Mark Richards

About Mark Richards

With more than a decade of experience leading global teams to address IT and cybersecurity risk I believe more than ever that protecting IT assets requires a unified approach. Although I’ve led several digital transformations, the thing I’m most proud of is building the kind of collaborative environment that brings people together and welcomes diversity of thought as a critical ingredient to innovation.There is no doubt that change can be hard. In our world today, fear of change, or an inability to bring people together across business functions to embrace change, is often the biggest threat to cybersecurity. While strategic planning and the development of a robust incident response program are important, these are only pieces of the puzzle. Strong team development initiatives, employee training programs, constant interdepartmental communication, and critical analysis gathered from multiple data sources are also key in bringing people together.I’m a loyal person by nature. I’m proud to have spent nearly a decade and a half contributing to the success of one company. I also truly believe that a little empathy and compassion go a long way. Cultures built around trust, collaboration, and communication just seem to work better. Some of my favorite projects include- LAUNCHING A NEW ERA OF UNIFIED INCIDENT RESPONSE & GLOBAL TRAINING I developed the first Standardized Incident Response Plan and process for iterative improvement at a billion-dollar global company then ensured 100% observance. WORKING TOGETHER TO DRIVE CHANGEAfter I recognized that lack of employee awareness was positing a significant cybersecurity risk, I launched a training program that was utilized by 90% of the Company’s global offices.How does your company bring people together to embrace change in this brave new world of cyber threats? Privacy RegulationsIT Risk ManagementIncident ManagementEmployee DevelopmentConsulting/TrainingSIEM, Firewalls, Anti-Virus, Phishing, DLPCompliance Certification

Experience

1. Senior Solutions Architect - Information Security & Risk Management

   First Solar

   Jan 2023 — Present · OH, US

Education

• Owens Community College

  Associates of Applied Business, Network and Information System Support

  2010 — 2014

Skills

• Security
• Enterprise Software
• Enterprise Architecture
• Fidelis Xps
• Bluecoat
• Data Center
• Vmware
• Consulting
• Process Improvement
• Juniper
• Checkpoint
• Federated Identity Management
• Disaster Recovery
• Sharepoint
• Splunk
• Bit9
• IT Strategy
• Postgresql
• Integration
• Carbon Black
• Infrastructure
• Linux
• Rsa Securid
• Rsa Authentication Manager
• Irt
• Microsoft Exchange
• Gigatrust
• Risk Management
• Nas
• Microsoft Rights Management Service
• Program Management
• Operating Systems
• Architecture
• Iscsi
• Microsoft Sql Server
• Cisco Technologies
• Identity Management
• Troubleshooting
• Cloud Computing
• Active Directory