Management Team

Peter G. George, President

With more than 25 years of global network security experience, Peter George has an established track record of building companies that deliver sustained growth and profits and in identifying critical worldwide partnership opportunities that strategically expand market share. Prior to becoming President and CEO of Fidelis Security Systems in 2008, Mr. George spent the last seven years as President and CEO of Crossbeam Systems, the market leader in the high-end segment of the Unified Threat Management market, where he took the company from being a pre-revenue start-up to over $50 million in revenue. Previously, he was President of Nortel Networks Enterprise Business in Europe, Middle-East, and Africa, responsible for managing more than 5,000 employees and $2 billion in revenue. Mr. George came to Nortel via their 1998 acquisition of Bay Networks where he was serving as vice president of European operations. During his tenure at Wellfleet and Bay, he played key sales executive roles in New England and in Europe. Prior to joining Wellfleet, Mr. George served as the Northeast regional manager and GM of Canada at 3Com Corporation, and also held senior management positions at Ungerman Bass. He received his BA from the College of the Holy Cross, and has done graduate studies at Harvard and Oxford University.

Gene Savchuk, Chief Technology Officer

Gene Savchuk has been in the computer and networking industry for 25 years, first managing networks and then moving to developing commercial network security and management solutions. His first network systems administration program went to market in 1992. In 1995, a remote user authentication solution that he developed was introduced to European markets. Prior to co-founding Fidelis Security Systems, Inc. in 2002, he served as Director of Software Development at InforMax Inc. and helped to guide it from a startup to a public company with almost 300 employees. At Fidelis, he has been the primary architect and has led the development of Fidelis XPS through his invention of the product's award-winning patented technology platform, Deep Session Inspection(R). Mr. Savchuk holds a Bachelors Degree in Physics and Applied Mathematics and a Master of Computer Science.

Gary Benedetti, Vice President of Worldwide Sales

In his role as Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Fidelis, Gary Benedetti brings more than 20 years of experience in winning major deals with leading enterprises, major defense organizations, and large technology companies.  Before joining Fidelis, Mr. Benedetti served as the Vice President of Worldwide Sales for Epok, the industry leader in SharePoint security and SharePoint extranet solutions. Previously, as the VP of Sales for e-Security, prior to its acquisition by Novell. Mr. Benedetti was instrumental in the company's growth which allowed it to achieve a leadership position in the Gartner Security Event Management Magic Quadrant; he was a key member of the management team throughout the sale of e-Security to Novell, and remained with Novell as the Vice President of Audit Solutions. Prior to facilitating the sale of e-Security to Novell, he served as the Vice President of Strategic Business Solutions for AOL, where he played a lead role in customer acquisition and retention and spearheaded the strategic alliance program. Prior to AOL, Mr. Benedetti served as Vice President of Sales for the Eastern region at Netscape, significantly growing revenue year over year. Before his tenure at Netscape, he held senior sales positions at Interactive Media, AimTech, and Oracle. Mr. Benedetti is a graduate from James Madison University.

Kurt Bertone, Chief Security Strategist

Kurt Bertone brings more than two decades of security industry experience to his role as Chief Security Strategist at Fidelis Cybersecurity Solutions. Mr. Bertone was most recently Vice President of Product Management at Covergence, where he was a founder and was responsible for ensuring that session management solutions provided the most comprehensive security in the industry. His previous experience includes serving as Chief Technology Officer EMEA at Nortel and Bay Networks, and Vice President of Business Development at Crossbeam Systems. Mr. Bertone has worked closely with world-class security companies such as Check Point Technologies, Internet Security Systems (ISS), Trend Micro, Websense, Secure Computing and others. He holds a bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Brown University and a Masters of Science in Computer, Information & Control Engineering from the University of Michigan. Mr. Bertone is the primary inventor and author of multiple patents in the area of application-level network security.

Robert Browning, Vice President of Operations

Robert Browning brings over 27 years of comprehensive experience in technical leadership and managing high performance teams to his current role as Vice President of Operations. Prior to joining General Dynamics Fidelis Cybersecurity Solutions, Mr. Browning was Business Development Director, supporting the General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems Cyber Division. As Business Development Director, Mr. Browning was responsible for strategic planning, business development, capture management, internal research & development and associated investments. Mr. Browning has worked in numerous capacities at GDAIS, including managing special projects with the the National Security Agency and the Department of Defense. Prior to joining General Dynamics, Mr. Browning served in the United States Marine Corp as a cryptographic officer.

Will Irace, Vice President of Threat Research

 As Vice President of Threat Research for Fidelis, Will Irace leads a team of professionals tasked with bringing customers closer to a state of justified confidence regarding their defensive posture against sophisticated adversaries. Since starting his career in information technology over two decades ago, Mr. Irace has brought his unique blend of skills and experiences to a diverse range of enterprises. Prior to joining Fidelis, he worked at Internet Security Systems and IBM, delivering penetration tests, security architecture design, security strategy workshops and policy development services. In the web's early days, Mr. Irace produced live streaming-media webcasts for a variety of clients in the entertainment industry. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Industry from California State University, Northridge

Jim Jaeger, Vice President of Cybersecurity Services

  Jim Jaeger is responsible for managing the Network Defense and Forensics business area at General Dynamics Fidelis Cybersecurity Solutions, including Digital Forensics Lab. In this role, he has led cyber forensics investigations into some of the largest network breaches impacting our industry. Mr. Jaeger has also held a leadership role for a wide range of cyber programs including General Dynamics' support for the DoD Cyber Crime Center (DC3), the Defense Computer Forensic Lab and the DefenseCyber Crime Institute. Previously, he created General Dynamics' information assurance and critical infrastructure protection group, which has developed a wide variety of Information Assurance tools, ranging from the Air Force’s intrusion detection infrastructure to the only network based multi-level security (MLS) system accredited by the National Security Agency at Protection Level 4 without waivers. He is a former Brigadier General in the United States Air Force and his military service includes stints as the Director of Intelligence (J2) for the U.S. Atlantic Command, Assistant Deputy Director of Operations at the National Security Agency, and Commander of the Air Force Technical Applications Center. In these capacities, Mr. Jaeger was responsible for the collection and reporting of intelligence to Theater Commanders and the National Command Authority. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the Air Force Academy and his Master’s degree in Management & Supervision from Central MichiganUniversity. He also completed the Executive Development Program at the Whitmore Graduate School of Business of the University of New Hampshire.

Tom Lyons, Vice President of Product Management

Tom Lyons brings over twenty years of comprehensive experience in Network Security, Data Communications and Computer Engineering to his current role as Vice President of Product Management for Fidelis. Prior to joining Fidelis, Mr. Lyons held executive and field leadership positions at industry leading hardware and software manufacturers - Cisco Systems, Nokia, Bay Networks, Microsoft, Compaq Computer Corporation and IBM.  Mr. Lyons has also been an integral part of five successful start-ups including Solera Networks, IronPort Systems, Network Alchemy, Inktomi Corporation and Space Communications Company.  Mr. Lyons has a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology.

Gerald Mancini, Vice President of Engineering

Gerald Mancini brings valuable experience in building and leading early-stage product development teams to his role at Fidelis. Prior to joining the company, he served as Director of Engineering at Torrent Network Technologies where he led the development of an edge-router product which included software, hardware, and custom chip design efforts. His tenure at Torrent continued after the company was acquired by Ericsson and the development effort shifted toward IP routing products for wireless infrastructure networks. Prior to joining Torrent, he led chip development and system test for Nexion, an ATM switch manufacturer, both before and after its acquisition by Fujitsu. Mr. Mancini holds a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute and a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University.

Stacey Sweeney, Vice President of Marketing

Stacey Fairbairn Sweeney utilizes her nearly twenty years of experience developing company and product messaging to direct the marketing, communications, and branding strategies for Fidelis as the Vice President of Marketing.  Previously, as Marketing Partner of Walker Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm focusing on network security investments, she led the marketing and public relations efforts for the firm and many of its nearly forty emerging technology company investments. Ms. Sweeney has held senior-level marketing positions for technology companies including Datatel, Network Associates, and Trusted Information Systems (TIS). As TIS entered the commercial market as a publicly-traded company, she built and directed the marketing team that was responsible for lead generation, corporate identity, investor/media relations, and product marketing, as well as participating in the corporate development efforts for the company’s several mergers and acquisitions. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications Management from the S.I. Newhouse School of Communications at Syracuse University.