Steel Root, a leading cybersecurity services firm that specializes in compliance for the U.S. Defense Industrial Base, announces the hiring of two new senior-level staffers.
Samuel May, an expert on DoD cybersecurity requirements and a Certified Information Systems Security Professional, has been added by Steel Root as Senior Compliance Advisor. Ben Wheat, whose expertise includes designing, building, and automating cloud services in Microsoft Azure Government and GCC High, has been hired as Systems Engineer leading development of Steel Root’s cloud systems architecture for CMMC compliance.
“Steel Root is committed to strengthening our leadership role in cybersecurity and compliance services for the Defense Industrial Base,” said managing partner, Ryan Heidorn. “These key hires serve to accomplish that goal.
“Sam has spent his information security career leading cybersecurity and compliance at multiple defense contractors. He brings a rare match of industry experience and specialized knowledge that will help our clients achieve DFARS compliance and prepare for CMMC. Ben’s niche expertise in the Microsoft Government cloud is a critical addition to our efforts to help customers meet DoD compliance requirements in the cloud.”
May previously served as Deputy Sector Chief for the Defense Industrial Base at the Boston chapter of InfraGard, a public-private partnership with the FBI to protect critical infrastructure, where he launched and led a CMMC working group. May has also served as Information Systems Security Manager at Microwave Engineering Corp., North Andover, MA, and Information Systems Manager at Tactical Air Support, Reno, NV.
Wheat comes to Steel Root from Systematic, Inc., Centreville, VA, where his duties as Systems Administrator included building, configuring, and managing information systems and procedures in support of NIST SP 800-171 requirements. Wheat will lead development of Steel Root’s solutions for cloud-native system architecture for customers with DoD cybersecurity requirements under DFARS and CMMC.
