Michael Woodson is Sonesta’s Director of Information Security and Privacy and was formally the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, the public agency responsible for operating most of the transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. He was responsible for the MBTA’s total information security needs and the development and delivery of their comprehensive information security strategy to optimize the security posture of the organization.

Mr. Woodson is an IT information security professional with over 25 years of experience and has a deep understanding of operational and information technology processes, the implementation of cost -
effective controls and security safeguards to monitor and mitigate risks.

He was previously a Principal at Infosys Limited in the Enterprise Application, Cloud, Infrastructure, and Security Services practice, a Senior Vice President, at Taino Consulting Groups Cyber Security Advisory Practice, Information System Security and VP/Cyber Risk Director for State Street Corporation, Director of Cyber and Network Security for Santander Bank, and Head of Forensic Information Security Services North America for Tata Consultancy Services and other positions in information and cybersecurity which includes 12 years of law enforcement experience obtained directly from the Boston Police Department as an IT specialist/Police Officer.

Mr. Woodson has an extensive background in Network and Information Security, Data Privacy, Fraud Management, Technical Investigations, Regulatory Compliance and Policy Development, Litigation Preparedness, Enterprise Governance, Risk Management, Computer Forensics, Law Enforcement Technologies, and Application Security Threats and Countermeasures.

He is an Adjunct Professor here at Cambridge College and Northeastern University and has served as a lecturer at Endicott College and as a visiting Adjunct Professor at Stimik Perbanas in Jakarta Indonesia.

He is Certified in Information Security Management (CISM), Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO), and Certified Data Privacy Solution Engineer (CDPSE). He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Massachusetts, and several master’s degrees from Boston University and Utica College of Syracuse University.