Security's Most Influential People in Security 2019 - Grant Bourzikas
Group CISO, Cybersecurity HSBC Holdings PLC
Grant Bourzikas is the new Group CISO for HSBC Holdings, PLC.
Previously, he was CISO at McAfee, where he was responsible for protecting the McAfee organization by implementing and operationalizing McAfee endpoint security, advanced threat detection, security and event management and the Data Threat Intelligence Insights Platform. He led the McAfee Data Science organization, which is focused on defining the overall data strategy and governance for McAfee Labs.
At McAfee, Bourzikas also deployed McAfee Security Fusion Centers globally, which are converged SOCs that integrate physical and cybersecurity. Bourzikas eliminated silos of physical and cybersecurity and aligned both functions within the executive roles at McAfee. These unique, converged SOCs act as a blueprint of best practices internally at McAfee, and the deployment methodology is shared across McAfee’s global customer base. That improves corporate security on a large scale and expands the convergence model across multiple industries.
Bourzikas understands the critical importance of moving individuals across the organization to keep them fresh and well-rounded in their business experience. He also works to diversify the employee pool by hiring retired and former military, women and minorities. He also works to mentor millennials, as he feels they are misunderstood in the workplace, so he provides direction and career counseling to them.
He encourages individuals to follow their passion in cybersecurity. “The best thing that you could ever do is tinker with the technology and understand how it works,” he notes. “I have found that my most successful and technical people have a passion and they tinker with things, and that is something that I always look for in hiring.”
“The thing I am most proud of is how I have worked in amazing organizations that have taught me how to be a leader,” he adds. “Reflecting on each organization, I realize that there are some key people that have helped me become the leader I am now, so I am using my platform to help drive change and diversity across my organization – and more specifically, helping drive major projects because I was able to actually lead an organization and make changes. Often, we think that technical skills are the key to our success, but the most single thing I am proud of is how I have been molded and taught how to lead and build an amazing organization by some of the best leaders in the world that have directly impacted each and every major project I have ever led.”
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