Silicon Valley-based Palo Alto Networks, which sells security products designed to keep malicious software out of corporate networks, is making its presence felt in New Zealand after appointing former Prime Minister Sir John
![Chris Keall](https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/nzme/9c36db5b-77f8-41e1-8b20-0f64c76f7992.jpg)
Chris Keall
Palo Alto Networks NZ country manager Misti Landtroop, Sir John Key and Palo Alto regional VP Steve Manley at an Auckland City Mission fundraiser. Photo / Supplied
The bulk of Arora's US$130.7m remuneration was in stock awards and option awards.
The US company didn't hire the ex-PM for his computer smarts.
"Sir John will bring to the board extensive experience in foreign affairs, investment banking and finance," Arora said as Key was appointed.
But the former Prime Minister also does have somewhat of a grounding in security, however, by dint of his time as GCSB Minister - a stint that included the introduction of the Cortex programme to protect New Zealand from malicious software. At one point Key described the initiative as "Norton Anti-virus at a high level".
![Former Prime Minister Sir John Key has a grounding in security from his time as GCSB Minister. Photo / Jason Oxenham](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/2XGBY6Q2WMIJOVPHBGOMCPMLZE.jpg?auth=037ed30564e009545d5de6bd6d794d486ea7fc0826cf9356fa97d245c9797b34&width=16&height=24&quality=70&smart=true)
Palo Alto Networks also has a product called Cortex, which offers AI-based protection against online threats, but the shared name is a coincidence; the US company's "Coretex" was not released until February this year.
Landtroop said she could not name local Palo Alto Networks customers, citing confidentiality, but said her company's Wellington-based team has been "working with government for the past few years".
Budget 2019 set aside close to $100m under its "secure digital nation" initiative, which includes investments across Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT) New Zealand, Government Chief Digital Officer, Cyber Security Strategy, the operation of RealMe and other digital initiatives.
Landtroop also sees pending 5G upgrades to mobile networks and an attendant growth in the "internet of things" complicating the security landscape. Ditto a revamp to the Privacy Act, currently making its way through Parliament, that will make it mandatory to disclose a data breach.
Palo Alto Networks is not a consumer-facing company (its firewalls can cost US$250,000 each) and lacks the profile of some of the Big Techs.
But it's still a substantial operation. Its NYSE-listed shares have taken a hammering lately, along with other techs, but it still has a market cap of just under US$20 billion ($30b) and it has around 10,000 staff worldwide.
Mark McLaughlin, the chief executive who took the fast-growing company public in 2012, recently stood down from the top job in favour of a customer-advocacy and government relations role.
McLaughlin recently said his company's strategy is to invest in its new security platform, for which it hopes other developers will write software — something akin to a Windows operating system but for security software.