Most Powerful Voices in Security: Who are the Top 25?
Excerpt
In compiling our ranking of the Most Powerful Voices (“MPV”) in security, we took advantage of concepts similar to Google PageRank for people, working with researchers and thought leaders such as Mark Fidelman (see “The Most Powerful Voices in Open Source“).
The metrics needed to measure both broadcast power and profundity were identified through a number of studies performed across several industry categories. Although there have been many advancements in the area of social marketing, the work presented here still requires techniques not yet offered by any single social graph tool available today.
The MPV formula is based on “reach” by examining the number of followers and buzz an individual has on sites like Google and Twitter. We then determine how much impact an individual has with their followers and subscribers. We ask questions like: If you have a twitter account, how often are you uniquely referenced, or retweeted? How much buzz is created around your blog posts, tweets, Quora answers, Linkedin groups, and other messages? How often is an individual referenced in the blogosphere?
Top Executive Voices in Security
The MPV formula illustrates how much additional broadcast power an individual has versus an average active person (defined later). For example, Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of Kaspersky Lab, has 5,035 times more broadcast power reach than the average person, while Enrique Salem, CEO of Symantec, has a respectable 855 times more broadcast power than the average person. At the surface, security executives are good targets when searching for powerful voices. However, most, if not all, powerful executives are governed or constrained on what they can say. You won’t find CEOs of publicly traded companies providing transparent dialog about their opinions on controversial topics (although Leo Apotheker, CEO at HP, may prove me wrong on one or both of these points). In addition, it’s quite difficult to get executives to speak on your particular topic, or about your brand. [Note: We included Ex-CEO from McAfee, David DeWalt, because we assume we’ll hear of his next high-profile placement and we can update the company then].
Top Media/Blogger Voices in Security
Then there’s the power of active security bloggers like Bruce Schneier (“Schneier on Security“) who has a voice which is 8,252 times the average. Yes, that’s more than Eugene Kaspersky! Why? Because he’s willing to speak his mind on topics where people want transparent and insightful perspective. Also, a dialog can occur between the average person and a blogger. It’s easier to reach even the most well known bloggers or editors of news and media properties.
…
| Rank | Most Powerful Voices In Security | MPV Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Darrell Issa | 1,405,336 |
| 2 | William Lynn III | 1,168,351 |
| 3 | Bruce Schneier | 371,731 |
| 4 | Brian Krebs | 261,450 |
| 5 | Reuven Cohen | 257,846 |
| 6 | Eugene Kaspersky | 226,808 |
| 7 | Graham Cluley | 224,717 |
| 8 | Susan Collins | 212,000 |
| 9 | Werner Vogels | 210,574 |
| 10 | Christofer Hoff | 122,306 |
Categories: Articles, Awards and Recognition, Text