The Retail and Hospitality Information Sharing and Analysis Center (RH-ISAC) announced its 2023 award winners during the annual membership meeting held on October 3 in Plano, Texas. The awards recognize outstanding companies and individuals who have displayed extraordinary dedication to RH-ISAC’s mission to build a collaborative sharing community that enables consumer-facing organizations to defend against cyber threats.
CISO of the Year: Brett Cumming, Skechers
Brett Cumming, sr. director of information security at Skechers, won the 2023 Peer Choice Award for CISO of the Year. This award honors exceptional leadership and recognizes a recipient who is a thought leader whose experiences add strategic value and whose engagements are an asset to the larger community.
Brett is a highly engaged member of the RH-ISAC, where he serves as a member of the board of directors and is an active participant in the CISO community. In addition to being named as CISO of the Year, Brett was also honored as an inaugural recipient of the RH-ISAC Community Development award, which honors those who have helped grow RH-ISAC membership.
Cybersecurity Practitioner of the Year: Matt Brady, Target
Matt Brady, director of cyber threat intelligence at Target, earned the 2023 Peer Choice Award for Cybersecurity Practitioner of the Year, which honors a cyber intelligence practitioner who has demonstrated significant time, energy, and involvement to add value to the RH-ISAC by sharing threat intelligence and contributing content to events.
Matt is one of the most active RH-ISAC members, and he regularly contributes valuable intel and RFI responses on RH-ISAC’s Member Exchange and Slack channels. He has also been a featured speaker at multiple RH-ISAC events, including participating in a breakout session panel at the 2023 Summit.
Team of the Year: Target
The Team of the Year award honors a cybersecurity team that has demonstrated significant time, energy, and involvement to add value to the RH-ISAC organization by sharing threat intelligence, and contributing content to webinars, events, and working groups. The 2023 recipient of this award is Target, one of RH-ISAC’s most active Core Members. Over the past year, Target has been instrumental in establishing new RH-ISAC Working Groups and participating in events, including hosting a CISO event at their headquarters in Minneapolis.
Associate Member of the Year: Palo Alto
The Peer Choice Award for Associate Member of the Year honors a company that has displayed valuable support to RH-ISAC members by offering thought leadership, actionable intelligence, and other resources. The 2023 recipient of this award is Palo Alto Networks, a global cybersecurity solutions provider that regularly publishes content in its Unit 42 CTI Blog, providing members with valuable insight into intel threat trends.
Additional Awards
In addition to the Peer Choice Awards, the RH-ISAC recognized the following individuals and companies for outstanding contributions to the RH-ISAC community.
- Fast Starter Award: This award is given to an organization that has been a Core Member for less than 12 months but has quickly become a valuable contributor across RH-ISAC sharing platforms. The 2023 winners are SHEIN USA and Kroger.
- Team Player of the Year: This award honors an RH-ISAC member practitioner who has demonstrated significant excellence in providing expertise and leadership within the last twelve months. The 2023 first-place winner is Jacob Napierskie, cyber threat intelligence lead at SHEIN USA.
- Working Group Warrior: This award honors an RH-ISAC member who has demonstrated significant selflessness in providing expertise and leadership in one or more Working Groups – including presenting or facilitating sessions and spearheading new working groups – within the last 12 months. The 2023 first-place winner is Chris De La Rosa, senior threat intelligence analyst at Dick’s Sporting Goods.
- Sharing & Collaboration Challenge – Teams: The recipients of this award are based on cumulative points earned over the past twelve months in the Sharing & Collaboration Challenge, which tracks team participation in various RH-ISAC channels. Winners are awarded in four categories based on the number of employees on the team. The first-place winners in each category for 2023 are Kontoor Brands, IHG Hotels and Resorts, Marriott International, and Target.
- Sharing & Collaboration Challenge – Individual: This award is given to the individual who earned the most points in the Sharing & Collaboration Challenge over the past twelve months. The 2023 first-place winner is Matt Brady, director of cyber threat intelligence at Target.