Megan Samford is a nonresident senior fellow with the Cyber Statecraft Initiative, part of the Atlantic Council Tech Programs, and vice president and chief product security officer for energy management at Schneider Electric. Presently the only female chief product security officer for a major industrial, Samford is a security executive with a focus on industrial control systems security, critical infrastructure protection, and risk analysis. Samford drives the product security strategy and program for Schneider Electric’s energy management business.

Previously, Samford was the global director of product safety and security for Rockwell Automation, product security leader for GE Global Research, and lead for the GE Product Security Incident Response Team. While working in the public sector, she served as the Commonwealth of Virginia’s critical infrastructure protection coordinator and special assistant for homeland security projects within the offices of former Governors Tim Kaine and Bob McDonnell.

Samford brings a unique perspective to the security community based on her diverse security background with an interest in utilizing proven concepts from traditional critical infrastructure protection and emergency management foundations, such as Incident Command System and preparedness, and applying those to cyber, in particular for industrial control systems incident response.

She is currently the chairperson of the International Society of Automation Global Cybersecurity Alliance. She is also leading a community-driven effort known as Incident Command System for Industrial Control Systems, which seeks to establish a common language for responding to cyber incidents and provide avenues for mutual assistance between organizations. Lastly, she is the co-chair of the US Department of Homeland Security’s Control Systems Working Group.

Samford has served on numerous boards, including Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, the Security Analysis and Risk Management Association, the Department of Homeland Security’s Control Systems Security Working Group, the Trusted Computing Group, and the Virginia Aviation Security Advisory Council. She is also a returning 2022 program chair for the RSA Conference “Secure All the Things” track.

Samford holds a bachelor’s degree in homeland security and emergency preparedness as well as a master’s in public administration, both from Virginia Commonwealth University.