What happened
Infoblox appointed Henrik Smith as chief information security officer (CISO). Smith will lead the company’s global security strategy, with a focus on strengthening cyber resilience, advancing risk management, and supporting the secure growth of the business.
Smith joins Infoblox as organizations face a more complex threat landscape shaped by AI-driven attacks, expanding digital infrastructure, and the growing adoption of autonomous technologies.
He brings nearly 30 years of security leadership experience across cloud security, enterprise security, and risk management. Before joining Infoblox, Smith served as head of Security for Devices and Services at Amazon, where he led efforts to secure Amazon’s consumer device ecosystem.
Smith also previously served as vice president of security at Salesforce, where he led security strategy, risk remediation, and security integration efforts across the enterprise. Earlier in his career, he held multiple leadership positions within AWS Security, including as one of the founding members of the Office of the CISO and Security Assurance organizations.
Infoblox President and CEO Scott Harrell said Smith’s experience building and scaling security programs at major technology companies will help strengthen the company’s security posture, protect customer trust, and support resilience in a more complex threat landscape.
Smith said Infoblox plays a critical role in helping organizations secure and manage the infrastructure that powers modern business, and that he will help strengthen the company’s security program while supporting its continued innovation and growth.
Who is affected
Infoblox customers, partners, and internal teams are most directly affected by the appointment. Smith will lead global security strategy for a company that provides preemptive security and critical network services to more than 5,700 customers, including the majority of Fortune 100 companies.
Organizations that rely on Infoblox for hybrid, multi-cloud networking, critical network services, and enterprise resilience may be affected by how the company’s security strategy evolves under Smith’s leadership.
Why CISOs should care
This appointment matters because Infoblox operates in areas closely tied to enterprise resilience, critical network services, hybrid and multi-cloud networking, and preemptive security. A CISO appointment at a security and networking company can influence how the company governs risk, strengthens internal cyber resilience, and maintains customer trust.
Smith’s background is also relevant to CISOs because his experience spans cloud security, enterprise security, risk management, consumer device security, security integration, and security assurance. Those areas align with the challenges many security leaders face as digital infrastructure expands and AI-driven attacks become part of the threat landscape.
The appointment also reflects the growing link between security leadership and business growth. Infoblox said Smith will support secure growth while strengthening cyber resilience and advancing risk management, which places the CISO role at the center of both protection and business enablement.
3 practical actions
- Evaluate vendor security leadership as part of third-party risk reviews: Infoblox’s appointment of a new CISO directly affects the company’s global security strategy. CISOs should consider security leadership, risk management priorities, and cyber resilience commitments when reviewing critical vendors that support networking and security infrastructure.
- Review resilience expectations for critical network services providers: Infoblox provides preemptive security and critical network services for enterprise customers. Organizations that depend on vendors in this category should confirm resilience expectations, incident communication processes, and security assurance requirements.
- Align internal security strategy with AI-driven threat and infrastructure risk: Infoblox framed the appointment around a threat landscape shaped by AI-driven attacks, expanding digital infrastructure, and autonomous technologies. CISOs should review whether their own security strategy accounts for these same pressures, especially across cloud, network, and enterprise risk management programs.
John Kevin Hao is a news and feature writer covering cybersecurity, technology, and business targeted for professional audiences.