March 20, 2016—Carbon Black®, the leader in Next-Generation Endpoint Security (NGES), today announced that Eric O’Neill, a former FBI counterintelligence and counterterrorism operative who helped capture Robert Hanssen, considered by many to be the most notorious spy in U.S. history, has joined the company as national security strategist.

 

In this role, O’Neill provides insight and advice on strategic cyber-security issues and will work to enable Carbon Black’s active participation in the conversation about the national strategy for cyber security. A practicing attorney who specializes in cyber security, counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations, O’Neill also will define and lead Carbon Black’s involvement in national cyber-security issues.

 

Cyber security is one of the most significant issues facing the U.S. and every other industrialized country in the world. The problem has escalated quickly, but meaningful discussion among the industry, the government and top businesses is still in its infancy. O’Neill will work to facilitate Carbon Black’s contribution in helping to identify and articulate solutions to solve the growing cyber threat facing the nation, as well as underscoring the imperative to protect the endpoint.

 

“Working in cyber security for the government and the private sector over the past 20 years, I have seen first-hand how the endpoint has become the primary target of advanced threats and targeted attacks,” said O’Neill. “The information that threat actors want—trade secrets, customer data, medical records and much more—resides on computers, servers or other endpoint devices.

 

“I’m thrilled to be joining a company that is tackling one of cyber security’s hardest problems: how to secure our endpoints. The cyber-security industry and the government have a small window of opportunity to take decisive action to keep our information, economy, infrastructure and people safe in a rapidly escalating threat landscape.” O’Neill said.

 

O’Neill’s pivotal role in the 2001 capture of Hanssen, an FBI counterintelligence agent who was convicted of 15 counts of espionage for selling U.S. secrets to Russia, was the subject of the 2007 film Breach.