F5 appoints Samir Sherif as CISO
F5 announced the appointment of Samir Sherif as SVP and CISO. In this role, Sherif will lead F5’s enterprise cybersecurity strategy and security culture, evolve F5’s security capabilities and resilience, oversee cybersecurity standards and programs for F5’s products and services, and showcase to customers and the broader industry the value of F5’s security solutions.
As a seasoned CISO and an expert in application security, Sherif’s arrival marks a significant addition to F5’s leadership team. His previous tenure as CISO at both Absolute Software and Imperva, coupled with an extensive career at Citigroup—culminating as the Global Head of Application Security—has equipped Sherif with considerable experience in helping organizations around the globe navigate today’s complex security, resilience, and compliance landscape.
“Samir’s appointment is a result of F5’s unwavering commitment to ensuring the highest level of security is woven into the fabric of our operational processes and product offerings,” said Tom Fountain, EVP, Global Services and Chief Strategy Officer at F5. “His vast experience and leadership in application security are assets that will propel our enterprise security measures and help us safeguard our customers’ digital experiences.”
Sherif’s arrival highlights F5’s emphasis on security at a time when applications continue to be at the heart of all digital experiences. When apps are secure, they unlock value and potential—however, just as apps have become critical for life online, they’ve also become harder to protect. Today’s apps are built on multiple architectures, distributed over various cloud environments, and connected by an exploding number of APIs—complexity that requires more skill and resources to manage, while creating more points of vulnerability for cybercriminals to attack.
It is F5’s mission to provide an easy, efficient way to secure, scale, optimize, and manage all applications and APIs—no matter where they are deployed—so businesses can flourish in a multi-cloud world.
“As the new Chief Information Security Officer at F5, my mission is to harness our leadership in multi-cloud application security to further strengthen our enterprise cybersecurity initiatives,” said Sherif. “By continuing to raise the bar on our security culture and standards and showcasing the intrinsic value of our security technologies, we aim to empower our customers to build a better and more secure digital world. I am excited to build on F5’s commitment to ensuring that security is the foundation of our offerings.”
Sherif takes over F5’s CISO role for Gail Coury, who is retiring on March 1 after successfully leading the company’s enterprise security efforts for the past three years.