Meet Verity’s Leadership Team
Alan Magar
President
Alan is a seasoned cybersecurity expert, beginning his career as a CELE Officer in the Canadian military before advancing to a leading security vendor in the UK. During his overseas stint, he earned a Masters degree in Information Security at the Royal Holloway, University of London.
In 2000, he founded Sphyrna Security, a firm initially offering professional services to the Government of Canada but later evolved into a cybersecurity vendor specializing in cross domain solutions and Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC).
Peter Whittaker
Director, Special Projects
Peter is a veteran in the cybersecurity field, starting in the late 1980s, with a rich background in Identity, Credential, and Access Management (ICAM), Public Key Infrastructure (PKI), security governance, risk management, and data-centric security (DCS). His experience encompasses software development, standards creation, and high-level management roles.
Since joining Sphyrna in 2020, Peter has focused on the development of Verity’s enterprise workflow management engine and overseeing the security architecture on the Unidirectional Gateway (UGW).
Paul Dufresne
Director, Product Development
With vast telecommunications experience since the late 20th century, Paul has successfully implemented large-scale projects across diverse sectors, including enterprise, government, and small businesses. He excels in understanding business needs, rapidly mastering technologies, and delivering solutions.
Since joining Sphyrna Security in 2020, he transitioned from adapting products for cloud-based delivery to managing product development for flagship offerings like Verity and the Unidirectional Gateway.
Julie Laurin
Director, Revenue Operations
Based in Prince Edward Island, Julie has worked in Tech leadership for over 25 years. Most of her career was spent in QA leadership positions for a variety of US companies. In the 2010’s, she also founded an agency that managed inbound marketing campaigns for several Canadian enterprises and NGOs.
As the Director of Revenue Operations at Sphyrna, Julie is responsible for overseeing and optimizing all revenue-generating processes, including sales and marketing efforts for Verity GRC and NGXS.
Julie is an Associate member of RIMS.
Natasha Magar
Director, Finance
Prior to joining Sphyrna Security in 2004, Natasha worked in tech finance for a leading IT company and obtained a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Ottawa.
As Director of Finance, Natasha is responsible for shepherding the company through many years of continuous growth.
Ian Wells
EMEA Business Development
Ian leads Business Development in EMEA for Sphyrna Security, leveraging his three-decade experience in cybersecurity infrastructure and risk management. He has held business development roles in major companies like Racal, Entrust, and IBM, managing multi-million pound projects across Europe. His skillset includes project management in network infrastructure, CoBit, ISO27000, and GDPR compliance programs.
With a British military background and experience in the international military C3I market, Ian is committed to driving business development for cutting-edge technologies.