BioPassword, Inc., the market's leading provider of software-only biometric security technology, today announced that, effective June 6, Greg Wood - former Chief Security Officer for Microsoft Corp. - will join the company as Chief Technology Officer and Executive Vice President in charge of expanding the company's intellectual property and new product development.
Market-watchers view the appointment as a coup for the emerging-growth company, which competed against a field of established, publicly listed firms to win Wood, who is considered by technology specialists to be one of the nation's foremost experts on network and Internet security.
Howard A. Schmidt, former cyber security adviser to the White House, highlighted the significance of Wood's arrival at BioPassword. In a recent speech at an Internet security conference, Schmidt stated, "Finding a truly effective, affordable approach to multifactor authentication is critical to the long-term success of e-commerce and online financial transactions." In an interview this week, Schmidt followed his remarks by discussing Mr. Wood's performance at Microsoft. "While there, Greg Wood was responsible for the deployment of their two-factor authentication solution," he stressed, "and his real-time experience and long-term vision make him uniquely qualified to develop and evangelize solutions that address these real world security problems."
According to BioPassword CEO Mark DiSalle, Mr. Wood's primary responsibility will be spearheading the company's bid to attract and solidify top-tier technology partnerships. In addition, he will drive BioPassword's efforts to expand its intellectual property portfolio and product range to comprise a broad spectrum of device-agnostic biometric and related security patents. Mr. Wood, who also served five years as a management and technology consultant with Ernst & Young - driving the firm's consulting initiatives on such security-sensitive projects as the development and enhancement of state child-support enforcement and federal parent-locator systems - will also chair BioPassword's technology advisory board, now in formation.
Mr. Wood expressed excitement about BioPassword and its biometric approach to electronic security. "It's rare, even in the technology world, that you get the opportunity to truly change the world," he said. "BioPassword and its ground-breaking IP promise to do just that - and I want to be part of the coming transformation." Wood indicated that his work at Microsoft was the ideal preparation for his new role at BioPassword. "Securing a company like Microsoft, with its daily threat profile, is intense," Wood said. "No company is attacked more, and few companies are forced to adapt daily to the kinds of attacks we endured. Now, I'm ready for the new challenge of applying the knowledge I gained there to help companies put their best - and safest - foot forward on the e-commerce front."
Mr. DiSalle echoed Schmidt's comments. "We're extremely fortunate to have somebody of the caliber of Greg Wood join us in our mission here at BioPassword," said DiSalle.
"The business community knows that Greg had many high profile opportunities - but Greg shares our passion for the tremendous potential of our technology, and we're pleased to welcome him to the BioPassword family."
Jose Granado, Chief Security Officer for Stanford Financial Group and former Security and Technology Solutions partner for Ernst & Young, underscored Mr. Wood's capabilities. "The fundamental issue that industry continues to encounter with Internet-facing applications is nonrepudiated authentication," Mr. Granado said. "Greg is one of the market's top visionaries in the area of compliance and application security - and a terrific candidate for shaping appropriate technology solutions."
Greg Wood is a recognized information security and professional services expert with 17 years of professional experience. As the former Chief Security Officer for Microsoft Corporation, he brings true operational experience to solving customer security - experience gained by protecting one of the world's largest and most attacked Windows-based infrastructures. Mr. Wood boasts extensive experience in defining, developing and implementing information security strategies that align with rationale business objectives, and he has also been recognized for founding the Security Center of Excellence within Microsoft Corp.
Mr. Wood routinely speaks to Fortune 500 companies, and has been a keynote speaker at recent global technology conferences, including China eSecure and b:Secure Latin America. He has published extensively, with efforts including the forward for Hacking Exposed: Windows 2000 Server. Mr. Wood, who serves on the Board of Directors and as Chief Technology Officer for The Torretta Foundation, holds a MBA in Finance and International Business from the University of Miami and a BAS in Computer Science and Economics from Drake University.