The 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 showed Christopher T. Pierson, then a University of Iowa Ph.D candidate, the importance of cybersecurity.
After working as a programmer, he landed a job as an attorney with the Arizona law firm Lewis and Roca LLP. There he established the firm’s Cybersecurity Practice Group and eventually led the FBI’s Phoenix InfraGard program, an association of businesses, schools, state and local law enforcement, and private individuals dedicated to stopping terrorism through the sharing of intelligence.
Pierson was appointed by then-Gov. Janet Napolitano as a volunteer member of Arizona’s Homeland Security Coordinating Council. He provided advice and threat analysis to the director of homeland security on cybersecurity and infrastructure protection.
Three years ago, Pierson joined Citizens Financial Group Inc., where he serves as the company’s first chief privacy officer.
“The privacy office has become a trusted partner within the company to mitigate the threats to personally identifiable information and compliment Citizens Financial Group’s mission statement … by creating a culture within [the company] that is privacy aware and focused on customer trust,” he wrote in his 40 Under Forty application.
Pierson has helped push privacy and data protection for the bank’s customers and employees. They include physical security safeguards, identity-theft controls and developing policies and a governance process in this still-evolving area.
His deep commitment to cyberlaw and information security has won him many honors, including a certificate of appreciation from the Secret Service. Yet he’s never lost his desire to give back to the community. In addition to pro bono legal work, he’s served as a volunteer EMT and firefighter, and as an instructor for the American Red Cross. •
