Category: C-Suite
Name: David Nolan
Title: Director of Information Security
Company: Aaron's
Why Nominated: As a high performing IT security leader with over 15 years of experience in multiple Fortune 50 companies, David Nolan possesses an amazing depth knowledge of information security technologies and concepts, with extensive knowledge in application security principles.
Profile: Nolan has been director of information security at Aaron's since 2016. His responsibilities include information security leadership, strategy, budget, and operational excellence. Aaron's, Inc. (NYSE: AAN is a specialty retailer serving consumers through the sale and lease ownership of furniture, consumer electronics, computers, home appliances, and accessories in over 1,900 company-operated and franchised stores in the United States and Canada. Nolan has championed DevSecOps principles at Aaron's that have enhanced visibility into its security threats and mitigated risk to the company's portfolio of highly customized applications. He is credited with spearheading the implementation of AppSec initiatives that leverage cutting-edge runtime application self-protection (RASP) technologies, and regularly shares his best practices with security industry leaders at professional conferences and meetings.
During his time at Caterpillar, Nolan was the company's lead IT recruiter at Illinois State University, cultivating the next generation of IT security evangelists. He continues to give back to his alma mater by serving on the ISU IT Business Advisory Council, which he chaired in 2016-2017, working to establish an IT security major program, and college mentoring. Nolan has also volunteered as IT Camp Instructor for Artificial Intelligence at Illinois State University's IT Camp where he instructed high school students in computer programming concepts and artificial intelligence using Lego mindstorms.
He organized and conducted events for the Sports Car Club of America, Inc. (SCCA), and Nolan currently serves his community chairing family events for the local Knights of Columbus.
Nolan is a regular speaker at industry conferences and summits where he shares best practices with CISOs and security leaders from every industry.
What colleagues say: “David Nolan is a cybersecurity veteran whose thought leadership is an invaluable resource to the entire security industry. The application security program he built at Aaron's is a model for other organizations that want to decrease risk to their applications while enabling faster application development cycles. He eagerly shares insights with his colleagues and is a go-to source for enterprise security best practices.”
- Sharon Vardi, CMO, Prevoty
