Top 25 Cyber Execs to Watch in 2020

Josh Salmanson, Vice President and Chief Architect, ECS

Josh Salmanson joined ECS in July 2019, making his first and most significant effort solidifying critical partnerships in advance of the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification framework. His work ensures ECS will be level 5 compliant and able to provide compliance-as-a-service for other companies.

What stands out to Salmanson so far is how ECS hires the best people and empowers them to succeed. That means training them on the latest technology, providing abundant corporate resources and giving them meaningful work, he said.

“Smart, capable personnel are the most important asset a company can have, all the more so when it comes to cyber,” Salmanson said.

To advance federal cybersecurity missions, Salmanson is looking toward deception technology as one of the most critical technologies in cybersecurity today — which is why ECS partnered with Attivo Networks to bring this capability to the government customer.

“Deception technology takes the pressure off of defenders and puts it back onto the attackers through a proactive security posture that seeks out and mitigates cyberthreats,” Salmanson said.

Why Watch:

In 2020, Salmanson is leading a team to develop an end-to-end software supply chain that uses DevSecOps to build products and platforms that are secure on day one.

“Too many of today’s software supply chains are unprotected, with nonstandard handoffs between different, often siloed groups,” he said. “This project is an effort to protect that entire process, a machine that allows its user to control inputs and outputs smoothly and securely.”