In the rapidly evolving domain of digital security, one constant has emerged: the need for visionary leaders capable of navigating the complexity of modern cyber risk while simultaneously fostering innovation across vast, global organizations. At the center of this high-stakes balancing act stand the Deputy Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) at Microsoft—key figures who are not only shaping Microsoft’s internally focused security posture but also setting benchmarks that reverberate throughout the industry. In this exploration, we spotlight three of Microsoft’s Deputy CISOs, introduced as part of the company’s Cybersecurity Governance Council, and unpack how their diverse backgrounds, collaborative strategies, and forward-thinking priorities fuel both resilience and progress at global scale.
Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Governance Council, launched in 2024, is a strategic response to the increasingly intricate threat landscape. Its mission is to ensure holistic oversight of cybersecurity risk, defense, and compliance within one of the world’s largest and most targeted technology companies. The Council’s creation signals an explicit recognition that cybersecurity is not a siloed IT concern but a governance-level priority that unites technical rigor, regulatory obligations, and trust with every facet of digital transformation.
Key to the Council’s success is its cadre of deputy CISOs, each responsible for bridging the gap between visionary security policy and the reality of implementation across diverse product and business units. This structure emphasizes Microsoft’s belief that comprehensive security cannot exist without organizational accountability, collaboration, and proactive stewardship of both customer and enterprise risk.
As part of an ongoing commitment to transparency and best practice sharing, Microsoft has publicly introduced these leaders—not merely as guardians of internal systems, but as influencers whose approaches shape both customer experiences and broader industry standards.
Today, Cox’s responsibilities extend well beyond traditional endpoint or network protection. She leads company-wide privacy, compliance, and risk initiatives—a role that encompasses everything from upholding customer data rights to ensuring that compliance efforts are not afterthoughts but fundamental building blocks within product innovation cycles. Reflecting on her work, Cox notes, “We’re essentially the backbone of Microsoft’s privacy operations,” a claim substantiated by Microsoft’s repeated public emphasis on customer trust and regulatory compliance as critical differentiators in enterprise software.
Currently serving as Vice President and Deputy CISO for Microsoft’s Regulated Industries, Becknel spends his days ensuring that products and services are not merely compliant with the shifting sands of industry regulation, but that best practices from highly scrutinized domains like banking and healthcare are codified into Microsoft’s foundational engineering processes. He describes his role as equal parts facilitator, educator, and process architect: “To do that I adopt the best practices from our customers in regulated industries…so we can ensure our products and services are compliant now and built in from the beginning.”
The practical implication? Microsoft’s regulated customers benefit from security architectures and operational protocols that are not bolted on after the fact but are architected at inception. This approach, commonly termed “compliance by design,” is becoming a gold standard across technology producers facing increasing scrutiny from both regulators and security-minded buyers.
Grebnov’s focus on compliance and security, with a heavy tilt toward platform standards and cross-group collaboration, mirrors the increasing complexity of defending cloud environments. He emphasizes that security in this context is not merely the sum of its technical controls but is heavily reliant on process discipline, standardization, and the capacity to build and maintain trust—both internally and with customers.
Trust, Grebnov believes, is not a static commodity but a dynamic outcome sustained through transparency, rigorous prioritization, and responsive communication. His approach, focused on supporting innovation without sacrificing resilience, reflects the challenges encountered by any organization balancing agility with risk mitigation.
Terrell Cox notes that senior leadership at Microsoft has consciously made security a “key performance indicator” for all employees—a strategy that deepens accountability by weaving security into daily work rather than treating it as an after-the-fact consideration. She offers a compelling example: “When engineering teams see security requirements as innovation multipliers and not obstacles, that’s cultural success.”
Becknel supports this, analogizing basic security hygiene to athletic drills: the “block, tackle, throw, and run” fundamentals that enable more sophisticated play only after core competencies are internalized. He underscores the value of a safe environment for transparency and continuous improvement: “More important is creating a safe space for that communication…everyone feels they can be vulnerable and admit mistakes, because mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process.”
Grebnov, meanwhile, emphasizes the calibration of priorities and the importance of frameworks that allow for both rapid response to urgent threats and methodical evaluation of longer-term risks. This pragmatic lens ensures that innovation is not stifled, but responsibly governed.
Cox’s leadership in privacy and compliance, for example, requires daily coordination with engineers, architects, and business strategists to ensure customer data rights are respected throughout the lifecycle of a product. Becknel’s remit extends into granular regulatory interpretation, team education on programmatic compliance, and advocating for process improvements that anticipate—not just react to—regulatory change. Grebnov’s focus on platform standards and centralization of best practices puts him at the hub of cloud security coordination, emphasizing that technical controls only succeed when process and communication are clear.
Their collective experience points to several sustained imperatives: that security is the responsibility of all, not a select few; that transparency breeds accountability; that innovation and compliance need not be at odds; and that customer trust is earned through both action and intent.
As cyber threats continue to mutate and the digital stakes rise, organizations of every size can glean valuable lessons from Microsoft’s evolving approach: discipline, collaboration, humility, and a relentless drive to align operational reality with principled aspiration. These lessons, if consistently applied, will remain as relevant tomorrow as they are today—regardless of how the technology, the risks, or the players may change.
For more on Microsoft Security solutions, readers are encouraged to follow Microsoft’s evolving security blogs and participate in the conversation via their official channels for ongoing insight into the latest developments and strategic priorities in cybersecurity.
Source: Microsoft Meet the Deputy CISOs who help shape Microsoft’s approach to cybersecurity: Part 2 | Microsoft Security Blog
The Evolution of Cybersecurity Leadership at Microsoft
Microsoft’s Cybersecurity Governance Council, launched in 2024, is a strategic response to the increasingly intricate threat landscape. Its mission is to ensure holistic oversight of cybersecurity risk, defense, and compliance within one of the world’s largest and most targeted technology companies. The Council’s creation signals an explicit recognition that cybersecurity is not a siloed IT concern but a governance-level priority that unites technical rigor, regulatory obligations, and trust with every facet of digital transformation.Key to the Council’s success is its cadre of deputy CISOs, each responsible for bridging the gap between visionary security policy and the reality of implementation across diverse product and business units. This structure emphasizes Microsoft’s belief that comprehensive security cannot exist without organizational accountability, collaboration, and proactive stewardship of both customer and enterprise risk.
As part of an ongoing commitment to transparency and best practice sharing, Microsoft has publicly introduced these leaders—not merely as guardians of internal systems, but as influencers whose approaches shape both customer experiences and broader industry standards.
Meet the Leaders: Diverse Paths and Unified Commitment
Terrell Cox – Enabling Privacy-Driven Security at Scale
With a dual role as Vice President for Privacy and Compliance and Deputy CISO for Microsoft Security Products Division, Terrell Cox stands at the nexus of product leadership and enterprise security oversight. Her entry into cybersecurity was fortuitously timed with early experiences working on Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) for Windows Server 2003, a phase she describes as both technically demanding and profoundly formative. Cox credits her fascination with the challenge of making powerful security tools like encryption “usable and approachable” as the core thread that’s run throughout her career. This focus on accessibility has only deepened as AI, automation, and advanced threat detection have become core to modern security paradigms.Today, Cox’s responsibilities extend well beyond traditional endpoint or network protection. She leads company-wide privacy, compliance, and risk initiatives—a role that encompasses everything from upholding customer data rights to ensuring that compliance efforts are not afterthoughts but fundamental building blocks within product innovation cycles. Reflecting on her work, Cox notes, “We’re essentially the backbone of Microsoft’s privacy operations,” a claim substantiated by Microsoft’s repeated public emphasis on customer trust and regulatory compliance as critical differentiators in enterprise software.
Damon Becknel – Embedding Compliance Across Regulated Industries
Damon Becknel’s route to cybersecurity leadership began with formative experiences as a U.S. Army Officer, catalyzed by an eye-opening encounter with a government researcher at Quantico and later solidified through direct work with NSA-linked projects. This unique grounding—bridging military discipline with innate technical curiosity—has shaped Becknel’s pragmatic approach to building resilient security cultures.Currently serving as Vice President and Deputy CISO for Microsoft’s Regulated Industries, Becknel spends his days ensuring that products and services are not merely compliant with the shifting sands of industry regulation, but that best practices from highly scrutinized domains like banking and healthcare are codified into Microsoft’s foundational engineering processes. He describes his role as equal parts facilitator, educator, and process architect: “To do that I adopt the best practices from our customers in regulated industries…so we can ensure our products and services are compliant now and built in from the beginning.”
The practical implication? Microsoft’s regulated customers benefit from security architectures and operational protocols that are not bolted on after the fact but are architected at inception. This approach, commonly termed “compliance by design,” is becoming a gold standard across technology producers facing increasing scrutiny from both regulators and security-minded buyers.
Ilya Grebnov – Engineering Security for the Cloud-First World
Ilya Grebnov brings a software engineering mindset to his critical post as Distinguished Engineer and Deputy CISO, Business Applications. Initially an individual contributor focused on code, Grebnov’s gravitation toward threat modeling and security reviews soon led him into broader leadership—a shift his colleagues quickly recognized as pivotal for scaling security across Microsoft’s sprawling Cloud and AI division.Grebnov’s focus on compliance and security, with a heavy tilt toward platform standards and cross-group collaboration, mirrors the increasing complexity of defending cloud environments. He emphasizes that security in this context is not merely the sum of its technical controls but is heavily reliant on process discipline, standardization, and the capacity to build and maintain trust—both internally and with customers.
Trust, Grebnov believes, is not a static commodity but a dynamic outcome sustained through transparency, rigorous prioritization, and responsive communication. His approach, focused on supporting innovation without sacrificing resilience, reflects the challenges encountered by any organization balancing agility with risk mitigation.
Security as Business Enabler, Not Obstacle
A Cultural Shift: Making Security Everyone’s Business
One of the recurring themes articulated by these deputy CISOs is the deliberate inversion of the classic view of security as an inhibitor of innovation. Instead, they argue—with both philosophy and operational evidence—that rigorous security discipline is foundational to sustainable innovation and customer trust.Terrell Cox notes that senior leadership at Microsoft has consciously made security a “key performance indicator” for all employees—a strategy that deepens accountability by weaving security into daily work rather than treating it as an after-the-fact consideration. She offers a compelling example: “When engineering teams see security requirements as innovation multipliers and not obstacles, that’s cultural success.”
Becknel supports this, analogizing basic security hygiene to athletic drills: the “block, tackle, throw, and run” fundamentals that enable more sophisticated play only after core competencies are internalized. He underscores the value of a safe environment for transparency and continuous improvement: “More important is creating a safe space for that communication…everyone feels they can be vulnerable and admit mistakes, because mistakes are a necessary part of the learning process.”
Grebnov, meanwhile, emphasizes the calibration of priorities and the importance of frameworks that allow for both rapid response to urgent threats and methodical evaluation of longer-term risks. This pragmatic lens ensures that innovation is not stifled, but responsibly governed.
Bridging the Gap Between Policy and Practice
At the heart of Microsoft’s security apparatus lies a philosophy of cross-disciplinary collaboration. The deputy CISOs each describe their roles as conduits between product, engineering, privacy, compliance, and operations—a web of relationships that, if managed properly, transforms security from a set of isolated “controls” into a living, breathing part of business process.Cox’s leadership in privacy and compliance, for example, requires daily coordination with engineers, architects, and business strategists to ensure customer data rights are respected throughout the lifecycle of a product. Becknel’s remit extends into granular regulatory interpretation, team education on programmatic compliance, and advocating for process improvements that anticipate—not just react to—regulatory change. Grebnov’s focus on platform standards and centralization of best practices puts him at the hub of cloud security coordination, emphasizing that technical controls only succeed when process and communication are clear.
Critical Misconceptions and Persistent Threats
Busting Myths: From “Silver Bullets” to Misplaced Optimism
In a candid self-assessment, these leaders tackle pervasive myths and misperceptions about cybersecurity:- Belief in the “Impenetrable Perimeter”: Cox warns against the dangerous misconception that organizations can wall themselves off in a connected world, noting instead that defense must be proactive and holistic, involving every team—from finance to HR—in frontline vigilance.
- Faith in the “Next Big Thing”: Becknel critiques the industry’s frequent over-reliance on new technology as a panacea, cautioning that fundamentals cannot be skipped or replaced.
- Underestimating Adversaries: Grebnov flags the tendency to stereotype hackers as lone-wolf attention seekers. In reality, he notes, they are highly skilled professionals, often backed by state sponsors or operating sophisticated businesses of their own.
Security as a Continuous Journey
The Microsoft leaders present security not as a destination but as a continuous journey—one punctuated by “mistakes as a necessary part of the learning process” and operationalized through transparent reporting and cross-team accountability. This living process reflects the reality that attackers constantly evolve; defenders must therefore stay adaptable and humble.Strengths: A Model for Security at Scale
Microsoft’s approach, as outlined by its deputy CISOs, yields several notable strengths:- Process-Driven Security: By institutionalizing rigorous processes and embedding security into business-as-usual operations, Microsoft lessens dependence on point-in-time controls and instead builds systemic resilience.
- Accountability Through Transparency: Public metrics, open reporting, and shared goals create a culture where security is owned at every level, not just by IT or compliance teams.
- Innovation-Positive Mindset: Viewing security as an enabler of trust and innovation—rather than a cost center or barrier—unlocks potential for products that are both safer and more competitive.
- Industry Influence: Microsoft’s articulation of these strategies not only benefits its own customers but emboldens best practices in the wider cybersecurity community.
- Diversity of Experience: The backgrounds and perspectives of the deputy CISOs—from military training to software engineering—enrich Microsoft’s collective approach and amplify insights into global risk trends.
Risks and Ongoing Challenges
No system, regardless of pedigree, is without risk—particularly in an era where zero-day vulnerabilities, supply chain attacks, and increasingly sophisticated adversaries dominate the news cycle.The Challenge of Scale and Complexity
Microsoft’s immense operational footprint is both its advantage and its Achilles' heel. The very scale that allows for rigorous cross-checking, detailed process engineering, and standardization also increases the likelihood of blind spots, inconsistent implementation, and the risk of cascading errors with potentially global repercussions. Veteran analysts regularly cite the challenge of managing complex interdependencies as a key vulnerability for all hyperscale cloud providers.Regulation and Trust in Flux
Global regulations continue to shift rapidly, especially around data privacy, export controls, and cross-border data flow. While Microsoft’s compliance-by-design ethos helps, even a company of its size must constantly update and audit its approaches to avoid falling behind or risking inadvertent lapses—particularly as new regulatory regimes, such as the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) and AI Act, come into force.The Human Factor
Despite best-in-class process and technology, the perennial “human factor” remains a challenge. Fatigue, complacency, and communication gaps can still create exploitable cracks in even the most advanced security programs. The deputy CISOs’ focus on culture and communication represents a necessary acknowledgment of this persistent risk, but it is a battle that must be fought—and won—every day.Conclusion: Security as Both Mission and Mindset
The work of Microsoft’s deputy CISOs—as made visible through the Cybersecurity Governance Council—is not only about safeguarding an enterprise but about shaping an industry’s approach to digital trust. By focusing on foundational process, championing transparency, and treating security as a catalyst for innovation, these leaders are resetting expectations for what organizational resilience looks like in an era of constant threat.Their collective experience points to several sustained imperatives: that security is the responsibility of all, not a select few; that transparency breeds accountability; that innovation and compliance need not be at odds; and that customer trust is earned through both action and intent.
As cyber threats continue to mutate and the digital stakes rise, organizations of every size can glean valuable lessons from Microsoft’s evolving approach: discipline, collaboration, humility, and a relentless drive to align operational reality with principled aspiration. These lessons, if consistently applied, will remain as relevant tomorrow as they are today—regardless of how the technology, the risks, or the players may change.
For more on Microsoft Security solutions, readers are encouraged to follow Microsoft’s evolving security blogs and participate in the conversation via their official channels for ongoing insight into the latest developments and strategic priorities in cybersecurity.
Source: Microsoft Meet the Deputy CISOs who help shape Microsoft’s approach to cybersecurity: Part 2 | Microsoft Security Blog
