An innovation-minded cybersecurity consultancy

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Vanguard

A pioneer in the Digital Information Age’s
most transformational technology shifts

From incorporating machine learning and cloud architecture to accelerate SonicWall’s multi-engine Capture Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) sandbox service, to his work in securing digital identities and SaaS with Entrust, and bringing secure communications and privacy from the consumer to the enterprise through mobile and cloud with Silent Circle, Conner has been on the front edge of the most transformational technology shifts in the Digital Information Age.

Bill Conner

Bill Conner is among the most experienced security, data and infrastructure executives worldwide, with a career spanning over 30 years across numerous high-tech industries. A corporate turnaround expert, some of his most recent successes were during his time as President and CEO of SonicWall, one of the world’s most trusted network security companies, acquired as a carve out from Dell by Francisco Partners and Elliott Management in November of 2016. SonicWall’s next-generation firewalls and network security solutions protect more than 1 million networks worldwide, for more than 500,000 organizations in more than 150 countries. Under Conner’s leadership, SonicWall surpassed the ambitious financial and operational metrics set across the business, delivering record partner registrations (over 18,000 partners / 5,000 net new), strong pipeline growth (over $330M in new partner deal registrations), key service improvements (80% reduction in wait times), the release of a new global marketing campaign, and the unprecedented release of advanced network security products and services for SonicWall’s Automated Real-Time Breach Detection and Prevention Platform, across wired, wireless and mobile networks.

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Visionary Leader

In his three decades of leadership, Bill Conner has re-engineered product lines, built world-class service organizations, re-aligned global sales organizations, and created industry-leading marketing campaigns. As Entrust’s President and CEO, Conner quickly re-engineered the technology-led company to be customer- and market-driven, creating a best-in-class company. Upon taking Entrust private in 2009 with the private equity firm Thoma Bravo, he reset corporate priorities to take advantage of new market dynamics such as SaaS and mobility.

Contributing to the strong growth were record customer renewal rates exceeding 98%. In 2013, Entrust was purchased for a record 6.5 times the 2009 investment.

After he was appointed President and CEO of Silent Circle, Conner quickly repositioned the consumer privacy company into a mobile Enterprise Privacy Platform (EPP) focused business. This included creating the marketing category, re-engineering the products and the global cloud delivery, and re-building the sales, service and marketing functions.

When Comodo Certification Authority was acquired by Francisco Partners in October of 2017, Bill was named Executive Chairman of the Board. The acquisition represented a strong blend of technology, innovation and execution, as SSL certificates became further entrenched in organizations’ security protocols with the growing security risks associated with the massive growth in online and Internet of Things (IoT) traffic. Conner’s appointment and investment by Francisco Partners supported the company’s accelerated growth as it focused attention on the CA business, given the significant opportunity in the market. Bill oversaw the company’s rebrand to Sectigo, and expanded the business to reach a “Rule of 70,” with a 3x return on investment.

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Guiding Expertise

Conner is a staunch supporter of public-private partnerships on cybersecurity, and is regularly called on to share his expertise with global leaders at major financial institutions, enterprises and governments. He served as co-chair of DHS’s first public/private task force on cybersecurity.

Over the years he’s been recognized with numerous awards, including being named a finalist for SC Awards “Security Executive of the Year” in 2022. Other honors include being awarded SC Media’s 2017 Reboot Leadership Award, named as one of the “Top 25 Most Influential Executives” for 2017, named to the Top Midmarket IT Vendor Executives for 2017, Marketing Computers “Marketer of the Year”, Tech Titans “Corporate CEO of the Year”, Federal Computer’s “Top 100 Award”, and the “National Youth Science Camp Alumnus of the Year.”

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Specialties:

  • National Cybersecurity and Cyberdefense legislation and initiatives
  • Public-private partnerships
  • Cybersecurity thought leadership and global initiatives
  • Corporate organizational restructuring and turnarounds
  • Identifying and evaluating technology and security trends
  • Global eGovernment leadership and insights
  • Global sales and marketing organizational structure and alignment
  • FCC regulatory reforms (AT&T Services)

Board Experience:

  • Crytica Security, Reno, Nevada
  • JBB Advanced Technology, Dallas, Texas
  • SonicWall, Silicon Valley, California
  • Sectigo, Roseland, New Jersey
  • Inuvo, Little Rock, Arkansas
  • Travelocity, Dallas, Texas
  • WilTel Communications Group, Houston, Texas & Tulsa, Oklahoma
  • Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Dallas, Texas
  • MatraCom Joint Venture, Paris, France