Widely credited with creating the first commercial anti-virus product, which later became Norton AntiVirus, Tippett sees value in influencing discussions within the security community. He helped define TruSecure’s vendor-agnostic consulting and solutions and led the publishing of Information Security Magazine. “You have to figure out what is right and move forward with your convictions. … In computer security, in particular, we tend to do what is the right thing even to the extent of efficiency and security,” Tippett says. TruSecure’s CTO also spearheaded the TruSecure ICSA Security Practitioner Certification, a vendor-neutral, network security knowledge and experience certification. This program is designed to enhance existing skills, to raise the bar on security expertise, and to increase the number of skilled network security practitioners and professionals in the industry. — L.W.P. Return to InfoWorld’s 25 Most Influential CTOs 2002 Security