Principal Financial Group has appointed Russ Ayres as its new Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer, positioning the executive to lead the company’s global information security strategy and safeguard both company and customer data assets.
Ayres joins Principal following a distinguished tenure at Equifax, where he served as Deputy Chief Information Security Officer and Global Head of Cyber. In these roles, he led critical functions including insider threat management, cyber intelligence, threat and vulnerability management, and fraud monitoring.
He also previously served as Senior Vice President of Global Security Architectural Engineering and interim Chief Security Officer at Equifax.
Prior to Equifax, Ayres held senior leadership roles at IXI, Claritas, and Nielsen, focusing on product development, engineering, and security innovation across technology platforms. His career spans more than 30 years of cybersecurity and technology leadership, underscoring his expertise in building resilient security programs in complex, data-intensive industries.
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