Biography
Allison Henry serves as the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at the University of California, Berkeley. Allison is also an alumna of UC Berkeley, having earned her Bachelor of Science in Integrative Biology in 1996. Following graduation, she began her information technology career as a system administrator at UC Santa Cruz. In 2004, Allison returned to her alma mater, joining the Communications and Network Services group at UC Berkeley. Two years later, she pivoted to Information Security, marking the beginning of her specialization in cybersecurity.
Allison's leadership capabilities were recognized in 2013 when she assumed management of the Security Operations team, overseeing monitoring and incident management services for UC Berkeley's complex and diverse computing environment. In that role, she led the modernization of campus security operations by developing custom-built systems for automated alert processing and incident management, enabling the team to scale effectively as the campus network expanded.
In 2018, Allison was promoted to Associate CISO, where she provided strategic oversight and direction for Information Security Assessments and Compliance activities. Her expertise and leadership in the field culminated in her appointment as Chief Information Security Officer in December 2019.
Outside of work, Allison enjoys spending time with her numerous household animal friends and participating in endurance athletics, including cycling, trail running, and triathlon.
The Role
The CISO provides leadership to campus-wide committees and workgroups of campus policy-makers, senior administrators, and lead technical staff from various departments in the active analysis, discussion and development of information security policy and strategic campus technology directions. The position also co-chairs the Information Risk Governance Committee; the primary governance body for information security and privacy at UC Berkeley
The CISO oversees the direction of critical operational Campus security functions and services, such as incident response, breach management, and network intrusion detection. The CISO reports directly to the Associate Vice Chancellor for IT and Chief Information Officer, Jenn Stringer.
Committees
The CISO serves as a co-chair, along with the campus Privacy Officer, for the Information Risk Governance Committee (IRGC) to provide the campus framework for institutional governance of information risk.
