Booz Allen Hamilton announced that Jerry Bessette, a former senior cybersecurity official at the Federal Bureau of Investigation, has joined Booz Allen as a leader of the firm’s Commercial business.
In his new role as a senior vice president, Bessette will head the U.S. Commercial group’s Incident Response team, helping clients deploy cyber security and risk management solutions to defend against a growing array of domestic and international threats. The team advises Fortune 500 clients as they prepare for cybersecurity breaches and responds to them.
Bessette joins a team of leading cybersecurity experts with deep expertise developed from responding to hundreds of breaches annually. The team has been recognized as a leader in IDC’s MarketScape report.
It specializes in delivering integrated consulting and technology solutions to support clients’ cyber defense efforts. More broadly, the firm’s government and commercial cybersecurity practices were recently recognized by Frost & Sullivan as the North American market leader in Managed and Professional Security.
“A company’s ability to be cyber secure and cyber resilient are increasingly concerns of not only C-suite leaders, but boards and investors,” said Bill Phelps, executive vice president and head of Booz Allen’s U.S. Commercial business.
“It’s critical that organizations are equipped both with a modern defense and an advanced response when threat actors break through. Jerry’s unique background and law enforcement experience will be a vital asset for our commercial clients who, like the FBI, work every day to protect sensitive information and combat highly sophisticated actors.”
During his 24 years at the FBI, Bessette was involved in addressing some of the most high-profile cyber-attacks facing government agencies and companies.
He was the FBI agent in charge of the investigation into a damaging cyber-attack on Sony Pictures in 2014 and led the investigation into a significant data breach at the U.S. Postal Service. He also was responsible for the development and management of a national strategy to counter computer intrusions.
Bessette said he was “drawn to Booz Allen because this team works on some of the toughest cyber challenges and brings a unique blend of experience that mirrors my own professional path.
“The Incident Response team helps organizations recover, remediate and build cyber resilience so they can withstand future disruption, and continue operating with little to no impact on the business.”
Bessette comes to Booz Allen after serving as a managing director at Ankura Consulting, where he was a leader in their cyber program and served as an outsourced CISO for several major corporations.
Before joining the FBI, Bessette served as an artillery officer in the United States Marine Corps. He earned his bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Virginia Military Institute.
Security
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Industry News, Khareem Sudlow
