Teresa Shea, an experienced government and private sector official specializing in intelligence and cybersecurity, has been appointed to the board of directors of Cigent Technology.
The Fort Myers, Florida-based security program maker said Wednesday that it hopes to utilize Shea’s extensive knowledge culled from decades spent at organizations such as the National Security Agency, Raytheon Intelligence & Space and In-Q-Tel.
Cigent CEO John Benkert, who also worked at NSA, praised Shea’s command of said subject matter and explained that the incoming executive has been a proponent of Cigent’s offerings for years and assisted the organization establish partnerships with several government customers.
“She will provide valuable guidance as we work to develop new relationships with government agencies and fulfill our mission of ending ransomware attacks and data theft, as well as compliance for business and government,” Benkert added.
At NSA, Shea held roles of increasing responsibility, climbing the ladder to ultimately hold the position of signals intelligence director. After closing out her over three-decade NSA tenure, Shea transitioned to the private sector to work at strategic investment organization In-Q-Tel as its executive vice president of technology, helping to lead the company’s objective to invest in innovative start-ups that avail the U.S. Intelligence Community.
Following her stint at In-Q-Tel, Shea was vice president of cyber offense defense experts-CODEX for Raytheon Intelligence & Space. In the past, she has served as an advisor on the boards of MITRE Corporation and the Virginia Tech Hume Center and currently presides on the Electrical and Computer Engineering School Board at Georgia Institute of Technology, the school from which she holds her bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.
Shea is poised to share her understanding gleaned from working in both government and industry with Cigent as the company works to aid government agencies, especially the Department of Defense, with the safeguarding of its data and information. The executive reportedly sees a future for the company with private sector clients as well.