Munish Walther-Puri

New York City Cyber Command / Cyber Critical Services Band Infrastructure Liaison Officer

Munish is a seasoned risk and security professional, now working for the City of New York. In addition to building the cyber risk program, he has advised on biometric security and privacy, industrial control systems, incident response, and third party risk management, with a thoughtful, holistic perspective to how NYC Cyber Command improves cybersecurity for myriad City services. He considers both the human and technical sides of security and balances the pragmatic with the political.

As the chief research officer at a dark web intelligence firm, he led a team that evaluated the exposure of sensitive data sets – personal, financial, and commercial. Munish’s unconventional professional trajectory has spanned think tanks to consulting firms to startups to financial services to city government. He has carved out a unique expertise: he comprehends how data can be leveraged – as early warning for political instability, as an erosion of privacy, as a source of geopolitical shifts, or as a target for nation states. And he has a track record of scholarship in each of these areas and has received external recognition for his knowledge and expertise, too: Munish was twice selected for the DHS-ODNI Analyst Exchange Program, and, most recently, as a Yale Cyber Leadership Fellow.

Security in technology is about trust – between humans. Few embody a commitment to trust better than Munish. He earns and safeguards trust by communicating the complexity of cyber risk and security to both technical and non-technical audiences. Whether about people, process, or platforms, Munish is not afraid to ask difficult questions, and he is always prepared to act on the answers.

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