Announcing the winners of the 2025 CyberScoop 50 awards
Scoop News Group is thrilled to honor the standout winners of the 2025 CyberScoop 50 Awards, recognizing the leaders who protect our networks, data, and infrastructure while driving innovation across cybersecurity.
Over three months, voters nationwide nominated and selected trailblazers who demonstrated exceptional dedication, creativity, and resilience. With more than 800,000 votes across five categories, this year’s honorees truly represent the best in the field.
From rising stars launching impactful careers to seasoned officials shaping policy and strategy, the CyberScoop 50 highlights the breadth and brilliance of the infosec community. We celebrate these remarkable individuals for their vital work safeguarding our digital world.
The winners, alphabetically by category, are:
Lifetime Achievement
Cybersecurity Visionary
Al Bowden – Deputy CIO, Cyber Operations Bureau of Diplomatic Technology, Dept. of State
Josh “CoCo” Crisp – CISO, Air Force
Yaki Faitelson – Co-Founder, Varonis
Tom Hines – AO, Chief Architect Network & Security, Defense Health Agency
Ami Luttwak – Co-Founder & CTO, Wiz
Adele Merritt – CIO, NIH
Brandon Pugh – Principal Cyber Adviser, U.S. Army
Stephen Schmidt – CSO, Amazon
Ari Schwartz – Managing Director of Cybersecurity Services, Venable LLP
Government Leadership
Gurpreet Bhatia – Principal Director, CIO, Cybersecurity & Deputy CISO, Department of Defense
Alexei Bulazel – Sr. Director for Cyber, National Security Council
Cynthia Carpenter – Director, DIB Operations, Department of Defense
Ryan Higgins – CISO, Dept. of Commerce
Stan Lowe – CISO, Dept. of Interior
Rep. Morgan Lutrell – Congressman, R-Texas
Tahira Mammen – Chief, AI Security Center, NSA
Manny Medrano – Director, Cybersecurity Monitoring & Operations, Dept. of State
Vu Nguyen – CISO, Dept. of Justice
Chris Pymm – Zero Trust Portfolio Manager – Thunderdome Program, DISA
Paul Selby – CISO, Dept. of Energy
Dr. Morgan Stern – Technical Lead, Cryptography, Secure Engineering Solutions Group, Cybersecurity, NSA
Industry Leadership
John Ackerly – CEO, Virtru
Michael Barnhart – Principal I3 Insider Investigator, DTEX Systems
Chris DeRusha – Director, Global Public Sector Compliance, Google
Dave DeWalt – CEO & Founder, NightDragon
Zakir Durumeric – Co-Founder, Censys
Sean Frazier – Federal CSO, Okta
Ken Kartsen – SVP, Public Sector, Trellix
Shawn Kingsberry – VP, Cybersecurity, SAIC
Daniel Kroese – VP, Public Policy & Government Affairs, Palo Alto Networks
Matt Mandrgoc – Head, Public Sector, Zoom
Wen Masters – VP, Cyber Technologies, MITRE
Ryan McArthur – Federal CTO, ZScaler
Adam Meyers – SVP, Head of Counter Adversary Operations, CrowdStrike
Travis Rosiek – Public Sector CTO, Rubrik
Dean Scontras – AVP, U.S. Public Sector, Wiz
Scott Smith – Cybersecurity Practice Lead, Public Sector, EY
Anto Tossounian – GVP, Public Sector, Splunk
Chris Wysopal – Co-Founder & Chief Security Evangelist, Veracode
Most Inspiring Up & Comer
Dakota Cary – China-Focused Consultant, SentinelOne
Casey Dolen – Sr. Policy Advisor, Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, Office of the National Cyber Director
Kevin Heaney – Cyber Operations Exercise Planner, OCIO, NNSA
Austin Larsen – Principal Cyber Analyst, Google Threat Intelligence Group
Innovation of the Year
Edera Protect – Edera
HQC Post-Quantum Algorithm – NIST
COSMOS: Moving Mission Light Years Ahead – Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific
Constellation – DARPA & U.S. Cyber Command
