Profile

Pondurance is the only provider of risk-based MDR services specifically engineered to eliminate breach risks. As a full-service provider of DFIR, MDR, and cybersecurity advisory and compliance services, Pondurance protects midmarket organizations from data breach risks before, during, and after its occurrence. Organizations entrusted with consumer protected health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII) rely on Pondurance to provide a unified platform and trusted U.S.-based SOC service.

Key Products

Managed Detection & Response (MDR): Full lifecycle, proactive cybersecurity protection for what matters most. From threat detection through disruption

Incident Response (IR): Digital Forensics and Incident Response (DFIR) driven by Human Expertise

Exposure Vulnerability Management: Monitor your attack surface and mitigate exposed vulnerabilities

Managed SIEM: A next-generation managed SIEM backed by our proven 24/7 SOC

Key Executives

Doug Howard, Chief Executive Officer

Doug has over 30 years of experience as a technology leader and innovator in security with a highly-developed background in business development, M&A, operations, engineering, marketing, sales, and executive leadership. In his previous role at RSA as Vice President of Global Services and IT Innovation, he provided leadership support for RSA’s strategic vision and global operational execution, various Dell Governance Programs and the M&A exit to STG from Dell. A former member of the U.S. Air Force, Doug holds a bachelor’s degree in Management and Marketing from Strayer University.

Ron Pelletier, Founder and Chief Customer Officer

Ron Pelletier is the original Founder of Pondurance, having started the company from his basement in 2008. Ron has over 25 years of cyber security advisory experience. He started his career as an officer in the US Army, followed by nine years with Big Four firm, EY. As a strong consensus builder and customer advocate, Ron is focused on evangelizing the Pondurance brand as well as customer success.

Dustin Hutchison, VP Services and CISO

Dustin has over 20 years of experience in information security, risk management and regulatory compliance. Prior to joining Pondurance, Dustin was a risk and compliance professional focusing on HIPAA, PCI and risk assessments for new technology acquisitions ranging from infrastructure solutions to patient care devices. Dustin is also currently an adjunct professor at Ivy Tech Community College, Sullivan University and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University teaching undergrad and master’s level cyber security courses.

Frank Policastro, Chief Financial Officer

Frank Policastro brings 20 years of financial and operational experience to Pondurance, leading start-up to high growth cyber security and technology driven companies, to include privately held, investor backed (private equity and venture capital), and publicly traded entities.

As Pondurance’s Chief Financial Officer, Frank is instrumental in advancing the company’s current and long-term financial management and strategic planning strategies as well as leading the company’s Accounting, Finance, Sales Operations, People Operations, and Talent Acquisition teams.

Prior to joining Pondurance, Frank was the Chief Financial and Business Operations Officer for SafeGuard Cyber, a venture backed SaaS company that provides security and compliance for multi-channel communication and collaboration tools. He started his journey in cybersecurity with The Crypsis Group, a Digital Forensics and Incident Response company (a portfolio company of ZP Group) where he played a critical role in scaling and selling the company to Palo Alto Networks in 2020.

Prior to his career in cybersecurity, Frank led finance and business operations teams for two investor backed technology companies based in the Washington, DC metro. In each of these roles he supported multiple equity and debt capital financing leading to two international M&A transactions. He spent the early part of his career with Kearney & Company, one of the top CPA and consulting firms exclusively supporting the Federal government.

Frank holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Mount Saint Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. He is also a Certified Public Accountant and a Project Management Professional.

Enzo Arefi, Chief Technical Officer

Enzo brings to Pondurance extensive knowledge of the Cybersecurity industry and experience driving innovation and promoting engineering excellence. He has led the research and development of cutting-edge cybersecurity products for mission-critical, large scale, high availability deployments that are relied upon by MSSPs/MDRs, enterprises, and government organizations around the world.  

Prior to joining us, he served as the VP of Engineering at Fidelis (acquired by General Dynamics, and later spun out as Fidelis Cybersecurity) and prior to that at Ericsson. In addition to leadership roles, Enzo’s career over the past 25 years in the industry includes work on innovative patents and hands-on development experience with low-level firmware programming, high-level UI/UX design and almost everything else in between. Enzo holds a master’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm.

Johnny Calhoun, Vice President, MDR Operations

Johnny Calhoun is a highly accomplished cybersecurity executive who brings over 20 years of cybersecurity experience to Pondurance.  He has built and led multiple world-class teams and business units at Secureworks, PhishLabs, and Nisos in various leadership and executive roles.

While at Secureworks, Johnny led the Global Implementations group, which architected, planned, and implemented cybersecurity solutions, accelerating revenue recognition, and helping Secureworks grow into a $500M recurring revenue business. Secureworks conducted a successful IPO in 2016.

At PhishLabs, Johnny served as Executive Vice President of Operations. He led Client Success, Operations, Research, and Engineering teams and established SOCs (Security Operations Centers) in Charleston, SC, Toronto, Canada, and Noida, India. Johnny was responsible for delivering and scaling the AntiPhishing, Business Email Compromise, and Digital Risk Protection services to an international client base. PhishLabs was acquired by HelpSystems in 2021.

At Nisos, Johnny served as COO, running the Managed Intelligence and Engineering programs. Nisos’ Managed Intelligence program is a world-class Open-Source Intelligence capability that enables clients to better understand critical risks and threats. Johnny successfully transformed the professional services team into a managed service, allowing the team to efficiently scale to meet growing client demand. 

Johnny holds a BS in Computer Science from Coastal Carolina University.

Niloofar Razi Howe, Executive Chairman

Niloofar Razi Howe has over 25 years of experience in the technology industry, focusing on cybersecurity for the past 15 years. She is a Senior Operating Partner at Energy Impact Partners and serves on several boards, including Morgan Stanley Private Bank, Pondurance (Executive Chair), Tenable, and Recorded Future. Ms. Howe is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a Senior Fellow at New America. Her nonprofit work includes Board Chair at IREX and trustee at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

Previously, she was Chief Strategy Officer at RSA, leading corporate strategy and operations, and served as Chief Strategy Officer at Endgame, Inc. Before her operating roles, she spent 12 years in private equity and venture capital, including at Zone Ventures and Paladin Capital Group. Ms. Howe began her career as a lawyer at O’Melveny & Myers and as a consultant at McKinsey & Co.

Her past board roles include Initiate Systems, Courion Corporation, and Sibley Memorial Hospital. Ms. Howe graduated with honors from Columbia College and received her JD cum laude from Harvard Law School. She frequently speaks on topics related to national security and corporate governance and created a TEDx talk titled “The Gift of Exile.” Ms. Howe is also a judge at various innovation competitions, including the RSA Conference Innovation Sandbox Competition.