Career profile
John Paul Cunningham
Chief Information Security Officer, Silverfort
- Current role, per sources checked 30 June 2026
- 21 February 2023
John Paul Cunningham is the Chief Information Security Officer of Silverfort, appointed in February 2023.
Career path
Cunningham's security career began at JPMorgan Chase, where he was asked to take on security and information risk management as privacy laws grew in importance; he responded by earning his CISSP certification and building out his skills from there. He went on to build information security, risk management, and security operations programs from scratch at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. He later held similar security leadership positions at Ares Management and Docupace.
As CISO of Bank of Hope, Cunningham worked with the board to build operating models aimed at reducing cost and cyber risk while meeting compliance standards. He joined Silverfort as CISO in February 2023, where he designs and implements the company's own cybersecurity program and works with customers and partners on the strategic case for identity protection.
Cunningham has also described serving in the military in a law enforcement role rather than a technology one, saying the experience shaped his approach to physical security, business resilience, and the investigative mindset he brings to cybersecurity.
Remit and public commentary
At Silverfort, Cunningham says his role spans corporate security for the company itself, involvement in product and identity security strategy, and broader industry evangelism around identity and AI.
"For too long organizations have relied on a narrow, piecemeal approach to identity security," Cunningham said.
In a June 2026 Dark Reading Heard It From a CISO interview, Cunningham argued that AI is changing cybersecurity work rather than eliminating jobs, and that the field remains open to people from technical, audit, law enforcement, and project management backgrounds. He said identity security in particular is a strong entry point because identity touches every part of security and is often the underlying weakness behind breaches.
Cunningham has also presented a Silverfort webinar, CISO Perspective: Why Great Companies with Great Solutions Still Get Breached, covering cybersecurity priorities, commonly missed vulnerabilities, and how attackers bypass traditional defenses. He has contributed articles to Dark Reading, including Can Automatic Updates for Critical Infrastructure Be Trusted? in November 2024 and Why Identity Teams Need to Start Reporting to the CISO in August 2024.
