LastPass Chief Secure Technology Officer Christofer Hoff joined Dark Reading’s Terry Sweeney at this year’s Black Hat USA to discuss the remaking of LastPass, resilience, and the opportunities ahead for what Hoff described as a true “security company.”
Spinning out LastPass as an independent entity was top of mind when Hoff joined in 2022. A company that dealt with the password problem was an instant value proposition, combining what Hoff saw as not just a security issue but a convenience one too.
But how do you reinvent a 15-year-old company? You take inspiration from Roman architect and engineer Vitruvius, making it “beautiful, strong, and useful.”
The first step was merging Chief Technology Officer (CTO) with Chief Security Officer (CSO), creating what is now Hoff’s role – CSTO. Operating from a “secure by design” POV, Hoff assembled a 50-person security team that covers everything from threat intelligence, governance, risk and compliance to detection response.
If that wasn’t already enough, a security incident capped off 2022. However, for Hoff, this provided valuable lessons in transparency, a customer-first mentality, and, above all, resilience. As Hoff explains, “It’s not what happens to companies when they get breached. It’s what you do about it.”
It’s all what goes into making the LastPass product beautiful, strong, and useful.
Watch Hoff’s entire interview with Dark Reading’s Terry Sweeney below.
