Forcepoint has hired Nico Popp, previously with Symantec, as chief product officer, charged with overseeing the global execution and evolution of the company’s behavior-based cloud security platform.

Forcepoint’s Nico Popp

In this newly created role, he also will lead all product development, management and innovation, such as Forcepoint X-Labs, while also leading the strategic integration of the overall product and customer experience.

“The race to embrace digital transformation has created enormous opportunities for global enterprises today,” Popp said. “However, with these significant gains in digital innovation and business productivity comes an added layer of security complexity. This complexity can only be addressed by moving traditional security to the cloud. Forcepoint is uniquely positioned to capture this industry shift toward security as a service. The new cloud capabilities which Forcepoint is introducing through its dynamic data protection and dynamic edge protection security platform present a very real opportunity for customers to derive the benefits of digital transformation, allowing them to accelerate business growth and desired business outcomes. This is a critical tipping point moment for the cybersecurity industry, as the legacy approaches to securing users and data must change. And with the industry’s most comprehensive portfolio available to customers today, Forcepoint is uniquely positioned to be the next recognized leader of global cybersecurity. There couldn’t be a better time to join this team and help drive forward the Forcepoint mission.”

Popp brings more than 15 years of cloud operations and product development experience to Forcepoint. As Symantec‘s senior vice president of cloud and information protection, he developed and introduced to market cloud-first products. Prior to Symantec, he held senior leadership roles at Verisign and RealNames.

“As chief product officer, Nico brings to Forcepoint a deep understanding of the cloud security market and the criticality of a customer-centric approach to innovative security product development,” said Matthew Moynahan, Forcepoint’s CEO. “He has decades of experience building highly technical products and the teams behind them and will be a force multiplier to advance adoption of Forcepoint’s dynamic cloud security platforms for data, users and networks with enterprises and government agencies worldwide. I am excited to partner with him to firmly establish Forcepoint as a modern cyber security leader.”