Neal Creighton


Neal Creighton is an American entrepreneur based in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. He was one of the co-founders who launched digital certificate provider GeoTrust in 2001, and is co-inventor of a domain control authentication patent issued in 2006. Creighton served as CEO of GeoTrust until 2006. He was also cofounder of RatePoint, Inc., which was named the MITX 2010 Social Media Company of the Year for New England.
Creighton currently serves as President and CEO of CounterTack, Inc., a security software firm that focuses on preventing cyber-attacks.

Early life and education

Creighton was born in the Panama Canal Zone. His father, Neal Creighton, Sr. was a career military officer and Major General in the United States Army known for his service during the Tet Offensive of 1968.
The younger Creighton attended US Army Ranger School and West Point, and served for five years as an officer in the United States Army. He was an armor platoon leader and saw action during the Gulf War. Creighton was referenced by Seymour Hersh in his controversial New Yorker article, “Overwhelming Force” for his part in battle for Jalibah Airfield that took place on February 27, 1991. After his service in the Army, Creighton attended Northwestern University, where he received a Juris Doctor and an MBA.

Career

''Equifax'' and ''GeoTrust''

In the late 1990s, Creighton focused his entrepreneurial efforts on the fields of information security, advanced identity verification, and web authentication. He began his career by cofounding the re-launch of GeoTrust in 2001. Creighton led the efforts to raise $24 million in venture financing to fund the project, and he and his partners used the nearly bankrupt company as a vehicle to acquire the security branch of Equifax.
Under Creighton's leadership, GeoTrust automated the identification verification of people, organizations, and computers over the Internet, and GeoTrust eventually became one of the largest providers of online security and digital certificates.
GeoTrust was sold to VeriSign in September 2006 for $125 million in cash, and the brand was acquired by Symantec as part of its $1.28 billion acquisition of VeriSign's security business in 2010.

''ChosenSecurity'' and ''AffirmTrust''

After GeoTrust, Creighton also served as CEO of ChosenSecurity, which was acquired by PGP Corporation. Creighton was also cofounder and executive chairman of AffirmTrust LLC, which was acquired by Trend Micro in 2011.

''CounterTack, Inc.''

Creighton currently serves as President and CEO of CounterTack, Inc., a real-time security software company that focuses on preventing cyber-attacks and managing Internet threats. The Massachusetts-based company was formed in 2011 and has since raised $90 million in venture capital financing.

Awards and recognition

Creighton is the co-inventor of a domain control authentication patent granted in 2006, and was issued a patent in 2010 for a system that provides secure identity and uniform resource identifier verification. Creighton was a Massachusetts High Tech All Star in 2010, received the 40 Under 40 award in New England, was a three-time Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, and was awarded the 2007 Sale Side Deal of the Year for New England award from Massachusetts High Tech.