Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM), the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company, has been named one of the 2017 CSO50 Award honorees by CSO, a leading information security and risk management content and networking resource. Sallie Mae and its chief security officer, Jerry Archer, will be recognized at the CSO50 Conference + Awards in Scottsdale, Ariz., in May 2017.

“The stakes have never been higher when it comes to protecting an organization's sensitive data from criminals and breaches,” said Joan Goodchild, editor-in-chief, CSO. “Security leaders are expected to not only deliver protection, but also to drive business initiatives. Our annual CSO50 awards recognize security projects that enhance defense and also deliver a return on investment.”

Sallie Mae’s CSO50 Award recognizes the company’s overall efforts to develop and implement security initiatives that protect customer information. Specifically, Sallie Mae’s project leader, Jennifer Darwin, worked with Gurucul, the user behavior analytics and identity access intelligence company, to identify and monitor potential cybersecurity risks and threats. The Gurucul Risk Analytics platform has been successfully deployed by government agencies and Global Fortune 500 companies across the financial, healthcare, technology, retail, and manufacturing sectors.

“We are proud to work with Sallie Mae to implement our platform, which is part of their overall commitment to cybersecurity,” said Saryu Nayyar, CEO, Gurucul. “It’s especially gratifying to see that work recognized by CSO.”

This is the second award Sallie Mae has received for its work in cybersecurity. In 2015, Jerry Archer received the Security Advisor Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding leadership in the cybersecurity industry.

“Sallie Mae works continually to evaluate and improve systems and processes to protect customer information,” said Dan Kennedy, senior vice president and chief information officer. “We congratulate Jerry Archer, Jennifer Darwin, and team for this well-deserved award.”

For more information, visit www.SallieMae.com.

Sallie Mae (Nasdaq: SLM) is the nation’s saving, planning, and paying for college company. Whether college is a long way off or just around the corner, Sallie Mae offers products that promote responsible personal finance, including private education loans, Upromise rewards, scholarship search, college financial planning tools, and online retail banking. Learn more at SallieMae.com. Commonly known as Sallie Mae, SLM Corporation and its subsidiaries are not sponsored by or agencies of the United States of America.