BATAVIA, Ill., June 05, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- High Wire Networks, Inc. (OTCQB: HWNI), a leading global provider of managed cybersecurity and technology enablement, has appointed Edward Vasko, CISSP, as strategic advisor to help accelerate the growth and development of the company’s Overwatch managed cybersecurity services.
Vasko brings to High Wire more than 30 years of experience and entrepreneurial success in the cybersecurity industry, including business formation, driving growth, and leading M&As and exits. As a highly respected industry thought leader, he has been sought after to address the national cybersecurity workforce development requirements for protecting the United States and its allies.
He presently serves as director of Boise State University’s Institute of Pervasive Cybersecurity, a leader of innovative cybersecurity research and host of the competency development hub known as the Cyberdome.
“Ed brings to us a wealth of experience, knowledge and insight, having founded and led several cybersecurity organizations and growing them into industry leading corporations serving clientele around the world,” stated High Wire CEO, Mark Porter. “His outstanding work at Boise State has had a tremendous positive impact on the industry.
“As a key strategic advisor for High Wire, he will support our pursuit of the many opportunities in the cybersecurity space. This includes the growing sales opportunities that are being championed by our channel partners who continue to rely on High Wire to help them meet the expanding demand for effective cybersecurity managed services.
“We anticipate Ed’s expertise in education and leadership at the Cyberdome will help create strategic opportunities for High Wire. His work in training the next generation of cybersecurity analysts has helped address the talent shortage in cybersecurity and further the industry’s workforce development.”
Prior to Boise State University, Vasko served as senior vice president at a top 50 national managed security and consulting provider. He was previously the co-founder and CEO of Terra Verde (now Avertium), where he helped grow the firm into one of the nation's largest providers of cybersecurity advisory and managed security services with thousands of clients around the world. He negotiated the sale of Terra Verde to Sunstone Partners, a leading growth equity firm.
“I have been closely following the growth and development of Overwatch for some time,” commented Vasko. “I believe High Wire’s partner-centric approach and integrated cybersecurity ecosystem—powered by award-winning technology and client-focused services—offers its network of managed security service providers the best security solutions for their clients. I look forward to helping High Wire grow and strengthen its channel partner network and the delivery of cybersecurity services to end-customers who trust Overwatch.”
Appointed by Arizona’s governor, Vasko served as a commissioner in Arizona’s Commission for Post-Secondary Education from 2015 to 2019. He was also appointed as the co-chair of Arizona’s Cyber Team (ACT) Workforce Development Committee and served as the industry co-chair for the 2019 NICE Conference.
As part of his active involvement in cybersecurity workforce development, Vasko sits on a number of advisory councils, working with universities to develop curriculum that enables a highly needed cybersecurity workforce that is "ready-to-work" to defend the nation’s critical data and assets.
A believer in lifelong learning, Vasko studied Applied Politics at The University of Akron and Educational Technology at Boise State University. He received an Honorary Doctorate of Science in Technology from the University of Advancing Technology in Tempe, Arizona.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in history from Arizona State University, and has been a multi-year recipient of the university’s Sun Devil 100 business leadership award.
Vasko joins High Wire as its cybersecurity business continues to ramp up. The company was recently awarded a major new contract to deliver High Wire’s Overwatch OT/IoT Security™ for a U.S. health system comprised of more than 25 hospitals and clinics.
Operating at the core of High Wire’s security operation center is Overwatch SOAR™, a proprietary security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) technology. The unique AI embedded in Overwatch SOAR automatically consolidates alerts from various threat prevention and detection-and-response platforms and processes them with intelligence-based rules that provide enhanced visibility, improved correlation, and faster remediation.
High Wire’s SOAR technology serves as an exponential force multiplier for its dedicated teams of professional security experts, empowering them to deliver the most secure and cost-effective cybersecurity solutions available on the market today. High Wire offers its Overwatch managed security services exclusively through a global network of managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs) totaling more than 625 worldwide.
Reflecting High Wire’s preferred “go-to” status for these global channel partners, Frost & Sullivan ranks High Wire as a Top 12 Managed Security Service Provider in the Americas in the categories of growth and innovation. Overwatch addresses a global cybersecurity market that is expected to grow at a 13.8% CAGR to reach $425 billion by 2030.
“Part of the challenge within SMBs and the mid-market space is the need for high quality security services, yet there is a lack of workforce to meet these demands,” noted Vasko. “I see great opportunities for a leading provider like High Wire, with a strong tech stack and highly trained and fully U.S. based security operations team, being well-positioned in the market with a customer-first focus. High Wire’s channel partners and end customers know that ‘bad guys don’t sleep and neither does Overwatch.’”
To learn more about High Wire and its award-winning managed cybersecurity and IT enablement services, visit HighWireNetworks.com or view the company’s free video series on YouTube.
About High Wire Networks
High Wire Networks, Inc. (OTCQB: HWNI) is a fast-growing, award-winning global provider of managed cybersecurity and IT enablement services. Through 625 channel partners, it delivers trusted managed services for more than 1,100 managed security customers and tens of thousands of technology customers. Its end-customers include hundreds of Fortune 500 companies and the nation’s largest government agencies.
High Wire has 80 full-time employees worldwide and four U.S. offices, including a U.S. based 24/7 Network Operations Center and Security Operations Center in Chicago, with additional regional offices in United Kingdom.
High Wire was ranked by Frost & Sullivan as a Top 12 Managed Security Service Provider in the Americas for 2023. It was also named to CRN’s MSP 500 and Elite 150 lists of the nation’s top IT managed service providers for 2023 and 2024.
Learn more at HighWireNetworks.com. Follow the company on X, view its extensive video series on YouTube or connect on LinkedIn.
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