Mark Weatherford is a Principal at The Chertoff Group and advises clients on a broad array of cybersecurity services. As one of the nation’s leading experts on cybersecurity, Mr. Weatherford works with organizations around the Nation and around the world by creating comprehensive security strategies for core business operations and objectives.

Mr. Weatherford also serves on the Advisory Board at both Cylance and Coalfire and is a member of the Bipartisan Policy Commission Electric Grid Cyber Security Initiative and the Idaho National Laboratory Strategic Advisory Group (SAG) for Electric Grid Resilience.

Prior to joining The Chertoff Group, Mr. Weatherford was appointed as the Department of Homeland Security’s first Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity. Before joining DHS, Mr. Weatherford was the Vice President and Chief Security Officer at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) where he directed the cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection program and worked with electric utility companies across North America. Prior to NERC, Mr. Weatherford was appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to serve as California’s first Chief Information Security Officer and was also the first Chief Information Security Officer for the State of Colorado, where he was appointed by two successive governors. As a former U.S. Navy Cryptologic Officer, Mr. Weatherford led the United States Navy’s Computer Network Defense operations and the Naval Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT).

Mr. Weatherford earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Arizona, amaster’s degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and holds the 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 “CSO of the Year” award in 2010, and was named one of the “10 Most Influential People in Government Information Security” by GovInfoSecurity in both 2012 and 2013.