Northwestern Mutual appointed Laura Deaner to Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), where she will lead the Enterprise Information Risk & Cybersecurity team and be responsible for spearheading Northwestern Mutual's information security strategy.

"Information security, risk management, and protecting information continues to be a top priority and allows us to deepen our relationships with clients, financial representatives, and employees," said Neal Sample, Chief Information Officer, Northwestern Mutual. "Laura's information security experience, technical skillset, and leadership within the cybersecurity industry positions her to advance our security strategy, while continuing our focus on securing our data and protecting clients' personal information."

Deaner has more than 21 years of experience working in cybersecurity for multi-national Fortune 500 companies to build effective and robust information security programs by aligning deep technical expertise with executive business vision and support. Her expertise includes risk management, data security, regulatory compliance, incident response, data integrity, and information security in multiple industries, including financial services and media. Most recently, Laura served as the CISO at S&P Global. Prior to that, she held numerous leadership roles at Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, and PR Newswire. She previously served as the co-chair of the Global Futures Council at the World Economic Forum.

Deaner holds a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Old Dominion University. She is also a member of several information security and technology societies including OWASP, WiCyS, ISC2, and Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She currently serves as a Board member for the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center (FS-ISAC). She is the first women to assume the leadership role of CISO at Northwestern Mutual. 

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