Barak Engel | Source | Chief Geek at EAmmune

BE

Barak Engel

Chief Geek at EAmmune
On the record
Represented by:
Share profile 
Link:
Bio
Edit

Barak Engel is a well-known and respected longtime Silicon Valley insider, bringing his unique, people-centric approach to cyber security.

As a distinguished technology, operations, and business leader with over 30 years of expertise, Barak serves a pivotal role at Theia Institute. Renowned for pioneering the virtual Chief Information Security Officer (vCISO) concept, he stands as the first vCISO, with his enterprise, EAmmune, being recognized as the world's oldest vCISO services firm. Engel's profound impact on information security is further highlighted by his authorship of influential books such as "Why CISOs Fail" (his book was nominated and accepted into the Cybercannon in 2021.) and "The Security Hippie" (2022).

At Theia Institute, Barak leverages his extensive background, which includes a prior role as Head of Security for Webex fresh off it’s IPO and growing rapidly and globally long before its acquisition by Cisco.. He has been instrumental in establishing, leading, and bolstering security frameworks across a diverse array of organizations in various industries, including MuleSoft, Livenation/Ticketmaster, Amplitude Analytics, StubHub, Barnes and Noble, BetterUp, and bebe Stores. Beyond his direct operational contributions, Barak offers strategic governance and insightful expertise on technology, risk, product, and market trends as a board member and advisor to numerous entities. His multifaceted experience and visionary approach make him an invaluable asset to Theia Institute, where he continues to drive innovation and excellence in information security and technology governance.

Barak was CISO and Chief Privacy Officer for MuleSoft just prior to its $6.5 billion acquisition by Salesforce, and has seen StubHub as its CISO through the company’s $4B acquisition by ViaGoGo and its massive digital transformation project. He helped to launch Think Security First!, for America’s first cyber secure city (Walnut Creek, CA, population 64,000). Partners in the initiative include Microsoft, Cisco, McAfee, AT&T, and the Department of Homeland Security.

Employment
Sign up to view all
Media
Sign up to view all
  • Why CISOs Fail - 2nd Edition

    Released in 2017, the first edition of Why CISOs Fail reimagined the role of the Chief Information Security Officer in a new and powerful way. Written to be easily consumable by both security pros as well as everyone who must deal with them, the book explores the different realms in which security leaders fail to deliver meaningful impact to their organizations, and why this happens. Its central thesis—that security is primarily a human behavioral discipline rather than a technology one—has

    Article
  • The Security Hippie

    The Security Hippie is Barak Engel’s second book. As the originator of the “Virtual CISO” (fractional security chief) concept, he has served as security leader in dozens of notable organizations, such as Mulesoft, Stubhub, Amplitude Analytics, and many others. The Security Hippie follows his previous book, Why CISOs Fail, which became a sleeper hit, earning a spot in the Cybercannon project as a leading text on the topic of information security management. In this new book, Barak lo

    Article
  • Why CISOs Fail: The Missing Link in Security Management--and How to Fix It

    This book serves as an introduction into the world of security and provides insight into why and how current security management practices fail, resulting in overall dissatisfaction by practitioners and lack of success in the corporate environment. The author examines the reasons and suggests how to fix them. The resulting improvement is highly beneficial to any corporation that chooses to pursue this approach or strategy and from a bottom-line and business operations perspective, not just in te

    Article
Headshots