SafeNet, a global leader in data protection, announced today the appointment of Dave Hansen, an information security and cloud veteran, as the company’s new President and Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Hansen will also join the company’s board of directors. Mr. Hansen succeeds current President and CEO, Chris Fedde, who has been with SafeNet since 2001.

SafeNet appoints new CEO, Dave Hansen (Photo: Business Wire)

Dave Fishman, a Partner at Vector Capital and a member of SafeNet’s Board of Directors, said, "We want to thank Chris for the strong leadership that he has demonstrated throughout his tenure at SafeNet. During that time, the company has transformed from a diversified vendor of security tools into one of the industry’s leading, pure-play data protection and rights management companies. Under his leadership, SafeNet significantly enhanced its market leading product portfolios and positioned itself to capitalize on the fast growing data protection for cloud and virtual markets.”

"I have enjoyed the opportunity to work at and lead SafeNet over the past eleven years. I am proud of all that we have accomplished, particularly the company’s transformation into an industry-recognized data protection market leader," said Mr. Fedde. "SafeNet is a company with tremendous opportunities and I look forward to its continued success."

Dave Hansen has a successful track record of creating and executing innovative IT strategies and solutions for the enterprise. He arrives at SafeNet from BMC Software (NASDAQ: BMC), where he most recently served as Vice President and General Manager. Mr. Hansen joined BMC Software through its acquisition of Numara Software, a global leader in service, asset, and mobile device management for IT professionals, where he served as the company’s President and Chief Executive officer, and was responsible for creating and driving the company’s successful cloud strategy.

"Dave is a known innovator within the security industry that brings strong strategic and execution skills, a proven ability to lead high performing management teams and a successful track record of driving growth for multi-national corporations" continued Dave Fishman. "We look forward to working with Dave and believe that his leadership and strong operational expertise will build upon SafeNet’s culture of innovation and help drive SafeNet’s evolution and growth forward."

Prior to Numara Software, Mr. Hansen spent more than nine years at CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA), where he successfully led the development and execution of CA’s Enterprise Solutions and Cloud Strategy, overseeing the creation of the company’s portfolio of cloud products and enterprise solutions, which helped enterprises seamlessly migrate and manage their IT across cloud, on-premise, and hybrid environments. He also led its Security Business Unit, where he delivered new versions of market-leading enterprise identity and access management solutions. Prior to that, Mr. Hansen served as the company’s Chief Information Officer, where he was responsible for implementing the company’s global IT strategy, applications development, and IT compliance.

“SafeNet has undergone a tremendous transformation over the past five years, and is uniquely positioned to solve the most complex security issues facing CIOs and CSOs today,” said Mr. Hansen. “With SafeNet’s market-leading data protection and rights management portfolios, and the recent introduction of game-changing cloud and virtualization products, the company is set to lead the way in securing access and data for the cloud and from the cloud. I’m very excited to join SafeNet and I look forward to working with SafeNet’s talented team to further build upon the company’s momentum, and continue to deliver strong value to customers and drive growth across the company.”

Supporting Resources for the Media:

• Dave Hansen Biography and Photograph: http://www.safenet-inc.com/management-team/dave-hansen
• SafeNet Data Protection Solutions
• SafeNet Software Rights Management
• Follow SafeNet on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn

About SafeNet

Founded in 1983, SafeNet, Inc. is one of the largest information security companies in the world, and is trusted to protect the most sensitive data for market-leading organizations around the globe. SafeNet’s data-centric approach focuses on the protection of high-value information throughout its lifecycle, from the data center to the cloud. More than 25,000 customers across commercial enterprises and government agencies trust SafeNet to protect and control access to sensitive data, manage risk, ensure compliance, and secure virtual and cloud environments.

Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/multimedia/home/20121210005377/en/