EP 030 Nick Gicinto Security Insider: Intelligence Insights from a CIA Veteran

The Security Circle

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Nick Gicinto is an executive security leader and veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), Tesla, and Uber as an insider threat, intelligence and security specialist. He is currently the Executive Vice President at Red Five Security in Arlington, VA.

Nick was recruited into the CIA during graduate school and spent 10 years in the Agency amassing five promotions and 14 exceptional performance awards as an Operations Officer. His role as an OO was to collect raw foreign intelligence which was eventually briefed to senior U.S. policymakers, including in the U.S. President’s Daily Briefing. During his CIA tenure, Nick focused on state-actor level threats and worked both counterintelligence and counterterrorism operations in the U.S. and abroad.

After leaving the CIA, Nick joined Uber’s Threat Operations team helping the company build a global intelligence capability in 40+ countries designed to keep Uber’s riders and drivers safe in addition to investigating leaks of intellectual property. He was recruited by Tesla to build the Global Security Response team, focusing on strategic and protective intelligence, as well as digital forensics tied to insider threat and investigations into leaked information. GSR’s investigations lead to multiple civil lawsuits vs. competitors and former employees, as well as law enforcement referrals and convictions.

Nick moved to RiskIQ (now a Microsoft company) as a Vice President to build the Incident, Investigation, and Intelligence (i3) team, RiskIQ’s managed intelligence services (MIS) capability tied to its cybersecurity SAAS product. After growing the team to close to 40 members, Nick joined Chainlink Lab’s as the VP of Security Intelligence, helping the web3 company develop its world class security program from scratch.

Nick holds a M.S. in Defense & Strategic Studies from Missouri State University, and he has a B.A. in Political Science from William Jewell College where he is now an Adjunct Professor of Political Science. He has been a guest on numerous podcasts, and subject of many articles, and has published his own article in Cybersecurity Insiders Online. He has guest lectured for SET University in Ukraine, and helps to train missionaries in overseas security awareness prior to deployment into hostile areas.

Security Circle ⭕️ is an IFPOD production for IFPO the International Foundation of Protection Officers