Onspring CISO Nichole Windholz Named “CISO of the Year” in 2025 CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards Program
Prestigious Annual Awards Program Recognizes Outstanding Information Security Products and Companies Around the World
LOS ANGELES, Oct. 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- CyberSecurity Breakthrough, an independent market intelligence organization, today announced that Nichole Windholz, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Onspring, a leading provider of integrated GRC software, has been selected as winner of the “CISO of the Year” award in the 9th annual CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program. The annual program recognizes the most innovative companies, products, and people driving progress in the global information security industry today.
Windholz has over twenty years of experience in Information Technology and Security, including having led global security initiatives for a Fortune 500 company, where she built and scaled a Cybersecurity Incident Response Center. Beyond Onspring’s platform, Windholz has recently helped establish, and now serves on, the company’s AI Governance Council, a cross-functional initiative focused on building essential safeguards, internal oversight and responsible development practices for AI adoption.
Nichole Windholz brings with her a deep focus on risk management, business resiliency and incident response. Onspring is a fully configurable GRC platform that helps organizations reduce risk, improve their security stance, and respond to threats. Through Onspring, security, audit and compliance teams are empowered to unify their controls, incident response plans and risk data. With automated workflows, integrated assessments and centralized policy management, Onspring supports critical security functions like third-party risk, privacy compliance, incident tracking and security control testing. As AI becomes an integral part of business operations, Onspring empowers teams to govern its use, supporting innovations that remain accountable, compliant and responsibly managed.
Onspring’s centralized risk register aggregates cyber, operational, vendor and reputational risks, while dynamic workflows automate risk assessments, evidence collection, task assignment and remediation tracking. The platform offers support for different frameworks including ISO, HIPAA, PCI DSS and more, with direct mapping to internal controls and audit trails. Embedded continuous monitoring via integrated threat intelligence feeds and vendor-data integrations detect changes in real-time.
“Nichole's leadership at Onspring is instrumental. Beyond her impressive professional achievements, Nichole is also an advocate for mentorship and community, driven by a personal mission to empower others. It’s incredible to watch as she lives her passion for sharing cybersecurity knowledge and actively playing a role in guiding aspiring careers,” said Chris Pantaenius, co-founder and CEO of Onspring. “Congratulations to Nichole for her CyberSecurity Breakthrough award for ‘CISO of the Year!’ Her ethical foresight and technical depth ensure that security and compliance remain at the forefront as Onspring lays its future roadmap.”
The mission of the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards is to celebrate excellence and spotlight breakthrough innovation driving the global cybersecurity industry forward. Covering a wide range of categories – including Cloud Security, Threat Intelligence, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Application Security, Identity Management, and more – the annual program highlights the solutions and organizations redefining how we safeguard the digital world.
The 2025 awards program received thousands of nominations from more than 20 countries around the world, representing everything from disruptive startups to established global enterprises. This year’s winners embody the cutting edge of cybersecurity technology, delivering next-generation protection and resilience in today’s increasingly complex threat landscape.
“Nichole Windholz embodies her philosophy of continuous learning and embracing new, challenging opportunities, as exemplified by her own ascent to the CISO role at Onspring. CISOs continue to face rising cyber threats and shrinking budgets, pushing them to adopt advanced technology, while balancing innovation with ethical considerations,” said Steve Johansson, managing director, CyberSecurity Breakthrough. “Nichole has demonstrated a unique ability to bridge rigorous technical demands with a deeply human, ethical and mentorship-driven approach. Her presence is shaping both Onspring’s innovative compliance landscape as well as the industry's path through the evolving intersection of AI and cybersecurity.”
About CyberSecurity Breakthrough
Part of Tech Breakthrough, a leading market intelligence and recognition platform for global technology innovation and leadership, the CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards program is devoted to honoring excellence in information security and cybersecurity technology companies, products and people. The CyberSecurity Breakthrough Awards provide a platform for public recognition around the achievements of breakthrough information security companies and products in categories including Cloud Security, Threat Detection, Risk Management, Fraud Prevention, Mobile Security, Web and Email Security, UTM, Firewall and more. For more information visit CyberSecurityBreakthrough.com.
Tech Breakthrough LLC does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our recognition programs, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with award designations. Tech Breakthrough LLC recognition consists of the opinions of the Tech Breakthrough LLC organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Tech Breakthrough LLC disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this recognition program, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
About Onspring
Onspring is an adaptive, integrated GRC platform built to connect processes, data and teams across the enterprise. With real-time visibility into risk posture, security controls and accountability measures, Onspring gives organizations a complete view of their governance, risk and compliance landscape. The platform is fully configurable, allowing users to create automations, unify workflows and scale their programs. Organizations across industries, from retail and insurance to healthcare and manufacturing, rely on Onspring to modernize GRC, moving from reactive checklists to connected, holistic oversight. Learn more at www.onspring.com.
Media Contact: Steve Johansson steve@cybersecuritybreakthrough.com 213.255.3658
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