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N-able Names Chief Security Officer; Spin-Out From SolarWinds Nears

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John Pagliuca, CEO, N-able
John Pagliuca, president, N-able

MSP software company N-able has named Dave MacKinnon as chief security officer and Peter Anastos as executive vice president, general counsel. The moves come as N-able prepares to potentially spin out from parent SolarWinds within the next few weeks.

MacKinnon previously was an IT security leader at AT&T/WarnerMedia. At N-able, he is responsible for the company's information security team, including product and application security, governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), and security incident response.

Anastos previously was general counsel at Access Information Management, Cynosureand and Airvana, Inc. He has IPO, private equity and M&A experience.

Both hires reinforce N-able's commitment to proper corporate compliance and security. The company closely analyzed its cyber stance after parent SolarWinds in December 2020 disclosed the Orion cyberattack. N-able's software was not targeted or associated with the attack, according to forensic analysis by KPMG and CrowdStrike, N-able has stated.

N-able: Key Hires Ahead of Potential Spin-Out From SolarWinds

In a prepared statement about MacKinnon and Anastos joining N-able, President John Pagliuca said:

“We are excited to have both Dave and Peter join our leadership team during this key time in our N-able journey. Dave is well known for his extensive security background and knowledge, which makes him the perfect fit in such an important focus area for N-able, our MSP partners, and their customers. Peter has a proven legal track record and will be a tremendous asset and leader at N-able. I’m looking forward to seeing this growing executive team support our partners in helping them succeed.”

SolarWinds announced the potential N-able spin-out in mid-2020, and has taken multiple steps since that time to prepare the MSP software company to operate as an independent business. The spin-out is highly likely, and expected to be completed before July 2021, ChannelE2E believes. N-able President John Pagliuca will lead the business as CEO.

Separately, Tim Brown will remain with SolarWinds as CISO. Brown is a familiar leader within MSP circles. He had overseen security for both SolarWinds and the MSP software business until the spin-out plan neared its final stages.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.