Kimberly Pease Honored as Cybersecurity Professional of the Year by Los Angeles Business Journal

LOS ANGELES - March 29, 2017 - PRLog -- The Los Angeles Business Journal has awarded its Cybersecurity Professional of the Year Award to Kimberly Pease, Citadel Information Group Vice President and Co-Founder, for her leadership helping users understand the vital role they play in securing information.

"Our computer users are the first line of defense," says Ms. Pease. "With statistics indicating that the vast majority of successful cyber breaches occur when users are fooled by a social engineering phishing attack, it's imperative that we train users to just say no."

Pease's passion for helping people use technology coupled with her entrepreneurial spirit led her to co-found Citadel Information Group in 2002. In a time before cybercrime and cyber incidents became daily occurrences, Pease was blazing the trail, already speaking with business and nonprofit leaders, encouraging them to focus strategically on countering the risks to information, which extends well-beyond technology.

"If we're to 'win' the battle against cybercrime," Ms. Pease says, "we're going to have to enlist everyone in the organization — the C-suite, users, and the IT Department. First and foremost, this means changing culture. We cannot expect IT to do this alone."

"And not just in our businesses and nonprofits," she continued. "We have to work together as a community, helping each other, learning from each other, and building relationships with law enforcement. That's why I'm so proud of the work my co-founder, Citadel President, Dr. Stan Stahl, does leading SecureTheVillage, the nonprofit he founded to provide executives, their boards, and trusted advisors the knowledge and relationships they need to meet today's cybercrime, cyber privacy and information security challenges. As he has said for years, it takes the village to secure the village."

Well-known in the Los Angeles community, Pease speaks regularly on information security management to groups and professional associations. She has been interviewed several times on national television for ABC's Good Morning America and NBC News. As a cyber security subject matter expert with a passion for helping users just say no, the media has turned to Pease multiple times for comments and input on several reported cyber incidents.

About Citadel Information Group

Citadel Information Group is a full service integrated cyber security management / governance firm. The firm delivers Information Peace of Mind ® to Business and the Not-for-Profit Community. The firm works either consultatively or as part of a client's senior management team to assist them cost-effectively manage the confidentiality, privacy, integrity and availability of their information. Citadel provides clients a combination of management expertise, technology know-how, leadership, coaching and training. Follow Citadel on Twitter: @CitadelOnSecrty. Sign up for our FREE Weekly Cyber Security Newsletter & Vulnerability Report delivered to your in-box. Citadel-Information.com