Business IT Incompetents Hall Of Shame

Bissell, Kelly

Accenture data breach Global Cybersecurity Lead (essentially Head Chief Information Security Officer, CISO), Jun 2016 – present. Advised President Joe Biden about government cybersecurity, Aug 2021. For more of his incriminating employment history see Dangerous Fraud Kelly Bissell, IT Incompetent Accenture Head CISO.

No or fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Bissell either (see Dangerous Fraud Kelly Bissell, IT Incompetent Accenture Head CISO) has no IT education or a fake IT education (bachelor's) from DeVry University. DeVry is another notorious for-profit college (see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence) providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending DeVry, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for government jobs, including contractors actually doing those jobs. Bissell also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which is not an IT education, from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia, where foreign-owned Accenture has offices.

Campbell, Lyn

Proofpoint Senior Vice President (SVP) for Global Operations and Information Technology (IT), Dec 2018 – present. Proofpoint Corporate Vice President for Global Operations, May 2014 – present. IT incompetent Proofpoint provides cybersecurity services, particularly for email, to the U.S. Government, particularly the IT incompetent Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Yahoo! Production Engineering Leader, Jun 2007 – May 2014. Yahoo! Senior Director Home Page & Verticals Production Engineering, Oct 2011 – Apr 2014.

Crabb, Gregory

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) post data breach and data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), May 2015 – present. The USPS also considers itself a business, e.g. its website is usps.com not usps.gov.

No IT education. Only a BA in accounting.

$198,790 is Crabb's most recent annual salary as of May 2019 according to my FOIA request to USPS. ...

Davis, Martin

Southern Company, thus Southern Nuclear, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Jul 2015 – present. Wells Fargo Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and similar lower position, 2009 – 2014. Wachovia (acquired by Wells Fargo in 2008) data breach CIO and similar lower position, 2001 – 2009.

No IT education. Only a bachelor's degree in business administration from a low-ranked university. See The Most Important IT Credential: An IT Education in Principles of IT Incompetence.

Dean, Nicole

Accenture Federal Services data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Jan or Jun 2017 – present. For more of her shocking employment history see IT Incompetent Fed IT Company Accenture and CISO Nicole Dean Ransomwared, National Security In Danger.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Dean only has a 1-year(!) Master of Science in Management in information systems security from Colorado Technical University. Colorado Technical University — nothing officially to do with the State of Colorado, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — is a notorious for-profit college providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending CTU, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for government jobs, including contractors actually doing those jobs. No other college so essentially Dean didn't even go to college.

Easterly, Jen

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director, Jul 2021 – present. Morgan Stanley (investment bank) data breach Head of Cybersecurity, Feb 2017 – Jul 2021. See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Easterly only has a bachelor's degree in a subject she won't reveal — so almost certainly not in IT — and a Master of Arts in "politics, philosophy, and economics" from a foreign university.

Edwards, John

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Feb 2016 – present. Previously worked for IT incompetent Accenture.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Edwards only has a 2-year(!) BASc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from ITT Technical Institute. ITT Tech — nothing to do with ITT the telecom company, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — was a notorious for-profit college that was finally shut down by the federal government for being a student loan scam, providing worthless educations, to employers who were even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who could afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending ITT Tech, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for a government job, particularly one in national security. No other college so essentially Edwards didn't even go to college.

Finch, John

Experian data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Sep 2011 – Aug 2013. Bank of England CIO, Sep 2013 – Feb 2016. Thomson Reuters Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Feb 2016 – Oct 2018. Refinitiv CIO, CTO, and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Oct 2018 – Dec 2019. Private "advisor", Dec 2019 – present.

No IT education. Only a BS in business economics (from the low-ranked British University of Hull). See The Most Important IT Credential: An IT Education in Principles of IT Incompetence.

Gallagher, Sean

NASA Glenn Research Center post data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Jul 2012 – present. Booz Allen Hamilton Senior IT Manager, May 2004 – Jun 2012. U.S. Army, May 2000 – May 2004.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Gallagher only has an MS in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix, 2001 – 2003. The University of Phoenix — nothing officially to do with the City of Phoenix Arizona, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — is a notorious for-profit college providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending U Phoenix, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for a government job. (See also David Nelson, Nuclear Regulatory Commission data breach CIO.)

Josefsberg, Arne

GoDaddy Chief Information Officer (CIO), Chief Infrastructure Officer, Executive Vice President, Nov 2017 – present. GoDaddy CIO, Chief Technology Officer, Jan 2016 – present. GoDaddy CIO, Chief Infrastructure Officer, Executive Vice President, Jan 2014 – present.

No IT education. The non-IT MS he does have is from an obscure Swedish college and a Swedish MS is equivalent, if at all, to an American BS (4 years after high school). Like many Europeans, the Swedish claim their BS degree is an MS so that Swedes can outcompete Americans for American jobs. Swedish universities are also typically inferior to American universities; that's why so many come to America for college.

Kalember, Ryan

Proofpoint Executive Vice President (EVP) for Cybersecurity, Jun 2015 – present. IT incompetent Proofpoint provides IT services, particularly email, to the U.S. Government, including the IT incompetent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the IT incompetent Department of Commerce (DOC).

Fake IT education. On Proofpoint's Leadership Team webpage, Kalember claims "He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University, where he studied fault tolerance, cryptography, and authentication algorithms." That list is not a major, just a random collection of cybersecurity-sounding buzzwords. After an investigation it was discovered Kalember was hiding that his only education was a "BA in History in 2000, Classics 2001" and he had been planning to be a fraudulent IT incompetent leader in the computer industry since high school. ...

Kent, Suzette

Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), the top IT job in the U.S. Government, Feb 2018 – Jul 2020. Corrupt Enron financier J.P. Morgan, Aug 2008 – Jul 2015. IT incompetent Accenture, Jun 1990 – Dec 2004.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Louisiana State University says Kent only has a BA in journalism and Kent's LinkedIn page says she only has a BA in advertising and marketing. According to my FOIA request (response of Jun 2020) to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Kent only has a "Bachelor or Arts — School or Mass Communication-Journalism/Advertising with dual minor in Latin and Psychology".

Krebs, Chris

Krebs Stamos Group Partner, Jan 2021 – present. U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director, Nov 2018 – Nov 2020. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD, precursor to CISA) acting Under Secretary for Homeland Security, Aug 2017 – Nov 2018. Microsoft Cybersecurity Policy Director, Feb 2014 – Mar 2017. See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Krebs only has a Bachelor of Arts in a non-IT subject and a JD from a low-ranked night law school.

Krug, Andrew

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Nov 2015 – present. Previously worked for IT incompetent Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz).

No IT education. Only a BA in economics and an MS in management, according to my FOIA request to the SEC. On his LinkedIn page and elsewhere, Krug tries to imply he has an IT education and hide that he doesn't.

Lyman, Kelly

PECO (originally Philadelphia Electric Company) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Mar 2012 – present. PECO IT Director, Sep 2008 – Mar 2012.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and not only does Lyman not have an IT education, she has no college degree at all.

Manfra, Jeanette

Google Global Director of Security, Jan 2020 – present. U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Nov 2018 – Jan 2020. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD, precursor to CISA) Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Jul 2017 – Nov 2018. Previously worked for Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz). See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

Marby, Goran

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO and President, May 2016 – present. ICANN is a quasi-governmental supposedly-non-profit corporation that is now very much a business and that is supposed to be entirely composed of IT experts.

No IT education. Only a BS in finance from the University of Gothenburg (School of Business, Economics and Law), Sweden.

Mauldin, Susan

Equifax data breach Chief Security Officer (CSO; same as Chief Information Security Officer, CISO), Aug 2013 – Sep 2017, when she retired comfortably, albeit in disgrace.

No IT education. Only a BA / MFA (Master of Fine Arts) in music composition from the University of Georgia, conveniently located near Equifax headquarters, which is almost certainly the only reason Mauldin was hired.

Mouchet, Marie

Colonial Pipeline data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Jul 2016 – present. Southern Nuclear CIO, 2003 – Aug 2016. Southern billing, sales, public relations, marketing; 1981 – 2003.

No IT education. Only a Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Master of Education (MEd) in math from Georgia State University for teaching high school. See The Most Important IT Credential: An IT Education in Principles of IT Incompetence.

Penfield, Susan

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz) Chief "Innovation" Officer ("CIO"), Apr 2016 – present. IT incompetent Booz is a leading provider of IT services to the U.S. Government, particularly defense and intelligence, like the IT incompetent National Security Agency (NSA).

No IT education. Only a BS in management. But ironically, as Penfield spouts everywhere, she is "passionate about mentoring and advocating for women in STEM careers" (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math; see STEM Is Not IT Education in Principles). ...

Previn, Fletcher

Cisco Chief Information Officer (CIO), Mar 2021 – present. IBM CIO, May 2017 – Mar 2021. IBM Director then VP of workplace tech, Mar 2014 – May 2017. IBM CIO assistant, Jun 2013 – Mar 2014. Thus, Business ITIHOS. Government ITIHOS because Previn is "executive sponsor for Cisco's work with various US Government agencies" (his words on LinkedIn). Media ITIHOS because Previn only got his CIO positions because he is a celebrity, being the child of celebrities, as well as thus being a media darling, interviewed often by the star-struck IT incompetent media about IT.

Riddle, Chuck

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Oct 2018 – present. SEC data breach Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Nov 2016 – Oct 2018. Previously worked for IT incompetent Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz).

No IT education. Only a BA in communications (the dumb jock major not telecommunications) and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Rockwell, Nick

New York Times (NYT) Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Nov 2015 – present. Conde Nast (includes IT magazines Wired and Ars Technica) CTO, Feb 2015 – Nov 2015.

No IT education. Only a BA in literary theory.

As Rockwell says,"Responsible for all technical product development, operations, and infrastructure", i.e. all IT, which includes cybersecurity. ...

Seaver, Kristin

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) post data breach and data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Apr 2016 – present. The USPS also considers itself a business, e.g. its website is usps.com not usps.gov.

No IT education. Only a BS in industrial engineering (despite its name, this is more of a business management field; it's certainly not IT) and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Snowden, Edward

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz) IT tech, contracted to the IT incompetent National Security Agency (NSA), in 2013 when he hacked the NSA then fled to Russia to avoid capture and execution for espionage. Previously a Dell IT tech, contracted to the IT incompetent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in 2012 when he hacked the CIA undiscovered. See 9/11 Was Due to IT Incompetence. Currently, an oft-quoted media darling.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Snowden is a high school dropout.

Stamos, Alex

Krebs Stamos Group Partner, Jan 2021 – present (full-time, Washington DC). Stanford Internet Observatory Director (non-PhD teaching/research professor), Aug 2018 – present (full-time, Stanford CA). Facebook data breach Chief Security Officer (CSO; same as CISO), Jun 2015 – Aug 2018. Yahoo data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Mar 2014 – Jun 2015.

Little IT education. Only a BS in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California Berkeley, which puts political correctness above competence. Even if UC Berkeley were good, a BS is too little for the CISO of a Fortune 500 company that is a prime hacking target.

Thomson, Allan

LookingGlass Cyber Solutions Chief Technology Officer (CTO; Chief Information Officer (CIO) equivalent), Aug 2013 – present. IT incompetent LookingGlass provides IT services to the IT incompetent Secret Service.

Little IT education. Only a BS in computer science from the low-ranked University of Glasgow.

Foreigner: British. BS from the University of Glasgow and British universities are well-known for Russian agents.

Webb, David

Equifax data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), 2010? – Sep 2017, when he retired comfortably, albeit in disgrace.

No IT education. Only a BA in Russian and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Foreigner: British. BA in Russian (interestingly, the Equifax hackers might have been Russian) from the University of London. An interview with him on Indian (from India) TV clearly shows he has a British accent.

Zuckerberg, Mark

Facebook founder/programmer, 2003 – present. Facebook is both business and media.

Little IT education. Second-year college dropout majoring in psychology and computer science. Pretends he's an IT expert; see Artificial Intelligence: Savior, Antichrist, or Hyperbole?

Like most of the Web, a lot of the problems with Facebook, particularly security problems, which includes privacy, is just bad programming (computer science), which existed from when Zuckerberg founded/programmed Facebook.