Terry Halvorsen serves as general manager for IBM’s Federal Market organization.
Before joining IBM, Halvorsen spent over three decades with the federal government in senior and influential roles including as the Chief Information Officer (CIO) for the Department of Defense (DOD) and CIO for the Navy. Before joining IBM in October 2020, Halvorsen was CIO and executive vice president for IT and mobile for Samsung Electronics.
In addition to his civilian government career, Halvorsen also served as an Army intelligence officer during Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in Kuwait and Iraq.
Halvorsen’s work in the government has been recognized twice with a Federal Computer Week Federal 100 award, in 2010 as the senior civilian at the Naval Network Warfare Command on its Cyber Asset Reduction and Security initiative, and in 2016 as DOD CIO on cloud computing and the Joint Regional Security Stacks. He has also received both the Meritorious and the Distinguished Presidential Rank Award for Civilian Executive Service.
Halvorsen holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Widener University and a master’s degree in educational technology from the University of West Florida. He is a Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow and an Excellence in Government Leadership Fellow.
Get to know Terry Halvorsen
What is the most meaningful part of serving on the NCA Board of Directors?
The opportunity to participate in cross-industry dialogue about solutions for meeting our nation’s cybersecurity goals and objectives, while also establishing new important relationships, has been invaluable.
How do IBM’s cybersecurity interests align with NCA’s mission?
One of IBM’s key corporate social responsibility initiatives aligns perfectly with the NCA’s mission to educate and empower. The IBM SkillsBuild program helps expand access to education and in-demand technical (including cybersecurity) roles for students, educators, job seekers and organizations. In 2021 IBM announced its commitment to provide 30 million people globally with new skills by 2030 to create equitable, inclusive economic opportunities while also addressing longstanding tech and cybersecurity industry skills shortage.
Demonstrating this commitment, during NCA’s first Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) Career Program Event in September, IBM announced it would collaborate with 20 HBCUs across 11 states to co-create Cybersecurity Leadership Centers, helping to create talent for employers and opportunities for students (six of the collaborations were previously announced in May). This is just one example of IBM’s unique and effective technology education portfolio that relies on broad combinations of programs, and includes collaborations with industry, academia, government and non-profits.
IBM HAS SOME AMAZING INITIATIVES IN THE CYBERSPACE THAT INCLUDE SECURE HYBRID CLOUD AND AI TECHNOLOGIES. WHAT HAS BEEN A MEMORABLE PROJECT TO WORK ON?
IBM’s work with the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) has been very memorable. We are working with NAVAIR to build predictive AI models that help to identify and prioritize issues with aircraft readiness that need to be addressed, helping maximize the number of fully mission capable aircraft. IBM is also working with the NAVAIR team to build AI models that will help determine which program initiatives should be funded, helping to optimize budget spends and overall readiness.
How can we best improve safety and security online from the public and private sectors?
The well-being of organizations today depends on both the private and public sectors working together to not only protect against and prevent cyber incidents, but also rapidly detect, respond to, and recover from them. Adopting a zero trust strategy is certainly key. Leveraging technology like security AI and automation can also go hand and hand with a zero trust approach, helping to reduce the time and ultimately costs of something like a data breach. Additionally, new technologies like our latest mainframe are already providing the opportunity for government and business to start future proofing their systems, applications and data with quantum-safe cryptography – which protects against “harvest now, decrypt later”.