Category: Influencer
Name: Udi Mokady
Title: Founder, Chairman and CEO
Company: CyberArk
Why nominated: Udi Mokady has become known as the founding father of the privileged account security market.
Profile: A pioneer, Udi Mokady was one of the first to recognize that motivated attackers will break through perimeter defenses and that failure to protect privileged accounts make organizations vulnerable to advanced attacks that can take down a business or government agency. Think Edward Snowden.
Mokady also was one of the first in the security industry to make the direct connection that exploited privilege accounts are at the center of nearly 100 percent of advanced attacks. His efforts to evangelize the critical need to lock down these powerful accounts as a cybersecurity priority – and not just a compliance checkbox – has transformed how CSOs, IT leaders and security professionals view risk management. Today, the emphasis has shifted away from building higher walls to hardening the inside of a network against attacks that bypass perimeter defenses.
CyberSheath's CEO Eric Noonan adds that Mokady's formal training as a lawyer, military intelligence officer (Mokady served in the IDF's Unit 8200) and businessman have uniquely positioned him to offer significant thought leadership in the security field.
What colleagues say: “As co-founder of CyberArk, Udi played a major role in establishing privileged account security as a key area for organizations to invest in as they try to protect themselves from advanced cyberthreats. When CyberArk was established, there was little awareness in the cyber community of the potential threat from this powerful attack vector. Under Udi's leadership, CyberArk educated the market and provided the products to detect, monitor and manage this threat.”
- Gadi Tirosh, managing partner at JVP, one of CyberArk's first investors and its largest private investor.
