Federal 100: Chris Townsend
Name: Chris Townsend
Title: Vice President, Federal
Company: Symantec
Lighting up shadow IT. Townsend uses cloud technology to help agencies gain visibility into the shadow IT running on — and threatening — their networks. In pre-migration audits, he and his team have identified hundreds of unsanctioned applications and found 50 high-risk applications in one assessment. “Chris is dedicated to preventing this shadow IT from impacting agency networks while providing a roadmap for efficient, effective and secure cloud migration,” a colleague said. Townsend also helped upgrade the communications environment for the Defense Department’s Joint Regional Security Stacks platform, a departmentwide initiative to gain better visibility into network activity, enhance cybersecurity and share information.