Meet Michelle Drolet, Founder and CEO of Towerwall, Inc., a highly experienced and well-renowned information security expert. She has earned a name in the market and is respected by various information security peers and analysts. She is a sought-out speaker and panellist, and is a regular contributor to leading online publications such as Forbes Technology Council, Wired.com, and IDG CSO Online.
Laying the Foundation
In the year 1993, Michelle met Nizar Huddani, who turned out to be her boss, friend, and mentor. He hired her to run the US operations for his IT consulting business, CDG Technologies, playing in the then new cyber security space. She states that together they grew the consulting and VAR businesses that eventually led to an acquisition by a public company. She stayed with the new company but grew disenchanted by its direction. Therefore, she decided to buy back the company and contribute to Towerwall’s success. The first penetration test was done in the year 1999, when she bought the company back. After several years, she added its GRC practise to help the company’s customers build solid and repeatable information security programs. “I am so very grateful that Nizar saw potential in me that I hadn’t realized. So very blessed to be CEO of such an amazing organization,” says Michelle.
Thriving for two decades
Ever since its founding, Towerwall has been providing cyber security services and solutions. It is centred in Massachusetts, but a remote workforce is situated all over the USA. As the industry’s leading cybersecurity preparedness partner, it offers end-to-end solutions that ‘operationalize’ information security, bridging the gap between plan and action to ensure resiliency. As a women-owned, independent cybersecurity preparedness and consulting services firm, Towerwall helps their customers understand ‘one-size security solutions lead to failure’ and ‘secure cultures lead to secure companies.’ The company assists in ‘getting you prepared, keeping you protected’ with their proven 4E methodology of ‘Evaluate, Establish, Educate, Enforce.’
The company has paved its path to triumph through sheer enthusiasm and firm teamwork. Michelle and her team believe that teamwork could be the most important factor in information security. “Secure companies are not built by one person or one piece of technology, they rely on building teams and secure cultures,” she explains. “We work shoulder to shoulder with our clients, working through security challenges and seamless implementation of best practices.” Furthermore, she mentions that security is more complex than merely deploying the latest technology. Its proven and integrated approach blends the three key elements to protect its company’s critical assets: people, process, and technology. Towerwall offers cyber security services like NIST, CSF, Risk Assessment, or Penetration Tests. Towerwall has vendor-partners whose technologies offer best-of-breed, frontline security controls. These include the likes of Alert Logic, Varonis, LogRhythm, KnowBe4, Tenable, Sophos, and many other recognized brands. Its goal is simply to keep providing the best hands-on, customized cybersecurity services to its clients. “Cybersecurity is not a destination but a journey, and we are tasked with protecting our customers’ crown jewels,” says Michelle.
The organization prefers to take more effort to deliver top-tier security solutions that are designed to address its entire information infrastructure. This process is also known as ‘programatizing’ information security. It provides a consistent, repeatable, and measurable approach by building internal security cultures where information security is at the core. Moreover, it is a cost-friendly approach for clients who desire to turn their investment in securing their most critical assets into a competitive advantage.