VIENNA, VA., Nov. 12, 2019 – Black Kite, the only provider of a standards-based external cyber risk assessment platform, today named Patricia Titus, chief privacy and information security officer at Markel Corp., to the company’s board of directors.

Titus, a long-time Black Kite customer, will hold an independent board position. She brings to Black Kite more than 20 years of cybersecurity experience. Markel is a diverse financial holding company serving a variety of niche markets. The company’s principal business markets and underwrites specialty insurance products.

Titus also serves on the board of directors for the Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of VA.  She is a distinguished fellow at the Ponemon Institute and serves on the executive advisory board for Forcepoint.

“Patti has been an ‘activist’ customer. Her input has helped Black Kite cyber risk assessment product and services to quickly evolve and better serve the needs of our financial services and other clients,” said Paul Paget, CEO of Black Kite. “We look forward to working more closely on a wide variety of initiatives that will help companies better manage vendor and supplier cyber risk as the dependence on 3rd parties increase.”

Prior to Markel, Titus was the vice president and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Freddie Mac, Symantec, Unisys Corporation and the Transportation Security Administration within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. She was focused on transforming, implementing and maintaining robust IT security programs.

“Black Kite has become a critical tool that enables my organization to better serve customers and make intelligent business decisions,” Titus said.

Titus also worked overseas for several years in various positions within the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. State Department and various private sector firms. She is on the Board of Advisors for the Executive Women’s forum and was recognized as a ‘Woman of Influence’ by the Executive Women’s Forum in 2009 and the Silicon Valley Business Journal in 2013.

About Black Kite

Black Kite enables enterprises to assess, prioritize, and address the third-party cyber risk of any company, located anywhere, within 60 seconds. Using easy-to-understand scorecards, Black Kite provides standards-based letter grades on various risk categories, along with data on how to mitigate each risk in a priority order. Black Kite also offers the first-ever automated tool to combine and assess both cyber and financial risk. Using the Factor Analysis of Information Risk (Open FAIR™) Model, the only international standard Value at Risk (VaR) model for cybersecurity and operational risk, Black Kite is able to calculate the dollar value of the probable loss caused by an attack on a supplier or partner. Black Kite provides the speed, standards, and substance needed to combat the newest risks and threats facing organizations today.