Amit Yoran becomes CEO at NetWitness

Amit Yoran has been named chief executive officer of NetWitness, a provider of network forensic analysis products, the company announced. Yoran served one year as director of the Homeland Security Department's National Cyber Security Division. He declined to say why he left the post, but some said he had become frustrated with his inability to "move the ball forward." Before that he was CEO of In-Q-Tel, the venture capital arm of the CIA, for four months. Yoran left that job because he wanted to spend more time with his family and less time traveling to visit companies in which the group had invested, according to reports.He was also co-founder and CEO of Riptech, an information technology security services provider until Symantec acquired the company in 2002. "Amit's vast experience with security from startups to the Department of Homeland Security provides an excellent backdrop for understanding how the network security market will develop in the future," Nick Lantuh, president of NetWitness, said in the announcement. "With the addition of Amit, NetWitness is well positioned to execute on a sizable market opportunity and to continue with our rapid growth." NetWitness has worked with customers in the intelligence community, federal law enforcement and the Defense Department for more than a decade, Yoran said. "I look forward to the prospects which lay ahead for NetWitness and for its applications within the commercial enterprise and government security infrastructures," he said.