Retired admiral, Patrick Walsh, joins iSIGHT Partners, a cyber threat firm

iSIGHT Partners, a cyber threat intelligence company, announced on Feb. 20 the appointment of Admiral Patrick Walsh (USN-Ret.) as senior vice president, iSIGHT Partners and general manager of ThreatSPACE.

Having held command in some of the most demanding joint operations around the world, Admiral Walsh brings deep experience in training and leading global organizations.

He will lead iSIGHT Partners’ ThreatSPACE business unit, a live-fire cyber range and training facility where cyber security organizations earn hands-on instruction in responding to cyber attacks. As the lead for ThreatSPACE, Admiral Walsh will draw on his extensive experience with Exercise RIMPAC, the world’s largest international maritime warfare exercise, to expand cyber training to large-scale and joint cyber security response operations.

“Building an intelligence-led cyber security organization requires three critical components: intelligence, integration, and training,” said John Watters, CEO of iSIGHT Partners. “These components must extend beyond the cyber security organization to include senior leadership from government and business. Simply said, nobody gets joint operations and training better than Patrick Walsh.”

Admiral Walsh, a Dallas native, retired from the Navy in 2012 after serving as the 59th Commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Prior notable commands included Vice Chief of Naval Operations, U.S. Fifth Fleet, Carrier Group Seven/John C. Stennis Strike Group, and VFA-105. He is a 1977 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and holds a master of arts and doctorate degrees from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University.

“Cyber threats offer the single biggest challenge to global freedom and commerce,” said Admiral Walsh. “In response, cyber security organizations need to lean forward, using intelligence to shape a tailored risk management strategy and regular training to refine execution. In the Internet era, cyber response training is the new fire drill — every business should run them at least twice a year.”