Vivint creates CSO position, hires federal cyber expert Joe Albaugh

PROVO, Utah—Joe Albaugh, who today joined Vivint in the newly created position of chief security officer, brings significant cyber expertise, having previously served as chief information security officer at the U.S. Department of Transportation and also at the Federal Aviation Administration.

Albaugh told Security Systems News in an email interview that he will be “focused on converging activities across the corporate IT, product development, operations and physical security areas within Vivint.

Asked why it's important that the CSO work across all these areas including product development, Albaugh said “an effective and proactive security program requires that security be built in, rather than bolted on.”
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Echoing comments heard at TechSec in February and at PSA-TEC in May, Albaugh called cyber attacks “pervasive and increasing in sophistication by the day." He noted that hackers “often leverage varied ingress points across an organization to gain access to critical systems and information.”

For that reason, it's important to have a person who is “dedicated to the holistic awareness of these threats across our organization, mitigating risk to ensure our customers and our business systems are protected," he said.

Before joining the DOT, where he was responsible for “more than 440 information systems and 100,000 people,” Albaugh helped redesign the cyber security program at the FAA. �

Albaugh also served as chief information security officer and acting chief information officer for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “where he managed a more than $400 million global information technology program.” Before that he led the security solution practices for Foreign Affairs and Federal Healthcare at BearingPoint's Public Services Solutions Group. �

Albaugh has a BA in mathematics from the University of Maryland and a master's degree in information assurance from Norwich University. He completed executive education programs at the Yale School of Management and the Federal Executive Institute.

“The value and the experience I bring to Vivint is the understanding of [cyber] threats, their impact, and effective risk management strategies, across both government and industry,” Albaugh said.

By implementing security initiatives across all areas of Vivint, the home security/automation company expects "to realize the benefits of improved risk-based decisions through awareness, prevention, response and compliance," he said.

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