Press Release
Global Cyber Alliance Announces John Ryan as General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer
John Ryan has joined the Global Cyber Alliance as the General Counsel and Chief Operating Officer.
GCA President and CEO, Philip Reitinger, stated, “John has been involved in protecting people and families from cyber risk for over 20 years, including as the President and Board Chair of a non-profit like GCA. His abilities and experience will accelerate GCA’s development and help us achieve our vision of collectively confronting cyber risks by doing something and measuring it more effectively.”
Manhattan District Attorney, Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., stated, “The Global Cyber Alliance represents a coalition of organizations dedicated to reducing cyber risk and vulnerability, with no regional restrictions, financial motivation, or goal apart from the prevention of cyber attacks through enhanced collaboration and partnership. Mr. Ryan’s extensive experience in the public and private sector will serve GCA well, and I look forward to working together to develop effective strategies addressing the threat of malicious cyber activity.”
Prior to joining GCA, Ryan was the President and CEO of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), a position he took up after having served for more than 12 years on its board, including one year as Chairman. His accomplishments during his tenure there included: working with Congress to pass the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Strengthening Families Act, which mandates the reporting of missing and abducted children from foster care to law enforcement and NCMEC; partnering with the FBI in Operation Cross Country, a nationwide enforcement action, which recovered several hundred victims of child sex trafficking; and developing special search protocols and investigative checklists to assist first responders to safely recover children with autism who go missing.
Previous to his post at NCMEC, Ryan was the AOL Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel who headed the Public Safety & Criminal Investigations Unit. His responsibilities included the development and implementation of policies and processes to combat illicit activities on AOL services.
He also served as the liaison with law enforcement to coordinate investigations and prosecutions of criminal activities including Internet offenses against minors. He led the industry in the training of law enforcement on sources and methods for solving Internet crimes and worked diligently with AOL technologies in the development of tools to detect and prevent transmission of illicit content on the service.
Ryan has served as the industry advisor for Interpol and as a law enforcement liaison for the international community. In addition, Ryan was a founding board member at the United States Internet Service Providers Association.
GCA Board Director, Shawn Henry, President of CrowdStrike Services and retired Executive Assistant Director of the FBI, commented, “While I was with the FBI, I and my teams had a chance to work with John during his tenure at both AOL and NCMEC. John is a consummate professional who has worked effectively in the private sector and with government to protect people online.”
In addition to working with AOL, Inc., Ryan was the Director of Investigative Affairs at AT&T Wireless in New York, where he was responsible for developing a strategy for prevention and enforcement efforts against wireless fraud. Ryan also served for 14 years at the Office of the District Attorney in Bronx County as an Assistant District Attorney and Chief of Major Offenses.
GCA co-founder, City of London Police Commissioner, Ian Dyson, stated, “John Ryan’s extensive experience in law enforcement, leading a non-profit, and in technology will be invaluable to GCA in furthering its global mission of eradicating cyber risks.”
