As Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Laura Deaner is accountable for establishing and steering Northwestern Mutual’s enterprise-wide information risk management and security strategy. She champions the build-out of an integrated risk culture, driving effective operation of technical and administrative controls. Laura works closely with the executive leadership and the Board of Trustees, matching effective controls to an appropriate level of risk tolerance. Leading the enterprise’s second line of defense, she is responsible for prioritizing and sequencing the treatment of information security risks aligned with industry-standard risk management frameworks.

Before coming to Northwestern Mutual in 2021, Laura was the Chief Information Security Officer at S&P Global, responsible for establishing and driving the enterprise information security vision and program. She leverages her twenty-two years working in security for multi-national Fortune 500 companies to build effective and robust information security programs by aligning deep technical expertise with executive business vision and support. She was previously the first named CISO at PRNewswire, where she built a comprehensive security practice from the ground up.

Laura holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Old Dominion University in Virginia. She is a member of several information security and technology societies including OWASP, WiCyS, ISC2, and the Society of Women Engineers (SWE). She’s featured in Women Know Cyber – 100 Fascinating Females Fighting Cybercrime.

Laura is an advocate for diversity and inclusion in technology as well as her field of Cyber Security. She served as a council member of the S&P Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Council which is tasked with fostering a diverse and inclusive environment.  Her accomplishments as a council member have included revamping the Employee Resource Groups and adding sentiment and data-driven metrics to enhance the community goals. She worked to establish partnerships with various organizations to build diverse talent pipelines in technology organizations such as Girls Who Code.

Laura loves spending time with her family. She and her partner Murray are proud parents of four boys.  They live in Brooklyn, NY where they love getting outdoors as a family for hiking, bike rides and amateur astronomy star gazing.