Halcyon Appoints Kirstjen Nielsen and Chris Inglis as Strategic Advisors

Halcyon, the leading anti-ransomware platform purpose built to defeat ransomware, announced the appointment of Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Chris Inglis as Strategic Advisors. In these roles, Nielsen and Inglis will advise Halcyon’s leadership team on cybersecurity strategy, national security trends, and strengthening public and private sector collaboration to combat the rapidly evolving ransomware threat.

Both advisors bring decades of experience shaping national cybersecurity and homeland security policy at the highest levels of government, supporting Halcyon’s mission to eliminate ransomware as a business model and strengthen operational resilience across critical industries worldwide.

“Nielsen and Inglis are two of the most respected leaders in national security and cybersecurity. Their experience at the highest levels of government and deep understanding of the evolving threat landscape will be invaluable as Halcyon advances its mission to defeat ransomware. As ransomware continues to grow into a global security challenge affecting governments, enterprises, and critical infrastructure, their insight will help guide the next phase of innovation and collaboration needed to address these threats.” — Jon Miller, CEO and co-founder of Halcyon

Nielsen served as the sixth U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, where she led more than 250,000 personnel and managed a budget exceeding $75 billion. During her tenure, she helped drive major reforms to prepare the homeland security enterprise for emerging threats and technological change and played a central role in establishing the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), now the nation’s lead civilian cyber defense organization. Today, Nielsen is President of Lighthouse Strategies, where she advises governments, technology companies, and investors on cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, risk management, and resilience planning.

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“Ransomware has evolved into a persistent, high-impact threat to organizations, especially those with the greatest operational exposure, including critical infrastructure owners and operators. The consequences extend far beyond data loss, disrupting operations, impairing revenue and eroding public trust. Attacks will occur. The imperative is to move beyond prevention-focused postures towards operational resilience, ensuring organizations can continue to operate, contain impacts and recover rapidly when incidents happen. Halcyon’s focus on resilience and continuity reflects the direction the industry must go, and I look forward to supporting that mission.” — Kirstjen Nielsen, Strategic Advisor, Halcyon

Inglis brings deep expertise in cyber operations, intelligence, and national cybersecurity strategy. He previously served as the first U.S. National Cyber Director, leading the development and coordination of the nation’s cybersecurity strategy across government, industry, and international partners. Prior to that role, Inglis served for nearly three decades at the National Security Agency, including eight years as its senior civilian and Deputy Director, helping lead global intelligence and cybersecurity operations.

“Ransomware persists because it is a reliable and scalable model for adversaries that exploit longstanding inherent weakness in the software and hardware of digital systems. Changing that requires shifting the advantage by disrupting attacks at multiple points across the lifecycle and making them less effective overall. Halcyon is taking a targeted approach to doing exactly that, and I look forward to helping advance efforts that improve security outcomes across the broader ecosystem.” — Chris Inglis, Strategic Advisor, Halcyon

The addition of Nielsen and Inglis further strengthens Halcyon’s network of strategic advisors as the company continues expanding globally and helping organizations defeat ransomware.