The best security developments can only come through strategic coordination of resources and endorsement from the top. And for security leaders to successfully drive that car forward, they need an astute understanding of both the technology and the needs of the customer.
This year's finalists for security executive of the year are the veterans and perennial influencers in the cybersecurity development community, with a history of leadership in companies that have their pulse on the needs of the user community. They have proven track records in delivery of products and services that meet the requirements of enterprises and small and medium business, across the various market verticals.
![](https://cdn.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Carder_mug-818x1024.jpg)
FINALIST | SECURITY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
JAMES CARDER
Position: Chief Security Officer, Vice President
Company: LogRhythm
Noteworthy: Through his work implementing the Zero Trust framework, LogRhythm elevated its security stature while reducing workload and the number of applications employed.
![](https://cdn.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Gupta_mug-986x1024.jpg)
FINALIST | SECURITY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
ASHISH GUPTA
Position: CEO
Company: Bugcrowd
Noteworthy: Launched four new initiatives in 2020 to increase employee diversity, including the Sharing Her Empowerment (SHE) group and the Bugcrowd Employee Resource Group (BERG).
![](https://cdn.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Henry_mug-1.jpeg)
FINALIST | SECURITY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
SHAWN HENRY
Position: President, Chief Security Officer
Company: CrowdStrike Services
Noteworthy: Catalyzed a partnership with the Center for Internet Security ahead of the 2018 midterms that ultimately led to endpoint augmentation for the ALBERT protection system.
![](https://cdn.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/McAndrew_mug-1024x999.jpeg)
FINALIST | SECURITY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
TOM MCANDREW
Position: CEO
Company: Coalfire
Noteworthy: Has overseen Coalfire's growth in becoming the largest provider of Payment Card Industry (PCI) services in North America, protecting billions of credit card transactions each year.
![](https://cdn.scmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Xie_mug-1024x916.jpeg)
FINALIST | SECURITY EXECUTIVE OF THE YEAR
KEN XIE
Position: CEO
Company: Fortinet
Noteworthy: Commitment to developing a diverse cybersecurity workforce led him in early 2020 to make Fortinet's entire self-paced catalogue of advanced Network Security Expert (NSE) training courses available to anyone around the world.