Center for Internet Security Announces New Executive Team to Drive Innovation and Next Stage of Growth

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) today announced the organization’s new executive team to drive innovation and enhance the product and service offerings it provides for both CIS members and the global IT security community. The executive team includes Bert Miuccio, CEO, Blake Frantz, CTO, and Steven Piliero as CSO. Miuccio succeeds Clint Kreitner, who has served as CEO since the inception of CIS in 2000. Kreitner will serve as a strategic advisor and will remain a member of the CIS Board of Directors.

“In addition to his distinguished career prior to joining the Center, Bert has been a key member of the terrific team that Clint Kreitner put together in taking the concept of CIS from dream to reality,” said CIS Board Chair, Frank Reeder. “The Center for Internet Security’s mark as a trusted convener and source of technically sound, consensus standards is directly attributable to Clint Kreitner’s integrity, leadership, creativity and just plain hard work.  I am delighted that Clint is staying on to help us continue our journey of helping the community operate more safely on the Internet and to continue to provide new service offerings to meet that objective.”

Bert Miuccio brings more than two decades of experience in building successful non-profit organizations to his new position at CIS. As CEO, Miuccio will leverage his leadership and business development background to foster collaboration among CIS members, developers and enterprise users worldwide in discerning their emerging security needs and creating products and services to meet them.  Miuccio joined CIS in 2001, and has played an integral role in establishing a broad base of CIS members from industry, government, education, and the IT security software and services sector. Prior to joining CIS, Bert led the transformation and expansion of several healthcare companies including CentraCare, Workability and Reading Rehabilitation Hospital.

“I am grateful for the CIS members and volunteers, who deserve most of the credit for what CIS has accomplished to date,” said Clint Kreitner.  “I am convinced that Bert Miuccio is the right person to lead CIS forward.  I am confident that the commitment to the mission shared by the CIS members and the CIS team will propel the organization to new levels of achievement and mission effectiveness well beyond what we have already accomplished together. I am extremely optimistic about the future of CIS.”

Reducing Risk Through Collaboration, Consensus and Practical IT Security Management

CIS is an independent non-profit corporation sustained exclusively by its members.   CIS develops and distributes resources that help organizations measurably reduce risk through collaboration, consensus and practical IT security management.

• CIS provides to thousands of organizations around the world free guidance to help them evaluate and improve the security status of their Internet-connected systems and appliances, along with those of their business partners;
• CIS enables enterprise users to base their IT security configuration policies on widely-accepted minimum due care and best practice standards that reflect the expertise of people from many organizations, thus eliminating the uncertainty that arises from multiple, conflicting sources of guidance;

• CIS is supported by more than 150 member organizations worldwide; 
• CIS distributes more than 40 security configuration benchmarks that encompass every major operating system, including Solaris, Windows, Solaris, HP-UX, Redhat Linux, Novell and Mac, as well as many of the most commonly used network devices, software applications and virtualization products;
• CIS Benchmarks and audit tools are downloaded from the CIS web site more than one million times each year.

“CIS is the only developer and distributor of user originated, globally accepted, consensus-based security configuration benchmarks.” said Bert Miuccio, CEO of CIS.  “We have built a solid foundation for the next phase of growth. Blake Frantz and Steven Piliero bring a wealth of IT security expertise to the CIS team. Prior to joining CIS, both have been accountable for security in very large end-user enterprises, and have been security consultants to a wide variety of organizations. They will play an instrumental role in developing and continuously improving the quality of the resources and services CIS offers, and in maximizing the value CIS provides to its members, and thousands of security professionals who collaborate through CIS initiatives and enterprises worldwide.”

About CIS

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a non-profit association whose mission is to help organizations around the world effectively manage the risks related to information security. CIS provides methods and tools to improve, measure, monitor, and compare the security status of Internet-connected systems and appliances. CIS members develop and encourage the widespread use of security configuration benchmarks through a global consensus process involving participants from the public and private sectors. For more information visit: www.cisecurity.org.