Will Longman
Chief Information Security Officer
Blue Origin
As Blue Origin’s Chief Information Security Officer, Will Longman manages the cybersecurity, risk and compliance for IT and OT services supporting the design, manufacture, testing, launch, and operation of space systems. Prior to that, he was the VP, IT & Security at the security research firm IOActive, as well as the security leader at Alaska Airlines, Varolii, Motricity, Infospace, and Go2Net.
Will has been a vocational teacher for information technology and a Certified Cisco Academy Instructor. He also served 21 years in the United States Navy as a submariner, submersible pilot and diver, retiring as an officer. He holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science and a Certificate in Digital Forensics.
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Give us a brief overview of the path that led to your current role.
Retiring from the U.S. Navy presented the opportunity for me to leverage a body of leadership, collaboration, project management and technical information security skills and experience for application in the commercial sector. One of my first projects at an Internet company was to write their Information Security Policy which then led to my appointment as their cyber leader.
I've been in a leadership role at each of the six companies that followed, often starting their cyber programs from scratch. This provided me with a solid foundation to take on the unique challenges of my current role. We're at the cutting edge of defining what cybersecurity means in the context of sub-orbital, orbital, lunar and other space systems.
What are your guiding leadership principles?
Leading a team means connecting them intimately, individually and persistently to the planned and operational phases of the company mission while ensuring they have the support needed to succeed in their roles.
With disruption being a key theme of the past few years, where do you see your role as a CISO going in the next 1-2 years?
Focusing on the Space Industry, the stand-out security leaders will be those who can look beyond the legacy cyber polices, practices and technologies used in aerospace for the last 30 years and develop the innovative, nimble and cost-efficient approaches that will help decrease the cost of access to space for everyone.
What advice would you give to someone just starting out in the role as a CISO?
Ensure your program has an explicit and well-defined alignment with your organization's business strategy. Support that strategy by developing a strong personal awareness of the organization's cyber risk exposure and then apply the most effective means of managing it. By focusing on risk, you will also hit most, if not all, of any external compliance requirements you face.
Tell us three fun facts about yourself.
- I've traveled over 20,000 leagues beneath the sea including several trips under the polar ice cap,
- I performed the re-enlistment ceremony for a Navy sailor underwater with all participants wearing SCUBA gear.
- I write poetry and fiction.
What is the value of joining an Evanta community?
Contact with your peers. We all face many of the same challenges although perhaps in differing contexts, and there is the real value of learning from each other in that regard.
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