Top 10: Women CISOs

The cybersecurity landscape of 2026 demands leadership that transcends traditional technical boundaries, requiring executives to secure critical infrastructure while enabling rapid digital transformation with AI.

As the global economy faces heightened geopolitical instability and sophisticated automated threats, the chief information security officer has become a pivotal figure in the corporate boardroom.

Despite being a critical industry, cybersecurity has often struggled with gender diversity. Recent industry research indicates that women hold approximately 17% of CISO positions in Fortune 500 companies and make up 22% of the broader cybersecurity workforce.

This week Cyber Magazine takes a look at the top ten women driving security strategy at the world's most influential enterprises, from protecting the energy grid and financial markets to safeguarding global travel and pharmaceutical innovation. 

Their mandates reflect a shift towards security as a business enabler, focusing on trust architecture, privacy engineering and the governance of emerging technologies.

10. Mignona Cote

Company: Infor
Headquarters: New York

As the senior Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer for Infor, Mignona Cote secures one of the world's largest providers of enterprise cloud software.

Inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2025, she is recognised for her pioneering work in multi-cloud security and for shifting the industry mindset from on-premise defence to cloud-native resilience. 

Mignona manages the risk landscape for a vast ecosystem of SaaS products that underpin critical operations for manufacturing, healthcare and retail clients globally.

Her strategy emphasises identity-first security and the use of AI to automate threat detection across complex hybrid environments.

A vocal advocate for women in technology, she actively mentors the next generation of leaders through the Executive Women’s Forum and serves on advisory boards that shape the future of secure cloud architecture.

9. Mary Rose Martinez

Company: Marathon Petroleum Corporation
Headquarters: Findlay, Ohio

Mary Rose Martinez holds the dual mandate of Chief Information Security Officer and Vice President of Infrastructure for the largest petroleum refinery operator in the United States.

In May 2025 she was honoured with the HoustonCISO ORBIE Award for her success in modernising the company’s legacy operational technology environments.

This consolidated role allows her to seamlessly integrate cybersecurity controls with the physical and digital infrastructure that powers the nation. 

Mary fosters a culture of innovation within a traditionally risk-averse industry and proves that robust security can accelerate business agility.

Her leadership effectively reduces the risk of cyber-physical attacks on critical energy assets and she serves as a board member for the Oil and Natural Gas Information Sharing and Analysis Center where she facilitates sector-wide threat intelligence sharing.

8. Marnie Wilking

Company: Booking.com
Headquarters: Amsterdam, Netherlands

Marnie Wilking serves as the Chief Security Officer for Booking.com where she is responsible for securing one of the world’s largest travel marketplaces against fraud and cyber threats.

Inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2025, Marnie is a recognised leader in combating AI-driven fraud and bots that target the travel industry.

She has implemented sophisticated machine learning models to detect anomalies in booking patterns which protects both travellers and partners from financial loss.

Her role encompasses physical security, privacy and fraud prevention reflecting a holistic approach to enterprise risk.

Marnie previously held CISO roles at Wayfair and Orion Health bringing deep cross-sector experience to the challenge of securing global e-commerce at scale while maintaining a seamless customer experience.

7. Elizabeth Joyce

Company: State Street
Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts

Elizabeth Joyce acts as the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer for State Street, a systemically important financial institution.

Holding a PhD in information security, Elizabeth applies academic depth to the defence of the global financial ledger.

She employs an intelligence-led security strategy that prioritises understanding the intent of nation-state actors and criminal syndicates targeting financial liquidity. 

Elizabeth serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Cybersecurity where she advocates for cross-border cooperation to combat financial cybercrime.

She is also overseeing the security architecture for the bank’s transition into digital finance and blockchain-based custody.

6. Deneen DeFiore

Company: United Airlines 
Headquarters: Chicago, Illinois​​​​​​​

Deneen DeFiore manages the convergence of digital security and physical safety as the Chief Information Security Officer for United Airlines.

She champions a cyber safety culture that treats digital vulnerabilities with the same zero-tolerance approach used for aircraft maintenance. 

Deneen guided the airline through the rapid digital transformation necessitated by the pandemic, securing touchless travel technologies and remote operations.

She chairs the cybersecurity committee for Airlines for America, facilitating the sharing of threat intelligence regarding adversaries targeting the aviation sector.

Her strategy emphasises operational resilience, ensuring that critical transport infrastructure can withstand and recover from cyberattacks without compromising passenger safety.

5. Andrea Abell

Company: Eli Lilly and Company
Headquarters: Indianapolis

Andrea Abell serves as the Chief Information Security Officer for Eli Lilly, a global pharmaceutical leader driving major innovations in medicine.

In this high-stakes role, she protects sensitive intellectual property and patient data against sophisticated industrial espionage and cyber threats.

Andrea is pioneering the use of AI in cyber defence, utilising agentic AI to automate threat modelling and reduce analyst workload.

She views cybersecurity as a key enabler of the drug discovery process, embedding security protocols directly into manufacturing and distribution workflows.

Her background includes protecting global media ecosystems at NBCUniversal and critical defence systems at Lockheed Martin, giving her a unique cross-sector perspective on resilience.

4. Laura Deaner

Company: The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC)
Headquarters: New York, New York

Laura Deaner serves as the Chief Information Security Officer for the DTCC, the premier post-trade market infrastructure for the global financial services industry.

In this role, she is responsible for protecting the systems that clear and settle the vast majority of securities transactions in the US, making her a guardian of global financial stability.

Laura brings extensive experience from her previous tenure as CISO at Northwestern Mutual and S&P Global.

She is a strong advocate for resilience and transparency, focusing on reducing systemic risk across the financial ecosystem.

Her leadership influences standards for critical infrastructure protection and financial cyber defence.

3. Noopur Davis

Company: Comcast
Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Noopur Davis is the Executive Vice President and Chief Information Security and Product Privacy Officer for Comcast.

She operates at an immense scale, protecting a converged network that serves millions of broadband and media customers.

Noopur integrates privacy engineering directly into the product lifecycle, ensuring data protection is hard-coded into architecture rather than applied as an afterthought.

Her team utilises advanced automation and a security data fabric to analyse billions of daily events, detecting threats like residential proxy botnets.

Noopur leads the Comcast Threat Research Lab which contributes significant intelligence to the wider security community.

Her leadership defines the modern approach to product security in a media conglomerate.

2. Teresa Zielinski

Company: GE Vernova
Headquarters: Cambridge, Massachusetts

Teresa Zielinski serves as the Global Chief Information Security Officer for GE Vernova, the energy powerhouse responsible for generating approximately 30% of the world’s electricity.

Following the company's spin-off from General Electric, she architected a standalone security programme that protects gas turbines, nuclear reactors and wind farms from nation-state sabotage.

Teresa views security as a product differentiator, ensuring that the industrial equipment sold to governments and utilities is secure by design.

Her background in mathematics and statistics informs a risk-based approach that prioritises resilience in cyber-physical systems.

She was inducted into the CSO Hall of Fame in 2024 for her work in redefining industrial cybersecurity.

1. Nasrin Rezai

Company: Verizon
Headquarters: New York

Nasrin Rezai occupies the top spot as the Chief Information Security Officer for Verizon, protecting the digital backbone of the global economy.

She oversees the security of the fibre and 5G networks that support emergency services, financial markets and national defence communications.

Nasrin has transformed security from a support function into a revenue driver, architecting ‘secure by design’ solutions for enterprise 5G clients.

She effectively manages a threat landscape dominated by geopolitical actors, employing a zero trust architecture to minimise risk.

Nasrin influences national security policy through her work with the Aspen Institute and federal advisory committees, helping to shape regulations for critical infrastructure resilience.