The editors at Cybercrime Magazine have honored Nir Zuk, the founder and Chief Technology Officer at Palo Alto Networks (NASDAQ: PANW), with the title of “Cybersecurity Person of the Year” for his remarkable contributions to the industry in 2025.
On August 18 of this year, Palo Alto Networks announced Zuk's retirement after more than 20 years of dedicated service. Zuk founded the company in 2005, where he was instrumental in developing the next-generation firewall, a significant advancement in the cybersecurity landscape.
Zuk expressed confidence in retiring, stating that the comprehensive cybersecurity platform he envisioned two decades ago has now been fully realized. This information was reported by Calcalist, a leading financial newspaper and online media platform in Israel.
His retirement comes at a pivotal moment, as PAN announced plans to acquire CyberArk for approximately $25 billion. This acquisition adds to a series of significant purchases in Israel and worldwide, including Talon Cyber Security and Dig Security, which were acquired for a total of $1 billion in 2023, according to Calcalist.
“Nir is a legend in cybersecurity, and his contributions are forever etched in our history books,” said Nikesh Arora, Chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks.
In a blog post on the PAN site, Zuk predicted that “The cybersecurity industry will experience tectonic shifts in 2025, unlike any we’ve seen in years past. These historic transformations will see the convergence of AI, data, and platform unification, altogether changing how both cybersecurity defenders and attackers will operate and innovate.” In hindsight, Zuk's foresight proved to be accurate.
“Nir Zuk is a once-in-a-generation founder whose innovation has redefined cybersecurity and elevated the entire industry. His achievements will resonate for decades,” remarked Richard Seewald, Founder and Managing Partner at Evolution Equity Partners, a prominent venture capital firm and lead investor in Talon Cyber Security and Protect AI, both of which were acquired by PAN.
Before co-founding Palo Alto Networks, Zuk served as the CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2004. He also co-founded OneSecure, a pioneer in intrusion prevention and detection appliances. Earlier in his career, Zuk worked as a principal engineer at Check Point Software Technologies, where he contributed to the development of stateful inspection technology.
“Nir Zuk is a hero, someone who young technologists and aspiring entrepreneurs look up to as a role model for what they might accomplish in the future,” stated Steve Morgan, founder of Cybersecurity Ventures and Editor-in-Chief at Cybercrime Magazine. “He may not realize it, but in 2025 Zuk’s retirement announcement has highlighted the enormous opportunity that lies ahead for the next generation of cybersecurity leaders.”
Past recipients of the “Cybersecurity Person of the Year” award include notable figures such as George Kurtz, CEO and Co-Founder of CrowdStrike (2024); General Paul Nakasone, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency/Chief of the Central Security Service (2023); and Claire O’Neill, Australia’s Minister for Cyber Security (2022), among others.
