NTT Research Inc., a division of NTT announced that it has named Matthew Ireland Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Most recently a consulting Practice Manager and Executive Security Strategist at NTT Ltd., Ireland is a technology leader with management experience in security services, consulting, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, law enforcement and emergency services and three decades of technical experience in information security, IT systems, networks and enterprise operations. He joined NTT in 2016 and served as a virtual (v)CISO for NTT Research beginning in September 2019. Ireland joined NTT Research full-time in March 2021.

In this role, he will be responsible for information security, privacy, risk, compliance, physical security, incident response and some aspects of workplace safety.

We are so pleased to have Matt Ireland on board,” said NTT Research President and CEO, Kazuhiro Gomi. “His experience is deep and broad, and he is already very familiar with NTT Research and understands our security requirements, especially how they play out across our research labs.”

Prior to his most recent roles in strategy and management at NTT Ltd., Ireland served as VP Global Cyber Security Operations, Regional CISO and Director of Information Security Operations at NTT Security. In these roles, Ireland managed a consulting team, provided strategic advisory services and directed various areas of information security architecture, strategy, technology operations and risk. He has had a leadership role in three complex enterprise data center moves and supported numerous client compliance audits. At NTT Research, Ireland will be engaged in both the cybersecurity of the company’s three labs and the physical security of its Sunnyvale office. NTT Research’s Physics & Informatics (PHI) Lab, Cryptography & Information Security (CIS) Lab, and Medical & Health Informatics (MEI) Lab have distinctive security profiles and high expectations for privacy and secure IT operations.

“It has been exciting to have NTT Research as an important part of my work over the past year and a half, and I am thrilled to now transition into the company full time,” Ireland said. “Like all organizations today, we face ever-changing technology challenges and threats, but I am committed to keeping NTT Research aligned with global security expectations as it fulfills its agenda at Sunnyvale, across remote workplaces and with key collaborators around the world.”

Prior to joining NTT in 2016, Ireland served as an Enterprise Availability Engineer at Wellmark Blue Cross & Blue Shield and as a Director, Manager and Specialist at Harland Clarke Holdings, a financial services corporation. Ireland holds a BS in Information Assurance & Security, an MS in IS/IT Management and nine additional certifications. He is a member of five professional organizations and served as vice president of a local chapter of InfraGard, a public-private partnership between U.S. businesses and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Ireland is also a trained emergency medical technician (EMT), a reserve county deputy sheriff and former fire chief of the local volunteer fire and rescue department (where he continues to serve as a captain).