Palo Alto Networks - Experts & Thought Leaders

Verkada, a pioneer in AI-powered physical security technology, announced that Mark Anderson has joined its Board of Directors. Anderson brings more than 25 years of technology leadership in high-growth public companies to Verkada’s Board. He currently serves on the board of 1Password. In 2024, Mark stepped off of Cloudflare’s Board to become their President of Revenue. His career highlights include: as CEO of Alteryx, pioneering the company to $1 billion in revenue, navigating a sale in 2024 to private equity sponsors and expanding into new global markets; as President at Palo Alto Networks, Mark helped drive its growth from pre-IPO to over $3.5 billion in annualised revenue; and at F5 Networks, growing annual revenue to more than $1 billion while overseeing global sales. Future with the power of Verkada’s technology In 2024, Mark stepped off of Cloudflare’s Board to become their President of Revenue "Mark is a proven go-to-market innovator with a track record of scaling enterprise technology platforms," said Filip Kalizsan, Co-Founder and CEO of Verkada, adding "Mark will be a key team member as we embark on our next stage of growth." "Verkada plays an integral role in the fabric of communities around the world, empowering them with the tools and technology to keep people and places safe," said Mark Anderson, adding "I can’t think of a more important organisation to join. I look forward to partnering with them to build a better future with the power of Verkada’s technology." "We are excited to welcome Mark to our board. He has built multiple enduring technology companies, and Verkada will benefit greatly from his experience," said Hans Robertson, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Verkada. Cloud-based physical security solutions Verkada protects 33,000 customers across the globe, including 96 of the Fortune 500. Its sustained business momentum reflects growing demand for modern, cloud-based physical security solutions that meet the needs of the complex threat landscape. Organisations from school districts and hospital systems to global retailers, manufacturing conglomerates, and even municipalities are increasingly turning to Verkada’s platform for AI-powered security solutions that natively integrate video security, access control, alarms, sensors, and workplace solutions.

Commvault, a pioneering provider of cyber resilience and data protection solutions for the hybrid cloud, announced Alan Atkinson has become the company’s first Chief Business Development Officer. In this new role, he will build strategic next-gen technology and security partnerships, drive co-development initiatives, and create new go-to-market opportunities for Commvault and its partners, all within the Business Development organisation led by Chief Trust Officer Danielle Sheer.   Commvault’s partner strategy and ecosystem Graff will lead Commvault’s partner strategy and ecosystem, overseeing partner sales, resellers and alliances With this transition, Commvault has recruited a new dynamic partner pioneer, Michelle Graff, as Senior Vice President of Global Partners and Channel. In her role, Graff will lead Commvault’s global partner strategy and ecosystem, overseeing partner sales, resellers and alliances, and the vision and execution of the company’s partner programs.  She will focus on advancing growth and co-innovation with partners and delivering differentiated cloud and AI-forward solutions to customers.   Graff's leadership roles Graff brings more than 25 years of deep partner experience to Commvault. Prior to Commvault, she served as Vice President of Global Channel Sales and Alliances at Securiti.ai, where she was instrumental in creating and scaling the company’s indirect revenue engine. Prior to that, Graff held leadership roles at various security, technology, and storage companies, including HashiCorp, Pure Storage, and Palo Alto Networks.  Cyber resilience solutions Graff held leadership roles at security, technology, and storage companies, including HashiCorp “As more companies move to the cloud, embrace AI strategies, and adopt industry-pioneering cyber resilience solutions, Commvault and our partners are more relevant than ever,” said Graff. “I'm excited to collaborate with our partners to deliver even more value to enterprises globally, accelerate customer acquisition, and create opportunities for business growth.” Commvault’s capabilities “Cyber resilience is a shared challenge, and no single vendor can solve it alone,” said Atkinson. “With Michelle pioneering our global partner organisation, my new role will focus on extending Commvault’s capabilities across a broader partner ecosystem. I’ll also focus on creating new co-development opportunities that deliver exceptional value to customers and partners alike.” “With Alan and Michelle in these pivotal roles, we can boost partner success, extend our reach, and delight customers with co-developed solutions that keep enterprises resilient,” said Gary Merrill, Commvault’s Chief Commercial Officer.

Coalition, the world's first Active Insurance provider designed to prevent digital risk before it strikes, published its Cyber Threat Index 2025, detailing insights on cybersecurity trends from 2024 and emerging threats businesses should be aware of in 2025. According to the report, most ransomware claims in 2024 started with threat actors compromising perimeter security appliances (58%), like virtual private networks (VPNs) or firewalls. Remote desktop products were second-most (18%) exploited for ransomware attacks. Ransomware cyber attack “While ransomware is a serious concern for all businesses, these insights demonstrate that threat actors’ ransomware playbook hasn’t evolved all that much—they’re still going after the same tried and true technologies with many of the same methods,” commented Alok Ojha, Coalition’s Head of Products, Security. “This means that businesses can have a reliable playbook, too, and should focus on mitigating the riskiest security issues first to reduce the likelihood of ransomware or another cyber attack. Continuous attack surface monitoring to detect these technologies and mitigate possible vulnerabilities could mean the difference between a threat and an incident.” Other key findings from the report The total number of published software vulnerabilities will increase to over 45,000 in 2025, a rate of nearly 4,000 per month and a 15% jump over the first 10 months of 2024. Across all ransomware claims, the most common initial access vectors (IAVs) were stolen credentials (47%) and software exploits (29%). Vendors such as Fortinet®, Cisco®, SonicWall®, Palo Alto Networks®, and Microsoft® build the most commonly compromised products. Exposed logins are an underappreciated driver of ransomware risk. Coalition detected over 5 million internet-exposed remote management solutions and tens of thousands of exposed login panels across the internet. When applying for cyber insurance, most businesses (65%+) had at least one internet-exposed web login panel. Crucial security risks Policyholders received critical alerts for just 0.15% of vulnerabilities published in the first ten months “This year’s report focuses on the most crucial security risks that under-resourced organisations should understand to better calibrate their defensive investments to bolster resilience,” said Daniel Woods, Senior Security Researcher at Coalition. “Calibration involves balancing security investment across vulnerabilities, misconfigurations, and threat intelligence while also responding to emerging threats, such as zero-day vulnerabilities exploited in the wild. That’s why Coalition issues Zero-Day Alerts to help businesses, especially SMBs with limited security resources, stay ahead of these vulnerabilities and reduce alert fatigue by prioritising those posing the greatest risk.” Risk prioritisation for policyholders  Coalition employs artificial intelligence, honeypots, and human judgement to prioritise high-risk vulnerabilities based on their likelihood of exploitation. This risk prioritisation reduces alert fatigue for policyholders and helps them focus on the most critical risks. Policyholders received critical alerts for just 0.15% of vulnerabilities published in the first ten months of 2024, and 90% never received an alert at all. These timely notifications enabled Coalition customers to remediate over 32,000 vulnerabilities last year.