CDSA

Kroll Names Pierson Clair Senior Director in Cyber Security and Investigations Practice, Los Angeles (CDSA)

Kroll announced the appointment of Pierson Clair as a Senior Director in Kroll’s Cyber Security and Investigations practice. He is based in Kroll’s Los Angeles office.

“Pierson brings an uncommon perspective to cyber security challenges from his years in academia and his experience conducting complex digital forensics investigations for law enforcement and the private sector,” said Erik Rasmussen, Managing Director and North America Leader for Kroll’s Cyber Security and Investigations practice, and Head of Kroll’s Los Angeles office. “Cyber criminals may be growing bolder in their targets and ever-more sophisticated in their attacks, but we at Kroll are committed to providing the widest range of resources and proven expertise to clients facing these challenges. The addition of Pierson to our extraordinary team helps us to continue delivering on that commitment.”

Clair is a leading digital forensic examiner and technical security consultant, who has assisted a wide range of private sector clients and law enforcement agencies by providing cutting-edge investigative solutions. Clair has also conducted extensive academic research at the forefront of cyber security, particularly its dynamics within the complex framework of protecting critical national infrastructure as well as intelligence, espionage, and terrorism.

“On behalf of everyone at Kroll, I look forward to welcoming Pierson to our global team of cyber professionals and collaborating with him,” said Jason Smolanoff, Senior Managing Director and Global Cyber Security Practice Leader for Kroll. “With his outstanding technical skills and deep knowledge of the complex issues inherent in modern day cyber security and digital forensics, Pierson will be a terrific resource to clients and colleagues alike.”

Most recently, Clair was with Maryman & Associates, a technical investigations firm, where he was a senior forensic examiner specializing in Apple, Windows, and Linux desktop and server environments; mobile devices including iOS and Android; virtualized environments; large-scale email systems; and network forensic and security investigations. His casework has included investigations on such matters as employee malfeasance, intellectual property theft, data loss, and network data breaches, including the loss of personally identifiable information and private health information. He is also well-versed in the privacy and notification implications of data leaks. Prior to this role, Clair worked with the U.S. Intelligence Community in Virginia and Washington, D.C., on a joint analytical project with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the wider U.S. Intelligence Community.

Clair has also had a long-standing association with the University of Southern California (USC), first as a student and researcher, and currently as a lecturer and Industrial Advisory Board Member for the university’s Viterbi School of Engineering. He is a graduate of USC’s selective Interdisciplinary Degree program, where he blended studies in intelligence, espionage, and terrorism with technical courses in cyber security and computer forensics. During this time, he was the first USC student to work in the United States Secret Service’s Los Angeles Electronic Crimes Task Force (LA ECTF); his assignments included the management of the undercover network and the forensic Storage Area Network (SAN). Currently, Clair lectures part-time in the Viterbi School of Engineering, where he has developed the curriculum and teaches introductory and high-level courses in forensics and security related to the Macintosh OSX and iOS environments. Additionally, Clair is the principal of PC4Media, LLC, a technical security consultancy.