HackerOne Appoints Ilona Cohen as Chief Legal and Policy Officer

Tech Lawyer and Former White House Senior Lawyer Joins Mission to Make Ethical Hacking Part of Proper Cyber Governance 

SAN FRANCISCO, July 13, 2022: HackerOne, the leader in Attack Resistance Management, today announced the appointment of Ilona Cohen as its Chief Legal Officer, Chief Policy Officer, and Corporate Secretary. Cohen was formerly a senior lawyer to President Obama and served as General Counsel of the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Prior to joining HackerOne, she was the Chief Legal and Compliance Officer of Aledade, another venture-backed tech company, where she successfully built and scaled the company’s legal and compliance teams. Cohen now brings her extensive experience to HackerOne’s executive leadership team. In her new role, Cohen will build out HackerOne’s public policy team, mature the legal function to support the company’s expanded growth, and provide strategic leadership to the rest of the company. 

Cohen is already highly experienced with cybersecurity and ethical hacking solutions. Ilona was part of a core group in the White House responsible for development of President Obama’s long-term strategy to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protection in the public and private sectors. These efforts led to the decision to launch the first U.S. government bug bounty program, Hack The Pentagon, run by HackerOne. 

“I’ve admired HackerOne ever since Hack The Pentagon,” said Ilona Cohen. “I’m drawn to mission-driven companies, and HackerOne’s goal of building a safer internet through collaboration with the ethical hacking community aligns directly with my values. With Attack Resistance Management, ethical hackers will comprise an even bigger part of an enterprise’s security strategy. I look forward to being part of the team through this next stage of the company’s growth.”

“Ilona brings a real passion for what we do, and we are honored to welcome her at HackerOne,” said Marten Mickos, CEO of HackerOne. “Ilona has a deep understanding of cybersecurity issues, and experience in securing executive buy-in for such progressive solutions. In her role as Chief Legal Officer and Chief Policy Officer, she will support us in promoting the value of Attack Resistance Management in Washington and beyond.”

Michael Daniel, former U.S. Cybersecurity Coordinator, and President and CEO of the Cyber Threat Alliance, congratulated HackerOne on hiring his former colleague. “HackerOne has made a great choice in bringing Ilona Cohen on board as their Chief Legal and Policy Officer. When we worked together at the White House, Ilona always provided excellent and thoughtful advice that helped shape the Obama Administration’s cyber policies for the better. On top of that, she is a great colleague who brings a lot of energy to whatever issue she is working on. It’s great to have her back in the cybersecurity field.”

ABOUT HACKERONE

HackerOne closes the security gap between what organizations own and what they can protect. HackerOne's Attack Resistance Management blends the security expertise of ethical hackers with asset discovery, continuous assessment, and process enhancement to find and close gaps in the ever-evolving digital attack surface. This approach enables organizations to transform their business while staying ahead of threats. Customers include The U.S. Department of Defense, Dropbox, General Motors, GitHub, Goldman Sachs, Google, Hyatt, Lufthansa, Microsoft, MINDEF Singapore, Nintendo, PayPal, Slack, Twitter, and Yahoo. In 2021, HackerOne was named as a ‘brand that matters’ by Fast Company.