Zynga’s Chief Security Officer Nils Puhlmann Stepping Down

The exodus continues. This time it is Nils Puhlmann, Zynga’s chief security officer, who is resigning from the social games maker.

His departure was first reported by TechCrunch, which quoted several sources familiar with the matter.

Over the past couple of months, Zynga has lost several top executives and midlevel managers as the company’s stock has plummeted, falling roughly 70 percent since going public late last year.

Puhlmann, who joined the company three years ago, reported to Debra Chrapaty, Zynga’s CIO, and was in charge of managing all security risks for the company, according to his bio on the company’s Web site.

In recent months, Zynga has struggled to keep growing on the Facebook platform, and now is struggling as it emphasizes development of mobile games.

Given that many of the company’s employees have already vested, and in view of the company’s difficulties, some are finding it a good time to leave and strike out on their own. Other departed executives were part of the fallout of a management-level restructuring that gave CEO Mark Pincus more direct control over the company’s games.

Major C-level departures include Chief Marketing Officer Jeff Karp, Chief Creative Officer Mike Verdu and Chief Operating Officer John Schappert. Several other lower-level managers have left, too.