Illena Armstrong

President, CSA

Illena Armstrong is a long-time international media and business development leader who, with the help of the talented teams she has managed over the years, successfully built and maintained a wide range of award-winning, digitally-driven multimedia, intelligence/research, and educational offerings serving targeted audiences. Along with her current role as President of CSA, she serves as a Fellow with the International Association of Certified ISAOs (IACI) and is Co-Chair of the IACI Global Security Resilience Alliance (GSRA), which serves as the IACI Advisory Board. Additionally, she currently sits on the Board of Advisors for Cybersecurity Ventures, a leading researcher and publisher covering the global cyber economy, and is an Executive Advisory Board Member with the United Cybersecurity Alliance, an organization that offers various educational and skills development programs that promote diversity, inclusion, and equality in the cybersecurity workforce. She also is a member of Chief, a private network designed to support and strengthen women in executive leadership, magnify their influence, and help pave the way for still more powerful women to secure top leadership roles

Prior to these positions, she was VP of Editorial, at SC Media, a business media brand for the information security industry. While there, she spearheaded and managed all content strategy and development, as well as played a key leadership role in driving the brand’s overall business and commercial growth with the support of team members scattered across the US and UK.

Leveraging years in the cybersecurity industry and her brand-building, digital media, editorial, design, website, marketing/PR, social media, event, and overall business/commercial experience, she has established a multitude of award-winning digital content and editorial offerings, such as virtual events/webcasts, video/podcast programs, physical events, social media channels and traditional hardcopy/digital editions. Working closely with other brand and sales colleagues, she also has created and launched research-based products, single- and multi-tiered custom offerings, awards/recognition programs, and still other product lines.

In addition to being named to Cyber Defense Magazine's "Top 25 Women in Cybersecurity" for 2019 (https://cyberdefenseawards.com/top-25-women-in-cybersecurity/), on her watch, SC won more than 40 awards from such industry groups as the American Society of Business Publication Editors, Trade Association Business Publications International, Folio and MIN Online. She has spoken/moderated at several domestic and international industry events, including RSA Conference, National Credit Union-ISAO Annual Conference, ACCOSCA/CU Difference Tour, Techno Security Conference, a plethora of virtual events/webcasts, and others. Prior to these endeavors, she worked for various newspapers, consumer/business magazines, and eldercare journals in New England and the southern United States at which she received still more honors.