# James C. Foster

> James C. Foster is a cybersecurity entrepreneur and the CEO of eSentire, appointed in March 2026. He co-founded ZeroFox in 2013 and led it through its 2022 Nasdaq listing and 2024 acquisition by Haveli Investments. Previously he founded Ciphent, worked at Guardent and Foundstone, and held leadership roles at Accuvant. He is also a security author, speaker and NightDragon operating partner.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer at eSentire
- **Organizations:** eSentire, ZeroFox, Ciphent, Accuvant, Guardent, Foundstone, NightDragon, IronCircle, Censinet, U.S. Department of Defense
- **Education:** Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering, Capitol Technology University, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
- **Known for:** Co-founded ZeroFox and led its transition to a publicly traded company in 2022., Founded Ciphent and grew it to approximately 100 employees and 1,000 customers before its 2010 acquisition., Authored more than a dozen cybersecurity books and holds multiple patents.

## Career timeline

- **Early career** — Worked as a Department of Defense civilian security specialist and in technical roles at Guardent and Foundstone.
- **2006** — Founded Ciphent.
- **2010** — Ciphent acquired by Accuvant; subsequently served as senior vice president and advisory-board chairman.
- **2013** — Co-founded ZeroFox and served as CEO and chairman.
- **2022** — ZeroFox combined with L&F Acquisition Corp. and IDX; began Nasdaq trading August 4.
- **2024** — Haveli completed the ZeroFox acquisition May 13; Dave Muse succeeded Foster as CEO later in May.
- **2025** — NightDragon announced Foster as operating partner in April; IronCircle announced him as CEO in August.
- **2026** — eSentire appointed Foster CEO on March 19.

## Achievements

- Co-founded ZeroFox and led its transition to a publicly traded company in 2022.
- Founded Ciphent and grew it to approximately 100 employees and 1,000 customers before its 2010 acquisition.
- Authored more than a dozen cybersecurity books and holds multiple patents.
- Has spoken at Black Hat, RSA and on Capitol Hill.

## Latest updates

- **2026-03** — Appointed Chief Executive Officer of eSentire, succeeding Kerry Bailey.
- **2025-08** — Named CEO and board director of IronCircle at its launch.
- **2025-04** — Announced his appointment as a NightDragon operating partner.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamescfoster/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/FirstNameFoster

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/james-c-foster
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-23