Mr. Shannon M. Lawson has a diverse background in the cybersecurity discipline and extensive military experience with the information and cryptologic warfare community. Shannon currently serves as the Chief Information Security Officer and holds the title of Chief Privacy Officer for the City of Phoenix. He is responsible for the information security and privacy programs for the 5th largest city in the United States, with over 30 city departments that service the needs of 1.7 million residents.
Prior to coming to Phoenix, as the inaugural CISO for the State of Alaska, Mr. Lawson was chosen to prepare and lead an aggressive security modernization program to help the State improve their information security posture. Previous positions include Director of Cybersecurity at the Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (formerly Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command), Command Information Assurance Manager for Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (formerly SPAWAR Systems Center Pacific), AUSGAR Technologies, SAIC, and a member of the National Security Agency’s Red Team. Mr. Lawson also served in the US Navy as a cryptologic technician and an information warfare officer.
Mr. Lawson has earned a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in cybersecurity from Utica College, a Master of Science in Information Assurance from Capitol Technical University and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Carolina. He holds the CISSP, CISM, C|CISO, and CNDA certifications.