About OpSec
Authenticity and intellectual property matter, when intangible assets account for 90% of market value.
Our customers account for a significant proportion of the value of intangible assets that are represented by brand owners and content creators worldwide. Intellectual property matters.
Rarely do new opportunities come without risk. For the world’s leading brand owners, we recognize that growing while remaining authentic, that being bold in the face of uncertainty, is all part of being a recognized leader.
Many know us as a pioneer of brand protection. But when you work for the world’s top brands, you have to be a bit more than that. OpSec helps build and protect the value of brands and their intellectual property, wherever their futures dictate. We believe that successful, enduring brands make bold moves to maximize new opportunities and remain relevant to followers. But this often comes with uncertainty and creates new vulnerabilities. So we aim to provide brands with the means and assurance to make their mark with confidence, unifying the optimization, monetization, and protection of intellectual property and brands. We combine digital and physical technologies with skills that range from intellectual property management to design and engineering. So, when it comes to opportunity with security, OpSec is brand ready.
A word from our President, Rich Cremona
OpSec has evolved a long way from its origins in optical security and physical brand protection. Today, we help customers manage their full intellectual property and brand lifecycle, from the creation of new assets and identities, to monetization of properties and content, to protection against infringement and abuse. We work with some of the world’s leading brand owners and rights holders, which requires us to constantly challenge ourselves and innovate. The world of intangible value, intellectual property, and brands has never been more interesting or varied and we are evolving our own business quickly in response to this change and the shifting needs of our customers. It will be fascinating to see how the future shapes up.
Brands remain an intrinsic part of what and how we buy. From an implicit signal of recognition and embodiment of values, to a guarantee of trust, brands have taken on a cultural significance far beyond their origins. But even the most established names must update themselves to stay relevant for new generations of followers. They are responding to diverse developments, from societal to digital, and retail to regulatory, which bring new opportunities as demand and market dynamics change.
At the same time, many brands have built their position of leadership through innovation and the creation and nurturing of intellectual property. The growth in intangible asset value has accelerated over recent decades. Back in 1975 it accounted for just 17% of the S&P 500 market value, yet in 2020 this had increased to 90%. Technology has been an obvious driver for this shift, but the intellectual property that makes up this value includes diverse assets that span innovation and brand identity.
New strategies and methods are bringing brands into contact with a growing range of vulnerabilities and threats, spanning commercial, legal, and the more nefarious. Conventional intellectual property protections, from patents to trademarks, remain essential in safeguarding and extracting value. But the increasingly digital nature of assets and identity, as well as the sophisticated adversaries that seek to abuse them, is requiring a more expansive approach to managing and protecting intangible value.
However, despite the growing options now available to brands, some risk unintended consequences, from added cost and complexity to harming consumer experience. At the same time, they also offer opportunities to address multiple objectives with a single solution, such as protecting and monetizing content or enhancing and authenticating physical products. Maximizing brand value and mitigating vulnerabilities are now increasingly intertwined. Similarly, the explicit protection of property rights and the creation of intrinsically unique brands are both equally essential to intangible value.
OpSec helps enterprises build and protect the value of their intellectual property and brands. As opportunities to grow and extract value span a wider range of markets, categories, and channels, this brings new sources of uncertainty and vulnerability. As such, we believe that the most successful and enduring brands consider both opportunity and security in their approach to tackling new markets, in their product developments, and in evolving their business models.
The development of intangible value has become ever more important, as the function and form of products and services are powered by intellectual property and brand character built up over many decades. This intellectual property takes on many forms, from inventions and designs to identities and digital assets. And enhancing portfolios, by optimizing, monetizing, and protecting these elements throughout their lifecycle, has become a priority for most leading enterprises.
At OpSec, we adopt a ‘brand ready’ approach, with services and solutions that enhance and protect brand value. They span the physical and digital, and the intangible and the practical. It includes know how and software that empower brands to manage their intellectual property, licensing, marketing, and supply chains, as well as components for authentication, enhancement, and product identity. Most importantly, it unites insight, function, design, and security to help build and sustain brands that embody innovation, authenticity, impact, and enduring values.
Some of the defining acquisitions made by the group include the JDSU Holographic Security Business and Delta Labelling in 2012, which respectively built our credibility in high security authentication and brand enhancement. More recently, we acquired the online brand protection business of MarkMonitor in 2020, which today forms the basis of our online brand and content protection services. Today, we are a Crane NXT company, proud to be part of a business that has served brand owners and governments with distinction for more than two centuries.
Most importantly, we operate as “one OpSec”, as a single integrated business. Despite the different acquisitions and origins of our people, we come together under our distinct brands with the benefits of our varied history. It is this inherent diversity that makes us a unique player across brand management, protection, and operations, allowing us to work with both brands and high security customers.
Our Locations
Our Leadership Team
Rich Cremona
President
Rich has more than 35 years of experience with global technology companies. He previously served as the CEO of OpSec from 2014-2020, and has held executive leadership positions with AT&T, Lucent Technologies and Sprint.
Bev Dew
Chief Financial Officer
Over 20 years in construction and business services industries, most recently with Kier Group plc. Bev has experience in M&A, transformation, and debt/equity markets.
Bill Birnie
Chief Revenue Officer
Extensive experience in cybersecurity, networking, and SaaS for enterprise and consumer markets. Bill has held positions with Comcast, Motorola, and Honeywell.
Peter Waker
Chief Operations Officer
Held a variety of senior management roles in Fortune 500 and start-up companies, most recently as a Product Director at De La Rue and prior to that at Du Pont.
Andrew Clint
Chief Commercial Officer
More than 20 years of senior leadership experience in global businesses. Most recently led the Authentication business at De La Rue.
Lisa Arrowsmith
Chief Product Officer
Responsible for best-in-class products and services and customer-centric design. Lisa previously held senior positions at Omdia and IHS Markit in the technology sector.
Giles Walker
Chief Marketing and Strategy Officer
More than 25 years in strategy, corporate development, and marketing, primarily in security sectors. Previous positions span Accenture, BAE Systems, and a start-up.
Najaf Gillani
Chief Technology Officer
Over 20 years experience leading global software engineering teams, working for eBay, Walmart, Macy’s, and Openwave. Najaf also started up multiple businesses.
Thomas Peistrup
General Counsel
More than 20 years of experience, including in-house legal teams and law firms. Most recently, Thomas was General Counsel at InStyler, a US consumer goods company.
Riya Sood
Chief Human Resources Officer
Over 20 years of experience in leading HR transformation and change initiatives at Fortune 500 companies. Track record in M&A, integration, and people initiatives.
Kevin Fraser
Chief Information Systems Officer
25 years in the IT industry, including 18 years in senior leadership and management roles in multiple industries. Most recently led software and projects at De La Rue.
Make your own mark with careers at OpSec.
OpSec is a diverse global business that makes its mark every day working for some of the world’s leading brands. Our people span many disciplines, from intellectual property management professionals to optical scientists and software engineers to online analysts. We offer various employment opportunities across our business, enabling individuals to pursue fulfilling, interesting and rewarding career paths. Our company culture has been recognized with the Best Company Work-Life Balance 2023 award by Comparably. So why not join a global business that offers a range of options, where you are empowered to make a real difference…
Embracing the principles of responsible business.
The environmental impact of counterfeiting and poor quality fakes is perhaps not one of the best known implications of illicit production and unauthorized selling. But these products are manufactured and distributed outside of the increasingly stringent and responsible policies of genuine brand owners. As such, OpSec views its product authentication and traceability solutions as an important response to this issue. It goes without saying that we are fully committed to ensuring that our own products and practices embody the principles of responsible business.
