QuintessenceLabs Appoints Andrew (Andy) Penn AO as Special Adviser

Expands global advisory team to further market leadership in enabling advanced encryption

CANBERRA, Australia and SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 13, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- QuintessenceLabs, a pioneer and leader in enterprise-scale encryption orchestration, is proud to announce today that highly respected industry veteran Andy Penn has joined the company's global advisory team as Special Adviser. The addition of Mr Penn, alongside other appointments, brings heightened expertise that will contribute to furthering our market leadership in the increasingly critical domain of advanced encryption solutions.

Andy has had an extensive career spanning over four decades across three industries – telecommunications and technology, financial services, and shipping. He was formerly the CEO of Telstra and before that the CEO of AXA Asia Pacific Holdings. He was also Chairman of the Australian Government's Cyber Security Expert Advisory Board and a member of the Expert Advisory Panel for the Victorian State Electricity Commission.

"We are delighted to have the benefit of Andy's deep experience and expertise from his many years leading two of Australia's largest companies and his extensive Government policy work," said QuintessenceLabs Founder and CEO, Dr Vikram Sharma. "Andy has deep experience in critical technologies and cybersecurity and in applying this practically both across business and government agencies and his insights will further our mission to enable advanced encryption capabilities, including quantum-resilient solutions, for our customers."

Andy is a Member of the Advisory Board of REDSPICE a major program of the Australian Signal's Directorate (ASD) to expand the range and sophistication of Australia's intelligence, offensive and defensive cyber capabilities, a Member of the Quad Investors Network of the American Frontier Fund, and a Member of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria.  He is also a non-executive Director and Chair of the Audit and Risk Committee of the Coles Group.

"I am very pleased to be supporting the QuintessenceLabs team as they have developed unique capabilities in quantum key generation, crypto-agile key management, and quantum key distribution," said Penn. "Encryption is a key resource in managing and mitigating the cybersecurity risks that we face as individuals, companies, and nations."  

"Existing approaches to encryption management are becoming increasingly vulnerable as the technologies available to malicious actors become more sophisticated and powerful and quantum will take this to a whole new level. From all my work in cybersecurity, it is clear that encryption management has fallen way behind where it needs to be and we need to act urgently. QuintessenceLabs is at the forefront of helping solve this problem," said Penn.

Also joining the QuintessenceLabs team as US Federal Adviser, is Bob Gourley, co-founder of OODA LLC. Bob is a seasoned enterprise technologist with expertise in cybersecurity, corporate governance, and strategy, having held leadership roles in U.S. defense and intelligence, including as former CTO for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

At OODA LLC, Bob leverages a global network to promote the use of advanced technologies in enterprises. Gourley, with significant experience as both a client and consultant, will guide QuintessenceLabs in building key strategic partnerships in North America.

Leading experts agree that enterprise-scale encryption is one of the critical pillars of a robust cybersecurity strategy for most organizations. QuintessenceLabs is primed to deliver global leadership in supporting customers to implement enterprise-scale encryption and achieve a quantum-resilient cybersecurity posture in a complex cyber threat environment. These appointments affirm our commitment to excellence and reflect our dedication to assembling a team of industry leaders and visionaries.

For more information visit: www.quintessencelabs.com/leadership.

About QuintessenceLabs

QuintessenceLabs is a global leader in post-quantum cybersecurity. The company offers a suite of solutions and services ranging from qStream, the world's fastest quantum random number generator to qOptica a continuously variable quantum key distribution system which are underpinned by the Trusted Security Foundation (TSF), the industry's most secure encryption key management platform. The company is currently working with governments and organizations worldwide to secure sensitive information today and into a post-quantum computing future. For more information, visit www.quintessencelabs.com or connect on LinkedIn.