Mark Weatherford

Military Career

Mark Weatherford began his career as a US Navy cryptologic officer, where he led the Navy's Computer Network Defense operations and commanded the Naval Computer Incident Response Team (NAVCIRT). This foundational military experience in signals intelligence and network defense shaped his subsequent trajectory across both public and private cybersecurity roles.

Education

Weatherford holds an undergraduate degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, and a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He also holds the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, one of the most widely recognized credentials in the information security field.

State Government Roles

Weatherford made history at the state level on two separate occasions. He served as the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the State of Colorado from 2004 to 2007, appointed by both Governor Bill Owens and Governor Bill Ritter. In that role, he helped establish the state's first cybersecurity program and was instrumental in advancing some of the nation's earliest cybersecurity legislation aimed at protecting citizens. He subsequently served as California's first Chief Information Security Officer in the Office of Information Security from 2008 to 2009, appointed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Federal and Critical Infrastructure Roles

Prior to joining the Department of Homeland Security, Weatherford served from 2010 to 2011 as vice president and chief security officer of the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), where he directed the organization's critical infrastructure and cybersecurity program for electric utilities across North America.

In 2011, he was appointed as the first Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity at the US Department of Homeland Security under the Obama administration, a position he held until 2013. This appointment marked a significant milestone in the formalization of federal cybersecurity leadership within the United States government.

Private Sector Career

Following his tenure at DHS, Weatherford joined the Chertoff Group in Washington, DC, as a principal. He later served as senior vice president and chief cybersecurity strategist at vArmour. He subsequently held the role of vice president of policy and standards at Gretel until April 2025. As of August 2025, he serves as Head of Cybersecurity Policy and Strategy at NVIDIA.

Recognition

Weatherford has received numerous accolades throughout his career. He was named one of Information Security magazine's "Security 7 Award" winners in 2008 and received SC Magazine's "CSO of the Year" award in 2010. In both 2012 and 2013, he was recognized as one of the "10 Most Influential People in Government Information Security" by GovInfoSecurity. He is a member of the Marysville High School Hall of Fame in Marysville, California, and was inducted into the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) International Hall of Fame in October 2018.