CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. said Chief Security Officer Shawn Henry will retire from his current role at the company as of March 31, according to a regulatory filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The decision was mutually agreed to on Feb. 14th. Henry will transition to executive advisor to the CEO.
“After nearly four decades in security Shawn is retiring from his full-time role as part of a planned transition and will remain an integral part of CrowdStrike as executive advisor to the CEO, focused on cybersecurity advocacy and resilience,” a company spokesperson said via email.
Henry, one of the longest serving executives at CrowdStrike, founded the company’s incident response and professional services practice.
It is not immediately clear whether CrowdStrike has a successor in mind or will make other changes to its IT security governance.
Prior to joining CrowdStrike in 2012, Henry was executive assistant director at the FBI, retiring after a 24-year career. Henry led global investigations into criminal activity, cyber intrusions and other issues.
The departure comes less than a year after a faulty CrowdStrike software update led to a global IT outage impacting about 8.5 million Microsoft Windows devices. The outage was blamed on a mismatched software update in the company’s Falcon sensor.
Henry was a key player in helping CrowdStrike recover from the outage. He posted a lengthy apology on LinkedIn, expressing thanks to employees, customers and partners.
Allie Mellen, principal analyst, security and risk at Forrester, said the company will have big shoes to fill in finding a successor.
“Shawn was a major asset to CrowdStrike after the outage with his timely, empathetic messages to customers, partners, and the broader community,” Mellen said via email.
Henry, in connection with the change, will no longer participate in the company’s corporate incentive and leadership incentive plans. The compensation changes will be effective March 31.
