor to the Board of Directors for Focal Point, RedSeal, and NSX, llc. (LSE: NSX) and is on the Syracuse University’s College of Engineering Dean’s Leadership Council. Stewart previously served on the Australian Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Cyber Security Review panel, the Cybersecurity Think Tank at the University of Maryland University College, and the CSIS Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th United States Presidency. During his career, Stewart has served on the Board of Directors for Fixmo, Koolspan, the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA), RiskSense, Shadow Networks, and Shape Security. He has been on advisory boards for Akonix Systems, Anomali, Area 1 Security, BlackStratus, Cloudshield Technologies, Finjan Holdings, Ingrian Networks, Nok Nok Labs, Riverhead Networks, and TripWire.

Stewart, a highly sought public and closed-door speaker who leads an organization that is well-recognized across the industry, keynoted RSA Conference USA 2018. In 2017, the International Business Awards (Stevie Awards) and the Golden Bridge Awards honored the Cisco Security and Trust Organization as IT Team of the Year and Management Team of the Year, respectively, with Stewart also winning a ‘Stevie’ as an Innovator of the Year in Computer Services and Software. Additionally, Stewart won the 2017 Ada Award for his vision of a Trust-Based Ecosystem of Technologies, Process and People. In the past three years, Stewart and his team have received numerous industry awards, including Info Security Products Guide Global Excellence Award for Security Organization of the Year (2016); as well as RSA’s Award for Excellence in Information Security (2015), the Global Golden Bridge Award for CISO of the Year (2014), and the CSO 40 Silver Award for Chief Security Officer of the Year (2014) for Stewart individually.

Stewart has a Master of Science degree in computer and information science from Syracuse University.

Articles

January 20, 2015

SECURITY

All Hands on Deck: Announcing the 2015 Cisco Annual Security Report

To help kick off 2015 with new insights in the world of attackers, users, and defenders, we analyzed a significant amount of 2014 security data telemetry from our global customer footprint. We took this data and distilled it into a comprehensive report for you to leverage and are proud to announce t…

November 13, 2014

SECURITY

Baking Security Into the Cloud

Enterprises, governments, and organizations of all sizes are moving to the cloud in record numbers. The cloud can offer resiliency, but it also introduces new security challenges. Security needs to be baked in from the beginning, across the board. Cisco has invested over $1 billion in people, infras…

October 30, 2014

SECURITY

Ensuring Security and Trust Stewardship and Accountability

In our increasingly interconnected world, the Internet of Everything is making trust a critical element of how people use network-connected devices to work, play, live, and learn. The relentless rise in information security breaches underscores the deep need for enterprises and governments alike to…

October 8, 2014

SECURITY

Security and the Internet of Everything

The theme of this year’s Cyber Security Awareness Month is “Our Shared Responsibility.” At Cisco, security is everyone’s responsibility – from our trustworthy development processes, to innovation enabling our customers and partners to address threats on end points, networks,…

August 5, 2014

SECURITY

Cisco 2014 Midyear Security Report: Exposing Weak Links to Strengthen the Security Chain

The Cisco 2014 Midyear Security Report has been released, diving into threat intelligence and cybersecurity trends for the first half of 2014. You may be thinking, “What could have possibly changed since January?” True to form, the attacker community continues to evolve, innovate, and think up new w…

July 1, 2014

SECURITY

Before, During and After: How to Think About Complex Threats

I’m often asked how to deal with the security threat landscape within the context of running a business. The security threat landscape can seem like a highly complex challenge, yet as I’ve looked at it through my work with Cisco and the broader industry, it can actually be boiled down in…

June 4, 2014

SECURITY

Three Steps to Secure Cloud Enablement

I’ve been pretty forthcoming in sharing my belief that the security industry in general continues to struggle to transition from old ways to new, and that in today’s day and age we have to adapt quickly. The rise of mobile computing and communications (users, data, services) combined with increasing…

May 2, 2014

SECURITY

South of Several Borders

Let me tell you a little about a country I’d not been to before until recently: Chile. Beyond its abundant natural resources and terrific terroir for wine grapes, Chile has become a hub for banking and retail companies with operations that span Latin America. Through the continued growth of bu…

March 13, 2014

SECURITY

Mission to Helsinki

I grew up in Northern New York State, so a trip to Helsinki in the middle of February held no fears for me. Interesting things are going on in Finland from a cybersecurity point of view, so I jumped at the chance to speak to the Security Day conference in Finland’s capital city. The conference appea…