Our Chief Information Security Officer Richard Walzer recently earned a 2025 BostonCISO ORBIE award for his leadership at Clean Harbors.
The recognition, presented by the ORBIE Awards, honors excellence in IT security at the Chief Information Security Officer level. Winners were chosen based on leadership and management effectiveness, business protection created by enterprise security and engagement in industry and community endeavors.
“During his four-year tenure, Rich has successfully led our Cybersecurity department, always demonstrating a great balance of leadership, technical proficiency and business instincts,” said Chief Information Officer Sharon Gabriel in her nomination for Walzer. “Under Rich’s exceptional leadership, I believe the company is now not just supported by a world-class cybersecurity organization but driven by it.”
From implementing solutions to organizing online office hours, Walzer oversees cybersecurity education, engineering and operations for Clean Harbor’s 25,000-member workforce across more than 870 operating locations. Some of his initiatives have included expanding the global cybersecurity team and fostering a culture of partnership and respect in cybersecurity through empathetic communication. Outside of the office, Walzer volunteers with several local cybersecurity mentoring and scholarship programs.
“This company has a great mission and it’s personally rewarding to work here,” Walzer said. “Keeping this place up and running and healthy is what the job is. There are 25,000 employees, which means there are 25,000 families that we want to keep safe and secure.”
The awards ceremony was held June 5 at the Westin Seaport District hotel in Boston. Seven winners were recognized in categories determined by their company’s revenue and operations, with Walzer receiving the ORBIE award for the Large Enterprise category. This category recognizes exceptional leadership in organizations with over $3 billion annual revenue.
Walzer commended his colleagues and cybersecurity team for their hard work and continued support, as his success would not be possible without the support of IT, legal, finance and many more.
“The cybersecurity team has embraced the security culture I am trying to make,” Walzer said. “We’re trying to make Clean Harbors a place where, when people make mistakes, we can try to understand them and put ourselves in their shoes so we can collectively learn how to avoid similar mistakes in the future. It’s our job to protect and education our colleagues on how to stay safe online and it’s everyone’s job to remain vigilant.”