Former RSA Chief Technology Officer Zulfikar Ramzan Joins Aura as Chief Scientist
Ramzan to lead development of Aura's industry-first, intelligent digital safety platform for predictive, personalized, autonomous protection across every aspect of digital life
BOSTON, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Aura, a leading provider of proactive, all-in-one digital security for consumers, today announced the appointment of Dr. Zulfikar Ramzan to chief scientist and CEO of Aura Labs. Ramzan joins Aura from RSA, where he served as chief technology officer and chief digital officer. He was additionally chief product officer of NetWitness, RSA's threat detection and response business. Ramzan previously served on Aura's Board of Directors.
Over the past four decades, every aspect of life has grown more digitized and connected. The digital threats that consumers face have grown exponentially more complex and sophisticated. As a result, in 2020 U.S. consumers lost more money to online crime than to home burglary for the first time in history. 1
"Today, there is no differentiation between your digital life and real life. And, while well-financed criminal enterprises have replaced individual hackers, the tools available to protect ourselves have not changed since we were working on desktop computers with dial-up modems," said Hari Ravichandran, founder and CEO of Aura. "It has been Aura's mission to change that. With Zulfikar and his team in place, we will extend our vision for the future of online safety beyond proactive security to truly intelligent digital safety."
As chief scientist, Ramzan will establish Aura Labs to drive the company's innovation agenda. Together, Ramzan and Aura Labs will further the company's development of an industry-first, AI-driven platform that enables predictive, personalized and autonomous digital safety experiences for consumers. The innovative platform will leverage artificial intelligence, machine learning and analytics to deliver customized solutions for an individual's online digital safety.
"Throughout my tenure in the security industry, I have seen how AI and machine learning have transformed enterprise security, but consumer protections have been stagnant for decades," Ramzan said. "Consumers deserve enterprise-grade innovation, which is exactly what Aura is delivering. I look forward to moving consumer protections from glorified alarm systems to adaptive platforms that learn and grow with the individual."
Ramzan joined RSA in 2015 as chief technology officer and for the past year has been RSA's chief digital officer. During this time, he acquired extensive experience leading innovation and organization-wide systems implementation. Ramzan's forward-thinking and leadership in cybersecurity, cryptography, decentralized networks, and identity management, as well as his track record developing cutting-edge security product innovations at RSA Labs, will augment and strengthen Aura's deep bench of security and technology expertise.
Prior to his role with RSA, Ramzan served as chief technology officer of Elastica (acquired by Blue Coat), chief scientist of Sourcefire (acquired by Cisco), and chief scientist of Immunet (acquired by Sourcefire). Ramzan holds a PhD in electrical engineering and computer science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his doctoral advisor was Professor Ronald L. Rivest, co-founder of RSA Data Security.
About Aura
Aura is a mission-driven technology company dedicated to creating a safer internet for everyone. We believe that people deserve the peace of mind that every online interaction will remain safe, private and protected. With an easy-to-use, integrated suite of safety services – trusted by more than one million customers – Aura is making all-in-one digital security accessible to all. Visit www.aura.com.
For further information, please contact media@aura.com.
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1 FBI Preliminary Uniform Crime Report 2020
SOURCE Aura