Beth-Anne Bygum Honored with 2023 Champions in Security Award

Acxiom’s Chief Security and Compliance Officer recognized as a cybersecurity leader who exemplifies the important human values of Inclusion

The inaugural Champions in Security Awards today announced its 2023 honorees. The awards, sponsored by Titaniam, Inc., recognize leaders who exemplify the critical human values of Respect, Inclusion, Collaboration, Community, Innovation, and Education in cybersecurity. Among this esteemed list of industry leaders, Beth-Anne Bygum, Acxiom’s Chief Security and Compliance Officer was named a Champion in Security: Inclusion for her efforts in seeking out and promoting talent from underrepresented backgrounds, as well as transitioning military professionals. By providing training, support and ensuring equitable progress, she actively fosters an environment of inclusivity for all associates at Acxiom.

About the Champion in Security Inclusion Award:

The Champion in Security Award for Inclusion honors the security leaders who organize their team to accommodate diversity, equality and inclusion principles to the fullest degree. These individuals actively solicit individuals from diverse as well as underrepresented groups and provide training to overcome barriers to equitable progress. These leaders recognize that as a community of practitioners, security has historically not been very diverse, and so they work hard to bring about significant change in how their teams are staffed and also to ensure that individuals from diverse backgrounds are welcomed, trained, and rewarded in a fair and equitable manner.

Beth-Anne Bygum has dedicated her nearly 30-year career to building resilient security and information governance programs, connecting teams across diverse organizations spanning biotechnology, consumer product goods, data science and technology. At Acxiom, she leads the organization's global cybersecurity, enterprise risk management, and information governance strategies, navigating heavily regulated industries while maintaining audit readiness. Taking a forward-thinking approach to risk, Beth-Anne emphasizes the importance of a technical interpretation of controls through automation for more efficient and effective management of risks. This innovative process has earned Beth-Anne a position as a valued member of Weber Shandwick's Collective Senior Advisors, a network of experts across media, technology, policy, and society. As part of this group, she helps industry leaders prepare for emerging technologies and capitalize on opportunities via transformative digital strategies.

However, Beth-Anne's commitment to excellence extends beyond her professional resume. She is a passionate advocate of returnships, which address the persistent cyber resource gaps by leveraging the power of a diverse and inclusive staff. She co-founded Acxiom's Black Employee Network and co-sponsored access for transitioning military professionals through a strategic partnership with the Arkansas-based Forge Institute. Beth-Anne’s ultimate vision is to enable a technically competent workforce that reflects the world in which we live.

"I am deeply honored to receive the inaugural 2023 Champion in Security Award for Inclusion and be recognized among such an exceptional group of professionals," said Beth-Anne Bygum, CISO at Acxiom. "I remain committed to creating a positive impact through inclusivity in our industry and beyond. Breaking down barriers and providing equitable pathways for underrepresented groups to succeed is vital in helping us develop comprehensive and effective security strategies. This recognition strengthens my resolve to continue this important work, and I am excited to lead the charge toward a more diverse and secure future.”

The awards ceremony will take place on Monday, April 24, 2023, from 2-4:30 p.m. PT at 575 Howard Street, San Francisco, Calif, the opening day of the 2023 RSA Conference. The reception and networking event will allow attendees to network with fellow cybersecurity leaders, celebrate the 2023 honorees, and enjoy keynotes by Qualcomm’s board director and former Girl Scouts of America CEO Sylvia Acevedo and Aon Cyber Solutions Chief Trust Officer Kate Kuehn.During the awards gala reception, honorees will be recognized in six categories.

“Helping make the world a safer place has been my life’s work for over 25 years. I know from personal experience the incredible impact mentors and colleagues have and still have over the span of a career,” said Kuehn. “Cybersecurity is a small community in which we must foster the support, respect, collaboration, and friendship necessary if you are to keep pace with the rapid pace of change we are all faced with. It is the human values, though, that make this noble career even more rewarding, and why for me, it has simply become part of who I am. I applaud the Champion in Security Awards for creating a forum to recognize Respect, Inclusion, Collaboration, Community, and Innovation, and bringing up the Next Generation as important values in our community. I am delighted and honored to be keynoting this important event that honors security leaders who exemplify these values.”

Acevedo, who was named 2018 Cybersecurity Person of the Year, added, “Making an impact in cybersecurity can often be challenging and thankless. The opportunity to come together to give credit to those who not only do the work but do it with respect, inclusion, collaboration and a strong sense of community is really wonderful. These awards are the beginning of a long-term commitment towards making the cybersecurity profession better for today's practitioners as well as future generations. Let us continue to work together to celebrate each other as we all make important contributions to our craft.”

Joining Acevedo and Kuehn in presenting awards are Troy Wilkinson, Global CISO of IPG, Kurt John, Global CISO of Expedia Group, Pavi Ramamurthy, Former CISO of Upstart, Bhawna Singh, SVP of Engineering at Okta, and Leda Muller, CISO of Stanford University (Residential & Dining).

“We are proud of our inaugural Champions in Security Awards winners. These are leaders that are making a difference, not only in their technical practice but in the lives of their colleagues and industry as a whole,” said Arti Raman, CEO and founder, Titaniam. “RSAC’s 2023 theme is ‘stronger together,’ a motto that each and every honoree lives by. These award winners go out of their way to strengthen not just their team’s technical capabilities but also their enthusiasm, motivation, education, and drive. When the human side of cybersecurity is well supported, bad actors will forever be challenged.”

If you would like to attend the award gala reception please purchase your ticket here. Proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to youth cyber education programs.

About The Champion in Security Awards Sponsor

Titaniam is an award-winning data security platform that converges ten security and privacy controls into one enterprise-grade solution, thus delivering unprecedented security at a fraction of traditional prices. From cutting-edge encryption-in-use and searchable encryption to all types of tokenization, masking, redaction, traditional / format-preserving encryption, anonymization, hashing, and BYOK/HYOK, Titaniam does the work of more than 5 other solutions. From securing back-end data from typically lethal attacks involving compromised admin credentials to aiding secure analytics, centralized privacy enforcement, secure data sharing, and ransomware extortion mitigation, Titaniam is well suited to secure data in today's challenging environment.

In the event of an attack, Titaniam offers auditable evidence that valuable data retained encryption throughout the attack, thus minimizing compliance as well as notification obligations. Titaniam is a Gartner Cool Vendor in Data Security, named Vendor in Gartner Hype Cycle for Data Security, named Vendor in Gartner Hype Cycle for Data Privacy, featured vendor in Gartner’s Report on Enterprise Key Management, Winner of three Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, winner of the coveted SINET16 Security Innovator Award, four Global Infosec Awards at RSAC2022, TAG Cyber Distinguished Vendor, and Intellyx Digital Innovator. To learn more, visit https://titaniam.io/.

About Acxiom

Acxiom partners with the world’s leading brands to create customer intelligence, enabling data-driven marketing experiences that generate value for people and for brands. The experts in identity, the ethical use of data, cloud-first customer data management, and analytics solutions, Acxiom makes the complex marketing ecosystem work, applying customer intelligence wherever brands and customers meet. By helping brands genuinely understand people, Acxiom enables experiences so relevant and respectful, people are willing to explore new brands and stay loyal to those they love. For more than 50 years, Acxiom has improved clients’ customer acquisition, growth, and retention. With locations in the US, UK, China, Poland, and Germany, Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom LLC and is part of The Interpublic Group of Companies, Inc. (IPG). For more information, visit Acxiom.com.

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