Seattle-based cybersecurity company F5 Inc. (Nasdaq: FFIV) is losing a C-level executive.
On Tuesday, San Francisco-based cybersecurity company HackerOne announced Kara Sprague, F5's chief product officer, will take over as HackerOne's CEO in November. Sprague has spent about seven years with F5, working her way up to the CPO role, which she took in December 2022.
"I look forward to joining forces with HackerOne and its community of researchers in the mission to empower the world to build a safer internet," Sprague said in a release.
Sprague is replacing Marten Mickos, who has led HackerOne as CEO since 2015, according to his LinkedIn page. HackerOne said in a news release he will remain an adviser to the company.
Sprague spent more than 13 years at McKinsey before joining F5. She led the consulting firm's software and online services practice, her LinkedIn page shows. She worked at Oracle for more than two years before McKinsey.
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According to a HackerOne spokesperson, Sprague will remain in Seattle after taking the new role. In a separate release, F5 said it is launching an external search for Sprague's replacement.
HackerOne, founded in 2012, helps clients stress-test their systems to find security vulnerabilities, working with "ethical hackers" in the process. The company also audits code. HackerOne's clients include Capital One, Salesforce and the U.S. Department of Defense.
F5, meanwhile, was founded in 1996 and went public in 1999. F5 began with a focus on helping clients smoothly run their websites but has moved further into the app and cloud spaces over the years. The company offers app protection, fraud prevention, network performance and app delivery. Its clients include McGraw Hill and the Scottish government.
In its third quarter fiscal year 2024 earnings, released in July, F5 reported $695 million in revenue for the quarter, down from $703 million during the same period last year. Its net income was $144 million, up from $89 million year over year.
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