Chris Folk

About Chris Folk

Cybersecurity Executive focused on enterprise risk, resilience, and governance modernization across complex, high-consequence environments.For more than 30 years, I have operated at the intersection of cybersecurity, national infrastructure, intelligence, and emerging technology, helping senior leaders translate technical and policy complexity into clear, executable decisions where failure carries real-world impact.My experience spans federal, defense, and regulated-sector ecosystems as well as collaboration with commercial technology providers. I have led initiatives that strengthened vulnerability governance, modernized acquisition and supply chain security, supported multinational operations, and reduced systemic cloud and infrastructure risk.Current focus areas include:• Enterprise cyber and infrastructure resilience• Public–private collaboration and ecosystem-scale risk governance• AI’s impact on risk, resilience, and institutional trust• Modernizing legacy security frameworks for emerging threatsToday, my work centers on strengthening trusted operational systems, aligning technology, governance, and human impact to ensure resilience at scale in an increasingly AI-driven risk environment.

Experience

1. Senior Cybersecurity & Critical Infrastructure Advisor

   MITRE

   Jan 2024 — Present · Las Vegas, NV, US

   Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Problem SolverJan 2024 – Present | RemoteLead cross-sector cybersecurity and resilience initiatives operating at the intersection of national security, critical infrastructure, and emerging technology. Advise senior leaders on enterprise risk governance, modernization of security frameworks, and systemic resilience in high-consequence environments.Contribute to national-level risk reduction efforts by translating strategic policy intent into operational execution models that measurably improve cyber and infrastructure resilience across complex ecosystems.Within defense and regulated-sector environments, drive modernization of legacy security constructs to address evolving cyber, supply chain, and classified information risks — strengthening alignment between technical controls, regulatory expectations, and mission delivery.Serve as Cybersecurity SME Lead for a Department of War enterprise modernization study, integrating cybersecurity and safeguarding analyses that informed senior decision-makers and contributed to ongoing legislative and policy discussions.Advance new resilience approaches in response to AI-driven shifts in both threat and defense models, focusing on trust architecture, visibility, and human-centered decision-making in increasingly automated environments.At my core, I translate complexity into action, helping leaders protect operations, institutional credibility, and long-term strategic advantage.Professional development: CISM (in progress).

Education

• Saginaw Valley State University

  Bachelor of Arts (BA), Criminal Justice/Political Science

  1990 — 1994

• Virginia Tech

  Master of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Executive Masters in Business Administration

  2012 — 2014