Rick Howard, Solutions Advisor | Digital Assurance Advisors LLC

Rick has recently stepped down as the Chief Security Officer (CSO) for Palo Alto Networks where he acted as an advisor to the company’s internal security program, built from scratch and lead the Palo Alto Networks Threat Intelligence Team (Unit 42), directed the company’s efforts on the Cyber Threat Alliance Information Sharing Group, invented and ran the Cybersecurity Canon Project, and provided thought leadership for the company and the cybersecurity community at large.

His prior jobs include the TASC CISO, the iDefense GM (A commercial threat intelligence service at Verisign,) the Counterpane Global SOC Director, and the Commander of the U.S. Army’s Computer Emergency Response Team where he coordinated network defense, network intelligence and network attack operations for the Army's global network.

Rick holds a Master of Computer Science degree from the Naval Postgraduate School and an engineering degree from the US Military Academy. He also taught computer science at the Academy from 1993 to 1999. He has published many academic papers on technology, security, and risk and has contributed as an executive editor to two books: “Cyber Fraud: Tactics, Techniques and Procedures” and “Cyber Security Essentials.”