Baltimore – October 29, 2026 -- Norman Whitelaw, Chief Information and Security Officer at Synagro Technologies, has won a 2026 Top Global CISOs award from Cyber Defense Magazine after competing against thousands of candidates.
Judges weighed breach prevention, board communication and compliance
The award, now in its 14th year on the Cyber Defense Awards platform, evaluates candidates on four criteria. They are innovation, success in communicating with boards and senior executives, detecting and stopping breaches and data loss, and building risk-reduction programs that meet regulatory requirements.
The judging panel includes Gary Miliefsky of CDMG, Katie Gray of In-Q-Tel, Robert R. Ackerman Jr. of Allegis Cyber, Ron Gula of Gula Tech Adventures and Dino Boukouris of AltitudeCyber, among others.
Miliefsky, publisher of Cyber Defense Magazine, described the winners as a small, elite group of security professionals. Winners will be announced at CyberDefenseCon 2026.
Synagro CEO Bob Preston credits Whitelaw with building the company's security program
Synagro Chairman and CEO Bob Preston called Whitelaw the company's "leading cyber defender" and named cyber-threat protection one of the most critical responsibilities Synagro faces. Preston attributed the recognition to Whitelaw's leadership, the strength of the cybersecurity program and the team he has built.
Synagro, which describes itself as North America's leading provider of sustainable solutions for biosolids, organics and residuals, announced the award.