Scaling Security

Nobody has thought more deeply about protecting large institutions from technology risks than Phil Venables. This book provides business leaders and technology practitioners not only with practical actions but also the critical ideas underneath the actions: building security in rather than bolting it on, the entropic nature of technology environments, the importance of developer experience, the imperative for continuous control monitoring, and the value in polymathic security teams. – James Kaplan, Distinguished Partner, McKinsey & Company
If cybersecurity were purely a technical problem, we would have solved it decades ago. At its heart, security has always been about incentives and leadership—and few understand that better than Phil Venables. Scaling Security is a masterclass in organizational economics, revealing how lowering the unit cost of control creates a lasting defensive advantage. This is urgent and essential reading for leaders in the era of AI-powered attacks.

– Nicole Perlroth, New York Times bestselling author, This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends
We don’t lose because we can’t secure systems. We lose because we can’t do it at scale. No one is better qualified than Phil Venables to tell us how. – Dmitri Alperovitch, Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator, bestselling author ofWorld on the Brink
Many cybersecurity books try to tell you what good looks like. This one tells you how to actually get there inside a real organization with competing priorities, a finite budget, and executives who need to be convinced. It is a management operating system for security leaders, and I’d hand it to every rising CISO and every board member who oversees one. – Rob Joyce, Former Cybersecurity Director, NSA
Phil brings thirty years of frontline experience in writing this timely book. Scaling Security provides a blueprint for building inherently defensible architectures that are capable of withstanding sophisticated adversaries. This is vital reading for anyone tasked with defending systems at scale.

– Anne Neuberger, Deputy National Security Advisor, 2021-2025
Scaling Security further shifts how we think about cybersecurity from reactive firefighting to systemic engineering. Every policymaker or practitioner needs this on their shelf. – Bill Dally, Chief Scientist, Nvidia
I’ve been a fan of Phil’s insightful and pragmatic writing for years. Scaling Security brings together what makes his work so valuable: deep experience, clear thinking, and advice you can actually use. This is essential reading for security leaders who want to move beyond heroics and build programs that last.

– Assaf Keren, CISO, Meta
Drawing on decades of leadership experience, Phil provides a practical roadmap for turning security into a lasting organizational capability. This book is essential reading for security professionals, business leaders, and board members who want to build more resilient and successful organizations. – Tim McKnight, CISO, Merck
I have had a front row seat to Phil Venables’ impact on cybersecurity since my Foundstone days back in the early 2000s. I have always considered his insights the gold standard. Phil has been one of the architects of modern enterprise security, and now he has published a masterclass for all of us. – Kevin Mandia, CEO, Armadin
Phil Venables is the gold standard for CISOs—having designed, driven, and delivered security at four of the world’s largest and most targeted companies. In this book, he shares the lessons behind that success, introduces his seven pillars for creating and sustaining an elite security program, and offers invaluable counsel on how to build security in—not bolt it on. As someone who has personally benefited from Phil’s expertise and counsel, I can say without hesitation: This is a book that leaders and practitioners alike need to read. It’s that good. – Gen. Paul M Nakasone (Ret.), Former Director of NSA and Commander, Cyber Command

Phil Venables

Phil Venables is recognized as one of the most experienced security executives in the world. He was appointed as the first Chief Information Security Officer of Google Cloud, where risk, security, compliance, and privacy were overseen across one of the largest technology platforms on earth. Prior to that, nearly two decades were spent at Goldman Sachs — first as the firm’s inaugural CISO, a role held for seventeen years, and subsequently as Chief Operational Risk Officer, operating partner in the private equity business, and Board Director of Goldman Sachs Bank.

In 2024, he was inducted into the Chief Security Officer Hall of Fame. He is currently engaged as a Partner at Ballistic Ventures and Senior Advisor at Warburg Pincus.

At the highest levels of security policy, Venables has been called upon to advise governments and institutions around the world. From 2021 to 2025, he was appointed to the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology at the White House, where initiatives spanning cyber resilience and artificial intelligence were advanced. He is seated on the Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board of NIST, the Security and Technology Advisory Board of MITRE, and is counted among the membership of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Degrees in Computer Science, Formal Methods, and Cryptography were earned at the University of York and The Queen’s College, Oxford, and he is credentialed as a Chartered Fellow of both the British Computer Society and the Institute of Information Security. Phil Venables lives in Hoboken, New Jersey.

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