Bill Conner

F. William "Bill" Conner is an American business executive.

Bill (F. William) Conner
Alma materWharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University

Education and personal life

Conner was born and reared in West Helena, Arkansas. In his early years, he displayed "an interest in energy conversion".[1] In 1981, he received his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in mechanical engineering and later earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1987. Currently, he lives in Dallas, Texas with his wife.

Career

From 1981 to 1992, Conner held positions at AT&T including senior engineer, operations manager and strategic planner.[2]

Conner held executive positions at Nortel Networks from 1992 to 2001. As the President of Enterprise Data Networks for Nortel, he managed its $9.1 billion (US) acquisition of Bay Networks. He also served as the first Chief Marketing Officer of Nortel, launching the global marketing campaigns "Come Together" and "What Do You Want the Internet to Be?"[3]

Conner speaking on global cybersecurity before the INTERPOL 79th General Assembly in Doha, Qatar, November 2010.

Entrust

From 2001 to 2013, Conner was the Chief Executive Officer and President of Entrust, a private software company that specializes in identity-based security. Conner was responsible for the creation and delivery of identity-based security software and services.[4] Entrust grew to profitability (albeit short due to its early focus on growth) and reached annual sales of well over $100m by the time of arrival of Conner to the firm in 2001. Conner shortly thereafter launched a restructuring effort and began to trim workforce annually in an effort to return the company to profitability. He launched a new business model focusing on product portfolios targeted to key verticals and geographies.[5]

Conner engineered the company's acquisition by private equity firm Thoma Bravo in 2009,[6] and transitioned Entrust into a private firm. In December 2013, it was announced that Datacard Group had entered into an agreement to purchase Entrust for a reported $500 Million. Conner took on a consultant role during the transition.[7]

Silent Circle

On January 5, 2015, Silent Circle announced that its Board of Directors appointed Conner as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors.[8] As CEO of Silent Circle, Conner also joined the Board of Directors of Blackphone.[9] On June 17, 2016, Silent Circle blogged that Conner had resigned as CEO and would remain only as an "advisor," implying he had also resigned his seat on the Board.[10]

SonicWall

Formerly a division of Dell Software Inc., SonicWall was spun off and acquired by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management in June 2016.[11] On Nov. 1, 2016, SonicWall announced that it had commenced standalone operations, and named Conner its President and CEO.[12]

SonicWall states it is the North American market share leader in internet security appliances among small and medium-sized enterprises. In August 2016, SonicWall launched its Capture Advanced Threat Prevention Service, and has analyzed more than 4 million suspicious files for its clients as of Nov. 1, 2016. The cloud-based service uses multiple engines to help prevent attacks, and automates remediation techniques.[13]

Conner stated publicly that SonicWall will continue its relationship with Dell, as a reseller partner, and will continue its service areas focused on network security, secure mobile access, email security and encryption, and management and reporting. In a public statement to employees, Conner stated he wants to focus SonicWall on four areas of growth:

  • Next-generation firewall features
  • The user interface, user experience and application program interface of its cloud-based globalization management system (GMS)
  • The SonicOS software operating system and hardware platforms
  • Growing core market segments[14]

In September, 2018 at a SonicWall Channel Partner conference, Conner outlined the rapid growth in non-standard port threats, and explained a business reorganization to serve both the SME and enterprise business markets focusing on the enterprise verticals of retail, education and government.[15]

Comodo CA (now Sectigo)

In October 2017, Francisco Partners acquired Comodo Certification Authority (Comodo CA) and named Bill Conner Chairman of the Board. This marks a transition in ownership from the Comodo organization as Comodo CA, an industry leader in SSL security with more than 200,000 customers across 150 countries, focuses on the significant market opportunity associated with SSL certificates and the massive growth in online and IoT traffic. In November 2018, Comodo CA rebranded itself as Sectigo, to avoid confusion with its former parent entity Comodo Group.[16]

Conner has been active in various public-private partnerships on cybersecurity, cybertheft and infrastructure security. He helped unveil the INTERPOL Global Smart eID Card and addressed the United Nations on global challenges in cybercrime in June 2010 [17] He co-chaired the Corporate Governance Task Force of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Partnership [18] He has been a member of the Business Software Alliance [19] and the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (now a branch of TechAmerica technology trade association) [20] He created and co-chaired the Information Security Governance Task Force of the Business Software Alliance [21] He is a member of the Enterprise Software Roundtable [22]

In a September 2018 article on Cybersecurity Trends, Conner describes innovative next-generation security techniques in the cloud and the deep web.[23] The article references RTDMI (Real-Time Deep Memory Inspection), a new patent-pending technology created by SonicWall.[24]

In February 2018, Former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff and Bill Conner collaborated on an opinion article written for The Hill. In it, they detail some of the recent actions taken by the U.S. Congress and the SEC regarding cyber accountability and transparency.[25]

In 2017, Conner became a Forbes Community Voice Contributor, as a member of the Forbes Technology Council.[26] His articles have featured topics such as cybersecurity and policy trends,[27] cyber threat intelligence,[28] and how human predictability factors in cyberattacks.[29] He has also penned articles and contributed to reports on email-borne cyberattacks[30] and ransomware.[31]

In February 2012, Conner took part in a United States House of Representatives committee on Energy and Commerce hearing to discuss cybersecurity threats facing the US and the role of public-private partnerships play in defense.[32] Conner has recently spent time discussing the effects of spear phishing schemes on weak authentication, notably the rash of attacks on media outlets, and the risks of insider threats.[33][34][35]

Recent Publications
  • "The 11 Coolest Endpoint Security CEOs of 2019," Solutions Review, July 10, 2019[36]
  • "AI, Threat Intelligence and The Cyber Arms Race: SonicWall CEO Bill Conner Joins The Chertoff Group Security Series," "The Chertoff Group," (video of panel discussion), June 19, 2019[37]
  • "In focus: SonicWall CEO Bill Conner," SC Magazine, May 7, 2019[38]
  • "Dramatic rise in fraudulent PDF files in 2019: SonicWall study," "CISCO Mag," Apr. 22, 2019[39]
  • “Old-school cruel: Dodgy PDF email attachments enjoying a renaissance,” “The Register,” John Oates (author), Apr. 19, 2019[40]
  • “Report: Weaponized PDFs on the Rise,” “Nextgov,” Brandi Vincent (author), Apr. 19, 2019[41]
  • “Insights & Intelligence Podcast: Inside the Tactical Advances between Cybercriminals and Security Industry,” “The Chertoff Group,” (audio podcast), Apr. 15, 2019 [42]
  • “SonicWall report paints sobering picture of cyberthreat trends,” “SiliconAngle,” Paul Gillin (author), Mar, 26, 2019[43]
  • "Slate Of New Product Offerings Marks Rebirth Of SonicWall," "Forbes," Tony Bradley (author), Feb. 27, 2019[44]
  • "Who’s taking malware seriously? SonicWall’s CEO has the answers," "Information Age," Nick Ismael (author), Feb. 7, 2019[45]
  • "SMBs Need Layered Security to Defend Their Businesses," "Forbes," Bill Conner (author), Feb. 4, 2019[46]
  • "CEO Outlook: 5 Questions on 2019," "CRN," Bill Conner (author), January 2019[47]
  • "New Law Aids SMBs in Combating Cybersecurity Risks," "ChannelPro Network," Martin Sinderman (author), Dec. 6, 2018[48]
  • "CEO Spotlight: Bill Conner, CEO, SonicWall," "KRLD Radio," Bill Conner (author), Nov. 30, 2018[49]
  • “Opinion: Two cybersecurity policies, one clear new objective,” The Hill, Bill Conner (author), Nov. 20, 2018 [50]
  • “Congress Passes Bill Creating Cybersecurity Agency at DHS,” Security Week, Eduard Kovacs (author), Nov. 15, 2018 [51]
  • “13 Tech Experts Share What Facebook Should Do Post-Data Breach,” Forbes, Bill Connor (co-author), Nov. 13, 2018 [52]
  • “Privacy Problems for FANG Companies Might Beget M&A Action in Cybersecurity,” The Street, Kevin Curran (author), Oct. 25, 2018 [53]
  • “Facebook hack: How attackers stole the personal data of almost 30 million users,” ITPro (UK), Keumars Afifi-Sabet (author), Oct. 22, 2018 [54]
  • “Chart of the Day: Google Plus Never Got Off the Ground,” Real Money, Kevin Curran (author), Oct. 9, 2018 [55]
  • “Hackers compromise Facebook users’ security,” The Signal (US), James Wright (author), Oct. 8, 2018 [56]
  • “ ‘A leader has to be passionate’, ” Authority Magazine, Oct. 7, 2018 [57]
  • “ ‘Unprecedented’ Russian cyberattacks announcement is just the start – and businesses should be prepared,” Verdict, Lucy Ingham (author) Oct. 4, 2018 [58]
  • “UK and allies accuse Russia of cyber attack campaign,” Computer Weekly, Warwick Ashford (author) Oct. 4, 2018 [59]
  • “The UK, US and Netherlands accuse Russia of cyber attacks,” ITPro (UK), Bobby Hellard (author) Oct. 5, 2018 [60]
  • “Betabot infostealer infections spreading in the wild, researchers say,” SC Magazine, Rene Millman (author) Oct. 3, 2018 [61]
  • “Facebook Hack: People's Accounts Appear for Sale On Dark Web,” The Independent, Anthony Cuthbertson (author) Oct. 2, 2018 [62]
  • “Facebook Hack May Result in GDPR Penalty,” Silicon (UK), Tom Jowitt (author) Oct. 2, 2018 [63]
  • "Bill Conner: A Vanguard of Transformation Technology Shifts," Insights Success, The 10 Most Admired CEO's to Watch, August, 2018 [64]
  • "Protecting SMBs: The Key to Shrinking Nation’s Cyberattack Surface," Money, Inc., Bill Conner (author) Sept. 19 2018 [65] In this article, Conner describes the impact of the new National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Small Business Cybersecurity Act.
  • "Social Media Security: A Costly, but Worthy Cause for Shareholders," Real Money, Kevin Curran (author) Sept. 20, 2018 [66]
  • "How machine learning allowed one company to detect Meltdown and Spectre before Intel went public," TechRepublic, Jason Hiner (author) Apr. 20, 2018 [67]
  • "The Value of Enterprise Privacy," The Guardian, Jul. 23, 2015 [68][69]
  • "Viewpoint: U.K. Breach a Precautionary Tale for U.S.," American Banker, December 2007 [70]
  • "Cybersecurity: Business Has to Enlist in This War" (co-author), guest opinion column, New York Times, Nov. 17, 2003 [71]
  • "Vulnerability on the Cyber Front," co-author with Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, Washington Times, Aug. 19, 2002 [72]

Awards
  • Bill Conner, President and CEO of SonicWall, 10 Most Admired CEO's to Watch, Insights Success, August, 2018.[73]
  • Bill Conner, President and CEO of SonicWall, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Commodo CA, named by Info Security Product Guide as 2018 CEO of the Year (500-2,499 Employees): Gold Winner.[74]
  • CEO World Awards 2018 – CEO of the Year (500-2,499 Employees): Silver Winner. Bill Conner honored for driving SonicWall to surpass financial objectives for six consecutive quarters since becoming independent from Dell.[75]
  • Listed by CRN as One of the Most Influential Executives of 2018 (cited as #21) [76]
  • 2017 SC Media 2017 Reboot Leadership Award to Bill Conner
  • One of the 25 Most Influential Executives Of 2017 according to CRN[77]
  • CRN Names Bill Conner 2017 Top Midmarket Vendor Executive[78]
  • 2015 Global New Product Innovation Award to Silent Circle: Frost & Sullivan 2015: Global award given by Frost & Sullivan based on customer impact and new product attributes.[79]
  • Top 10 Most Innovative Companies of 2015 Fast Company: Silent Circle: Consumer Electronics focused review of Global companies leading in technology and security.
  • Best of Mobile World Congress 2015: PCMag.com 2015: For Silent Circle BlackPhone 2: Top smartphone or tablet recognition from national magazine on technology products.[80]
  • 2014 ICON Technology of the Year Award: for BlackPhone, Silent Circle and Geeksphone: ICON Magazine [81]
  • U.S. Federal 100 Award: Federal Computer Week March 2004: National award from Federal Computer Week recognizing the top 100 individuals and organizations for impact on U.S. Government technology and services.[82]
  • Tech Titans Corporate CEO of the Year: Metroplex Technology Business Council September 2003: Given by Metroplex Technology Business Council, recognizing technology leadership and raising scholarship funds for technology students.[83]

References
  1. https://web.archive.org/web/20161029045450/http://www.destinationcrm.com/Articles/Older-Articles/Movers-%26-Shakers/Bill-Conner-46742.aspx
  2. Published profile of Bill Conner, referencing his career positions at AT&T
  3. Overview of Nortel marketing campaign "Come Together"
  4. Description of CEO duties and history at Entrust Archived November 23, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
  5. Published article in Sterling Hoffman newsletter, referencing Bill Conner
  6. Public information from Thoma Bravo describing completion of acquisition of Entrust, referencing Bill Conner Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  7. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/quandt-family-buys-entrust-in-shift-from-card-swipes-to-online.html Quandt Family Buys Entrust in Shift From Card Swipes to Online
  8. Silent Circle taps Bill Conner as CEO
  9. Silent Circle Appoints Bill Conner CEO
  10. https://www.silentcircle.com/blog/silent-circle-prepares-for-next-stage-of-growth-in-secure-enterprise-communications-market/
  11. http://www.informationweek.com/dell-software-businesses-sold-to-private-equity-firms/d/d-id/1325977 Announcement of spin out sale of SonicWall by Dell
  12. https://web.archive.org/web/20171116082631/https://blog.sonicwall.com/2016/11/sonicwall-becomes-independent-security-company/ SonicWall media release announcing independent operations and leadership
  13. https://www.dell.com/learn/us/en/vn/press-releases/2016-07-27-customers-validate-sonicwall-capture-now-available Dell announces availability of SonicWall Capture Advanced Threat Prevention Service
  14. https://www.silentcircle.com/blog/silent-circle-prepares-for-next-stage-of-growth-in-secure-enterprise-communications-market/ Bill Conner statement to employees of SonicWall on company's official launch of standalone operations
  15. https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/252448835/SonicWall-CEO-rallies-partners-to-fend-off-non-standard-ports-threat
  16. "Comodo CA rebrands as Sectigo". Retrieved November 27, 2018.
  17. Introduction of INTERPOL Global Smart eID Card and address to United Nations on global challenges in cybercrime, June 2010
  18. U.S. Department of Homeland Security National Cybersecurity Partnership, Corporate Governance Task Force Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  19. PDF of report from Information Security Governance Task Force of the BSA, co-signed by Bill Conner Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  20. Published article on Cyber Security Industry Alliance
  21. PDF of report from Information Security Governance Task Force of the BSA, co-signed by Bill Conner Archived July 20, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Information from founder of Enterprise Software Roundtable
  23. https://chiefexecutive.net/sonicwall-ceo-bill-conner-on-cybersecurity-trends-ceos-should-know/
  24. https://www.sonicwall.com/en-us/about-sonicwall/news/press-releases/pr-articles/sonicwall-invents-real-time-deep-memory-inspection
  25. http://thehill.com/opinion/technology/375614-sec-congress-take-steps-toward-cyber-accountability-and-transparency
  26. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/people/billconner1/#108c2d3a4f25
  27. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/07/23/managing-cybersecurity-policy-compliance-and-enforcement-across-the-enterprise/
  28. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/05/22/real-time-cyber-threat-intelligence-is-more-critical-than-ever/
  29. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/03/06/human-predictability-make-attacks-easy-for-threat-actors/
  30. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2017/08/18/a-constant-threat-the-persistence-of-the-email-borne-cyberattack/#2d6ac7f52b08
  31. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-43713037
  32. Cyber Security and the Private Sector
  33. , Bloomberg TV
  34. Protecting Petroleum, Fox Business Network
  35. ID security CEO: 'NYT' hackers did their homework, USA Today
  36. https://solutionsreview.com/endpoint-security/the-11-coolest-endpoint-security-ceos-of-2019/
  37. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwqByOu3JEU&t=20s
  38. https://www.scmagazine.com/home/security-news/directors-cut-videos/sc-in-focus/infocus-sonicwall-ceo-bill-conner/
  39. https://www.cisomag.com/dramatic-rise-in-fraudulent-pdf-files-in-2019-sonicwall-study/
  40. https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/19/pdf_malware_warning/
  41. https://www.nextgov.com/cybersecurity/2019/04/report-weaponized-pdfs-rise/156431/
  42. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/036-inside-tactical-advances-between-cybercriminals/id1434604274?i=1000434932722
  43. https://siliconangle.com/2019/03/26/sonicwall-report-paints-sobering-picture-cyberthreat-trends/
  44. https://www.forbes.com/sites/tonybradley/2019/02/27/slate-of-new-product-offerings-marks-rebirth-of-sonicwall/#148589dc209a
  45. https://www.information-age.com/malware-sonicwall-ceo-123478836/
  46. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2019/02/04/smbs-need-layered-security-to-defend-their-businesses
  47. https://www.crn.com/research/ceo-outlook-19-details.htm?c=62
  48. https://www.channelpronetwork.com/article/new-law-aids-smbs-combating-cybersecurity-risks
  49. https://krld.radio.com/media/audio-channel/bill-conner-ceo-sonicwall-1
  50. https://thehill.com/opinion/cybersecurity/417451-two-cybersecurity-policies-one-clear-new-objective
  51. https://www.securityweek.com/congress-passes-bill-creating-cybersecurity-agency-dhs
  52. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2018/11/13/13-tech-experts-share-what-facebook-should-do-post-data-breach/
  53. https://www.thestreet.com/video/privacy-problems-for-fang-companies-might-beget-m-a-action-in-cybersecurity-14757766
  54. https://www.itpro.co.uk/data-breaches/32023/facebook-hack-three-million-eu-users-affected-by-breach
  55. https://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/10/09/2018/chart-day-google-plus-never-got-ground
  56. http://www.tcnjsignal.net/2018/10/08/hackers-compromise-facebook-users-security/
  57. https://medium.com/authority-magazine/a-leader-has-to-be-passionate-about-their-work-be-able-to-motivate-their-teams-to-be-equally-eb62eca98beb?sk=c4358f55f4cbe74721b78fe14dcc0857
  58. https://www.verdict.co.uk/unprecedented-russian-cyberattacks-announcement-business/
  59. https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252449996/UK-and-allies-accuse-Russia-of-cyber-attack-campaign
  60. https://www.itpro.co.uk/security/32054/the-uk-us-and-netherlands-accuse-russia-of-cyber-attacks
  61. https://www.scmagazineuk.com/betabot-infostealer-infections-spreading-wild-researchers-say/article/1494804
  62. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/facebook-hack-data-dark-web-login-details-cost-dream-market-a8564671.html
  63. https://www.silicon.co.uk/e-marketing/socialmedia/facebook-hack-gdpr-penalty-237451
  64. https://www.insightssuccess.com/bill-conner-a-vanguard-of-transformational-technology-shifts/
  65. https://moneyinc.com/protecting-smbs-the-key-to-shrinking-nations-cyberattack-surface/
  66. https://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/09/07/2018/social-media-security-costly-worthy-cause-shareholders
  67. https://www.techrepublic.com/article/how-machine-learning-allowed-one-company-to-detect-meltdown-and-spectre-before-intel-went-public/
  68. Conner, Bill. "The Value of Enterprise Privacy". The Guardian. The Guardian. Archived from the original on 2015-12-15.
  69. http://texasceomagazine.com/departments/securing-digital-identities/ Securing digital Identities: Separating Fact From Fiction in Mobile Security, Texas CEO Magazine, March 2013
  70. Viewpoint: U.K. Breach a Precautionary Tale for U.S., American Banker, December 2007
  71. "Cybersecurity: Business Has to Enlist in This War" (co-author) New York Times, Nov. 17, 2003
  72. "Vulnerability on the Cyber Front," co-author with Ret. Gen. Wesley Clark, Washington Times, Aug. 19, 2002
  73. https://www.insightssuccess.com/the-10-most-admired-ceos-to-watch-2018-august2018-august2018/
  74. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-03-30. Retrieved 2018-09-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  75. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2018-08-27. Retrieved 2018-09-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  76. https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/virtualization/300107251/the-25-most-influential-executives-of-2018.htm/6
  77. http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/300089626/the-25-most-influential-executives-of-2017.htm?itc=hp_slideshow
  78. https://www.crn.com/slide-shows/channel-programs/300092256/the-top-midmarket-it-vendor-executives-for-2017.htm/70
  79. PDF from Frost.com detailing the award
  80. PCmag.com showcase of winning products
  81. "Award and details on ICON Magazine website". Archived from the original on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
  82. Media release announcing 2004 Federal US award winners
  83. "Tech Titans organization site, past winners". Archived from the original on 2016-10-29. Retrieved 2016-10-28.
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