NEW YORK, May 16, 2024 - Dispel today announced its Board of Directors appointed Dean Macris as the company’s Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). In this role, Dean shall be responsible for Dispel’s corporate and product alignment with NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, NIST 800-172, NERC CIP, IEC 62443, SOC 2, and ISO 27001.

“Given the environments our systems are being asked to operate in, we needed someone who recognized cybersecurity was not only a programming and process problem, but also an electromagnetic problem,” said Chris DiLorenzo, Dispel’s CTO. “Dean has that firsthand knowledge.”

Dean brings extensive cybersecurity experience to Dispel in both operational technology and information technology. His previous responsibilities include serving as the Theater Operations Officer of U.S. Forces Korea; Cyber Technical Director for Naval Special Warfare; managing General Dynamics Electric Boat company’s Signature Secret Network, their largest classified information system; and teaching as an instructor of Cyber Systems at the United States Coast Guard Academy, where he led the development of the Seagoing Vessel Testbed (SVT) for Industrial Controls that sits in the Control Environment Laboratory Resource (CELR). Dean continues his service as a Lieutenant Commander in the U.S. Navy.

Dean’s responsibilities shall include contributing to engineering and product design throughout the system lifecycle. “We wanted someone who would work to meet the spirit, as well as the letter, of cybersecurity standards,” said Ian Schmertzler, Dispel’s President and Co-founder. “That is not only the right thing to do, but also a competitive differentiator in our markets.”

Dean holds a BS in Systems Engineering from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy and an MBA from the University of Connecticut. Continuing his studies, Dean is a National Security and Strategic Studies Master’s student at the U.S. Naval War College and a Computer Engineering PhD student at the University of Rhode Island.