T.E.N. Announces Winners of the 2019 ISE Central Awards

ATLANTA, May 16, 2019 (Newswire.com) - T.E.N., a technology and information security executive networking and relationship-marketing firm, honored finalists and winners Wednesday evening, May 15, at the 2019 ISE® Central Executive Forum and Awards Gala at the Westin Galleria Dallas in Dallas, Texas.

Ricardo Lafosse, the CISO for Morningstar, was selected as the Information Security Executive® of the Year Award winner for the ISE® Central Region.

Ricardo Lafosse is Chief Information Security Officer for Morningstar. Lafosse is responsible for IT risk governance, software and product security, incident management, technical disaster recovery, and determining enterprise-wide security policies and procedures. He regularly presents on security topics at global conferences, including MirCon, ISACA CACS, and Secure World. Prior to his current role, Lafosse was chief information security officer for Cook County Homeland Security and Emergency Management, where he was responsible for providing strategic information security leadership, implementation, and governance for the information security program. Lafosse has more than 14 years of experience in information security for the government, banking, legal, healthcare, and education sectors. He began his career in information security consulting in finance and manufacturing. Lafosse holds a bachelor’s degree in management information systems from Florida Atlantic University and a master’s degree in information assurance from Iowa State University. Lafosse also holds the Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Certified Information Security Manager designations.

Amanda Fennell, Chief Security Officer with Relativity, was honored during the event as the 2019 ISE® Central People's Choice Award winner. This award represents the nominee who best exemplifies information security leadership, as voted on by their peers in information security.

​Mastercard’s “SecurIT” Project received the honor of being chosen as the ISE® Central Projects of the Year.

Shelbi Rombout, Senior Vice President and Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for Mastercard, accepted their award on behalf of the project. While security systems can be programmed to safeguard exactly what we need them to protect, we cannot program the human. Mastercard created the SecurIT First education awareness program to foster a security mindset and encourage behaviors that will reduce risk. This custom program was also designed to meet compliance and legal requirements.

“This year, our executive and project nominees were some of the most incredible leaders and influencers that our judges have ever seen," said T.E.N. CEO and President Marci McCarthy. "Each of these executives and project teams exhibits the drive, passion, and dedication to Information Security that the ISE® Awards represent. We are honored to have each and every one of them join the ranks of our distinguished ISE® Alumni."

A full list of nominees can be found on the T.E.N. website:
​Executive: https://www.ten-inc.com/ise/central/exec_nominees.asp.
Project: https://www.ten-inc.com/ise/central/project_nominees.asp.

The ISE® Central Awards recognize both information security executives and projects for outstanding achievements in risk management, data asset protection, compliance, privacy and network security. Award winners were selected from the U.S. Central region, which includes Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas and Wisconsin.

The event is made possible by our Exabyte Sponsor: Qualys; our Kilobyte Sponsors: Digital Guardian and Splunk; and our Display Sponsors: Darktrace, Endgame, Lastline, and Respond Software.

Learn more online: https://www.ten-inc.com/ise/central/sponsors.asp.

About T.E.N.
T.E.N., a national technology and security executive marketing and networking organization, facilitates peer-to-peer relationships between top executives, industry visionaries and solution-providers in the cybersecurity industry. Nominated for numerous industry awards, T.E.N.’s executive leadership programs enable information exchange, collaboration and decision-making opportunities for Information Security Executives and cybersecurity solution providers alike. Its flagship program, the nationally acclaimed Information Security Executive® (ISE®) of the Year Program Series and Awards, is North America’s largest leadership recognition and networking program for security professionals. In addition, T.E.N. offers the ISE® Lions’ Den and Jungle Lounge, wherein emerging cybersecurity companies have the opportunity to showcase their solutions to major security executives in a competitive rapid-fire event. T.E.N. also delivers ISE® Private Dinners across 48 major cities throughout the U.S. and Canada to create even more opportunities for information security executives, professionals and security solution providers to Connect, Collaborate, and Celebrate.

About ISE® Award Program Series
For more than a decade, the Information Security Executive® (ISE®) of the Year Award Program Series has empowered security executives and their project teams to Connect, Collaborate, and Celebrate. Recognized as the industry’s most prestigious IT Security award program, it has become the most anticipated award program for security executives and their project teams. Winners have included executives and project teams from leading organizations such as Aetna, AIG, AT&T, Bank of America, Comcast, Cox Automotive, HMS, Jabil, NCR, PayPal, SunTrust and VISA.

Our distinguished ISE® Judges are past nominees representing a cross-section of industries, including commercial, government, healthcare and academic sectors. For this reason, the ISE® Awards represent the best achievements of the year, as evaluated by those regarded as the industry's most influential and successful thought leaders. Coupled with a one or two-day executive summit, the ISE® Awards are held across the country and Canada in major cities including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and San Francisco. The ISE® Awards Program Series has reached more than 10,000 executives across a broad range of industries and has been a major influence in executives' careers, knowledge sharing, and the development of peer-to-peer relationships.

Source: T.E.N.