About Us | Braintrace

Braintrace is a privately held, sole-source security provider headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah.

In addition to providing cutting-edge information security and IT services, Braintrace has vast experience in advising customers in broad areas of security-related business risks, including government compliance and regulatory issues. With this knowledge, Braintrace is positioned to provide unique expertise and technology to help corporations and vendors in any industry remain safe. To this end, Braintrace operates five unique business units: Managed Security Service Provider (MSSP), Advisory Services , Value-Added Reseller (VAR), BraintraceLABS, and Managed Services Provider (MSP).

LEADERSHIP

Bret Laughlin
CEO

With over 25 years of experience managing and building successful technology-driven service companies, Bret Laughlin saw the real and urgent need to improve how organizations protect vital data that is the target of sophisticated cybercriminals. He is the Founder and CEO of Braintrace. His last success story was building and launching a leading eDiscovery company.

Jim Ellsworth
President

Jim Ellsworth has more than 20 years experience as a successful entrepreneur, investor, and advisor. He identifies and invigorates innovative companies led by thought leaders and positioned to solve challenging customer problems. Over his career, he has been involved in the growth and management of businesses ranging from technology to consumer products to real estate.

Gregory J. Spicer
CRO

As head of sales and marketing, Greg Spicer matches each customer’s unique infrastructure and needs with the ideal Braintrace solution. Greg leverages his 25 years of proven strategic, operations, professional services and client-relations experience to improve outcomes. His partnerships with C-Level executives and client-technology leaders develop solutions that deliver on corporate goals.

Carl Peterson
CIO

A technology authority with 25 years of experience, Carl Peterson has been an advocate of speeding the development of IT security. He saw early on that the need was too great for an evolution, so he advocated for a security-technology revolution. He has been actively involved in reinventing IT Security – particularly in the legal industry.

John Limb
CTO

John Limb’s extensive experience gives him a complete view of IT infrastructure, from networking, storage, and hypervisor to devices, high-risk user habits and beyond. As an information-security professional with over 18 years of experience John is a hands-on thought leader and system design expert.

Kate Riley
Director of Information Security & Compliance

Katherine Riley provides over 20 years experience security governance framework development and risk management programs including ISO, COBIT, NIST and compliance reviews such as FFIEC, HIPAA, SOX, FEDRamp, GDPR, GLBA. Her background includes healthcare, higher education, financial services, manufacturing, technology, insurance and real estate.

Frank Flores
Director of the Security Operations Center

As head of the Security Operations Center, Frank provides the facts business leaders need to make solid security decisions while focusing on delivering Security-driven business solutions and providing outstanding client service and satisfaction. He specializes in threat hunting, malware analysis, risk management, and incident response.

ICS Cybersecurity Advisors

Joseph Loomis
Senior Advisor

As the founder of Cybersponse, a leading SOAR platform, Joseph has a deep understanding of SOAR technology and how automation can significantly improve the effectiveness and efficacy of a cybersecurity solution. Early in 2020, Cybersponse was sold to Fortinet. Fortinet rebranded the Cybersponse product as FortiSOAR. Joseph’s advisory role at Braintrace is dedicated to implementing FortiSOAR processes and procedures into every Braintrace customer, ultimately achieving excellent results.

Fred Cohen
Principal

As a corporate consultant and industry analyst, Fred has helped advise hundreds of the world’s largest enterprises on security, risk management strategy, and information protection programs. He is an (ISC)2 Fellow, experienced executive, and globally respected cybersecurity leader. His management, technical, and communication skills allow him to effectively bridge the gap between decision-makers and implementers. His involvement in and understanding corporate, national, and global issues provides a context that allows him to meet unlimited size and scope challenges. With almost 40 years of experience and a global reputation for integrity, accuracy, and innovation, Fred Cohen is widely considered one of the world’s leading authorities in information protection and risk management.

John Tippit
Associate

John has assessed operating rail yards and operations, supporting transportation planning for high-value shipments (both government & private sector), and rail incident failure analysis, from a security planning and incident response perspective. He has more than 40 years of experience developing, implementing, and maintaining rational, effective, and affordable security programs that meet customer needs and appropriate due diligence standards.

Chris Blask
Associate

Chris’s career spans the breadth of the cybersecurity industry for more than 25 years. He invented one of the first firewall products, built a multi-billion dollar firewall business at Cisco Systems, co-founded an early SIEM vendor, authored the first book on SIEM, founded an information-sharing center for critical infrastructures, and has advised public and private organizations in every sector around the world. Chris has created and led the Operational Technology, and IoT security practices invented the Digital Bill of Materials (DBoM) structure and established the Unisys Marine Living Research Center. Today he chairs a range of non-profit cybersecurity organizations and contributes to a wide range of global security efforts.