Phil Venables is a

computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who specializes in the academic study of computer science. Computer scientists typically work on the theoretical side of computation. Although computer scientists can also focus their work and research on ...

who has been the

chief information security officer A chief information security officer (CISO) is a senior-level executive within an organization responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately p ...

(CISO) at

Google Google LLC (, ) is an American multinational corporation and technology company focusing on online advertising, search engine technology, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, consumer electronics, and artificial ...

Cloud since 2020. He specializes in information and cyber security, as well as enterprise risk and technology risk. Previous to Venables's position at Google, he held a number of roles at

Goldman Sachs The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Founded in 1869, Goldman Sachs is headquartered in Lower Manhattan in New York City, with regional headquarters in many internationa ...

and served on the Board of Goldman Sachs Bank. Since 2021, he has also been a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Early life and education

Venables was born in

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

, and attended the

University of York The University of York (abbreviated as or ''York'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public Collegiate university, collegiate research university in York, England. Established in 1963, the university has expanded to more than thir ...

in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, where he received a B.S. with honors in

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

in 1989. In 1990, he graduated with an M.S. in

Computation A computation is any type of arithmetic or non-arithmetic calculation that is well-defined. Common examples of computation are mathematical equation solving and the execution of computer algorithms. Mechanical or electronic devices (or, hist ...

and

Cryptography Cryptography, or cryptology (from "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or ''-logy, -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of Adversary (cryptography), ...

from

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

Career

Venables began his career in 1992 as an Information Security Manager at

Barclays Bank Barclays PLC (, occasionally ) is a British multinational universal bank, headquartered in London, England. Barclays operates as two divisions, Barclays UK and Barclays International, supported by a service company, Barclays Execution Services ...

in the United Kingdom, where he left in 1995 to take on the position as global head of technology risk management at the

Standard Chartered Bank Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, Wholesale banking, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retai ...

. In 1996, Venables became a member of the Highlands Group (DARPA-Office of Net Assessment), an advisory firm for the

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

. From 1997 to 2000, he was

CISO A chief information security officer (CISO) is a senior-level executive within an organization responsible for establishing and maintaining the enterprise vision, strategy, and program to ensure information assets and technologies are adequately p ...

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, based in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, UK. In 2000, he began at Goldman Sachs, first as partner and CISO until 2017, when he was partner and Chief Operational Risk Officer until 2018, then director until 2020. He is the co-founder and leader of various corporate and industrial cyber security initiatives. Since 2015, Venables has been a life member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

(CFR). In 2016, he was a part of

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity. He has been CISO at Google Cloud since 2020, and since 2021, he has been director at

HackerOne HackerOne Inc. is a cybersecurity operations technology company managed by certified information system security professionals who conduct vulnerability threat assessments to identify bugs found on a website, application or server. It was one ...

, supply chain technology company Interos, and NIST's Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board. Over the years, Venables has served on multiple non-profit boards, including

New York University Tandon School of Engineering The New York University Tandon School of Engineering (commonly referred to as Tandon) is the engineering and applied sciences school of New York University. Tandon is the second oldest private engineering and technology school in the United St ...

, and

New York University Stern School of Business The Leonard N. Stern School of Business (also NYU Stern, Stern School of Business, or simply Stern) is the business school of New York University, a private research university based in New York City. Founded as the School of Commerce, Accounts ...

' Business Volatility and Risk Institute, as well as co-chairing the board of consumer financial information protection organization Sheltered Harbor, and also co-founded and directed various initiatives of the U.S. Financial Services Sector. In 2000, he co-founded the

Center for Internet Security The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, formed in October 2000. Its mission statement professes that the function of CIS is to " help people, businesses, and governments protect themselves against pervasi ...

(CIS), and served on its board from 2014 until 2020. In September 2022, Venables was named to the BallisticX cybersecurity advisory board for San Francisco-based Ballistic Ventures, an early-stage cybersecurity investment firm. Venables serves on the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, under President Biden. He also holds several information security-related patents, including designing a virtual wallet with cryptographic currency for securities settlement, and creating a method for assessing how vulnerable a network is to cyberthreats.

Awards

In 1995, Venables was awarded the designation of Chartered Engineer, in 2002 that of Chartered Scientists, and in 2005 he was elected Fellow of the British Computer Society. In 2008, he received multiple awards at the

RSA Conference The RSA Conference is a series of IT security conferences. Approximately 45,000 people attend one of the conferences each year. It was founded in 1991 as a small cryptography conference. RSA conferences take place in the United States, Europe, Asia ...

. He received the FS-ISAC Critical Infrastructure Award in 2017, as well as the ISACA Wasserman Award and the SINET Innovation Award in 2019.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venables, Phil Living people British computer scientists Alumni of the Queen's College, Oxford Alumni of the University of York Google employees Year of birth missing (living people) Computer Society, British British Computer Society Members of the British Computer Society Goldman Sachs people Fellows of the British Computer Society