Fulton, MD. IronNet, Inc. announced today that it has appointed Russell “Russ” Cobb as Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) reporting to Co-CEOs Bill Welch and GEN (Ret.) Keith B. Alexander, the former Director of the U.S. National Security Agency and Founding Commander of U.S. Cyber Command.
“Russ has a proven track record of bringing to market and scaling data intelligence, artificial intelligence, and machine learning solutions that help customers solve their most critical business challenges,” said Welch. “He is the executive we need in order to accelerate our market presence as we expand the role of behavioral-based network threat detection and industry-centric collective cyber defense within companies of all sizes.”
“Russ’s appointment will allow us to accelerate our mission of delivering the power of collective security to companies, sectors, and nations,” said GEN Alexander. “His proven ability to deliver strong growth for strategic, analytics-based solutions that transform the way customers operate gives him a unique understanding of the nearly identical evolution that is taking place today in cybersecurity.“
Cobb is charged with driving IronNet’s go-to-market strategy, brand and product marketing, channel marketing, public relations, and analyst relations. His primary goal is to accelerate customer adoption of IronNet’s solutions and services.
“Advanced cyber threat detection is increasingly becoming a data-centric capability that augments the human intuition of cyber defenders with machine-based insights,” said Cobb. “With network traffic growing at exponential rates, companies need solutions that combine sophisticated, scalable data science with real-world tradecraft knowledge to identify what is actually malicious in a noisy modern network. IronNet’s impressive solutions deliver a unique ability to help companies and industries effectively monitor and analyze networks at scale and I am excited to help the company drive the next stage of our growth.”
Cobb joins IronNet after sixteen years with SAS Institute, where he most recently led Growth and Business Operations and was responsible for designing and executing the company’s multi-year growth strategy. Additionally, Cobb held senior leadership roles in Global Alliances and Channels, Global Product Marketing, and New Business Marketing.
Prior to joining SAS, he spent over a decade in management consulting with Marakon Associates and Accenture, specializing in corporate and business unit growth strategy development for multinational clients. Cobb holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BS in industrial engineering from North Carolina State University.
“IronNet is redefining how organizations detect cyber security threats within their networks and across the industry,” said Don Dixon, Managing Director of ForgePoint Capital and member of IronNet’s Board of Directors. “Russ is an accomplished business leader with an impressive track record of delivering revenue growth for industry-defining companies, and his appointment will accelerate IronNet’s ability to scale rapidly in its mission to deliver advanced persistent defense and collective security to defend key industries and governments against nation-states and other highly capable adversaries.”
IronNet Positioned for Rapid Growth as Companies Increasingly Look towards Collective Defense Solutions
Cobb’s appointment as CMO comes as industry is increasingly looking for machine-speed, collective defense threat sharing solutions to supercharge their cyber defenses. A new survey of 200 U.S. information technology decision makers commissioned by Vanson Bourne on behalf of IronNet found that 94% of respondents expressed a desire to increase threat sharing with peers and 92% of respondents expressed interest in increased sharing with government to improve collective security. IronNet also released a video case study describing how Con Edison⎼one of the largest investor-owned utilities in the country with approximately $12 billion in annual revenues and $48 billion in assets uses IronNet solutions alongside other key players in the energy industry to collectively defend against cyber threats targeting their shared critical infrastructure.
In addition, IronNet’s Collective Defense and Network Traffic Analysis solutions continue to win recognition with a range of new industry accolades including:
About IronNet
Founded in 2014 by GEN Alexander, IronNet, Inc. is a worldwide cybersecurity leader in network traffic analysis that is revolutionizing how enterprises, industries, and governments secure their networks by delivering the first-ever collective defense platform operating at scale. IronNet combines the skills of its cybersecurity operators with their real-world experience working on both offense and defense in the public and private sectors, integrating this deep tradecraft knowledge into its industry-leading products to solve the most challenging cyber problems facing industry today.
Learn more about IronNet at ironnet.com or follow us on Twitter at @IronNetCyber.