James Johnson

James Johnson is the Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer of Deere & Company, a role he has held since 2014.

Career path

Johnson began his career as a network engineer at windows and doors company Pella. He earned a Certified Information Systems Security Professional credential and moved into security work as a penetration tester at Honeywell. While at Honeywell he worked through Titan Rain, a series of coordinated cyberattacks attributed to a Chinese advanced persistent threat group, an experience he has described as shaping his view of the stakes in security work. Over 11 years at Honeywell he advanced to become a CISO overseeing multiple divisions within the company. In 2014 he joined John Deere as its first Chief Information Security Officer, building a security organization from scratch.
"Building a security-focused culture doesn't happen overnight—it is a journey, and my journey at Deere started in 2014 with the unwavering support of our executive leadership team and the board of directors," Johnson said. Under his leadership the security organization has grown from about 32 people to roughly 220. His remit has expanded over time to include financial product security as well as data security and governance. In 2022 he established a bug bounty program with HackerOne that has paid out more than $1.5 million to external researchers.

Talent pipeline and public engagement

Johnson has built a recruiting partnership with Iowa State University that began in 2017 and has employed more than 70 ISU students in part-time security roles covering AWS cloud services, vulnerability management and secure software development. He presented this program at a White House cybersecurity session focused on good-paying jobs in cyber, discussing how Deere recruits college students early in their studies. Deere also runs an annual CyberTractor Challenge at Iowa State that has grown into an industry event involving peers such as CNH Industrial and AGCO Corporation. As part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month in October 2024, Johnson arranged for former New York Times cybersecurity reporter and author Nicole Perlroth to speak with Deere employees, writing that outside experts help extend understanding of current threats and adversary tactics across the company's business segments. He has also described continuous attack surface management and penetration testing as core elements of Deere's security strategy, alongside AI tools that now assess reported phishing emails in under 20 minutes.