Jeff MacKo

About Jeff MacKo

I am a strategic cybersecurity and risk advisor with over 30 years of experience guiding organizations in understanding, prioritizing, and reducing real-world security risk.My career spans enterprise security leadership, hands-on infrastructure and application security, red team and penetration testing, and the design of resilient security programs. This breadth allows me to bridge the gap between governance and reality, translating technical exposure into clear executive decisions.I specialize in helping leadership teams gain an accurate view of their true risk posture and build practical security strategies that improve resilience without disrupting operations.I also advise organizations on managing cybersecurity risk associated with AI adoption and emerging technologies, including governance, control validation, and secure implementation practices.Core areas of focus include:• Enterprise security strategy and roadmap development• Cyber risk governance and control maturity• Independent technical validation of security posture• Incident readiness and organizational resilience• Advisory and fractional security leadershipOrganizations engage me when they need experienced judgment, honest risk insight, and security programs grounded in how environments actually operate.I partner with executive teams to strengthen security posture, improve risk visibility, and build durable, resilient programs that stand up in real-world conditions.

Experience

1. Senior Director, Global Head of Infrastructure Testing

   Kroll

   Dec 2017 — Present · US

   Advanced through Managing Consultant, Director, Senior Director, and Senior Vice President titles during organizational growth and realignment following acquisition, with continuous expansion of leadership scope and advisory responsibility.Led and scaled a high-performing global cybersecurity team delivering enterprise security validation and strategic risk advisory services across network, application, infrastructure, and physical security domains.Directed the design and execution of tailored security assessments and adversary simulation engagements for organizations ranging from mid-sized companies to large enterprises supporting tens of thousands of employees, providing leadership teams with an accurate view of real-world attack readiness and control effectiveness.Focused advisory efforts on mid-sized organizations, where practical security strategy, technical validation, and executive alignment drive meaningful improvements in risk posture and operational resilience.Built, mentored, and retained diverse technical teams aligned to evolving threat landscapes and client risk priorities, ensuring consistent delivery of high-quality security insight.Partnered with technical teams, executive leadership, and legal stakeholders to translate complex security findings into clear, actionable risk decisions and remediation strategies.Established standardized security validation frameworks, reporting methodologies, and attack simulation processes to improve consistency, accuracy, and executive relevance of security outcomes.Continuously incorporated emerging threat intelligence and attacker techniques to ensure advisory services reflected real-world adversary behavior.Represented Kroll as a recognized thought leader through national media engagement, public speaking, industry conferences, and development of client advisory content.Drove innovation in security testing approaches and tooling to strengthen organizational resilience and advisory effectiveness.

Education

• San Diego State University

  Bachelor of Arts - BA, Liberal Arts and Sciences/Liberal Studies

  1987 — 1991

Skills

• Snort Ids/Ips
• Switches
• Disaster Recovery
• Vmware Esx
• Infrastructure
• Voip
• Software Development
• Leadership
• Storage
• Vpn
• System Administration
• Management
• Javascript
• Dns
• IT Management
• Dhcp
• Html
• Penetration Testing
• San
• Active Directory
• Vmware
• Information Security
• Amazon Web Services
• Information Security Management
• Windows
• Mysql
• Sql
• Linux
• Software Engineering
• Networking
• Web Development
• Virtual Private Network (Vpn)
• Network Security
• Security
• Phishing
• Firewalls
• Cloud Computing
• Cloud Security
• Metasploit
• IT Operations