Obrela, a leading provider of security analytics and cyber risk management services to identify, analyze, predict and prevent highly sophisticated security threats, today announced it has appointed Steve Katz, the world’s first ever Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), to its advisory board.
Steve Katz is a world-renowned industry veteran, whose career spans over 40 years, making his tenure one of the longest to serve in the war against cybercriminals. In 1985, Katz was appointed as Head of Information Security at JP Morgan and in 1995 was appointed CISO for Citigroup, following a cyberattack on the bank from Russian hacker Vladimir Levin.
When Katz was hired by Citigroup, cybercrime was a new and unknown territory; attacks were simpler and focused on modems and dial-up internet connections, but the message Katz gave to his staff then remains the same as the message he says to security teams today – what is the risk?
“Even though my career has spanned over four decades, my focus on risk has never changed. Whenever I work with security teams and we are building out a cyber-resilience programme, the first question I always ask is ‘what’s the risk’? Security is risk-based and the only way to build an effective security programme is to think about how attacks impact business and operations. The role of the CISO has evolved significantly over the last 27 years and today it is an executive position embedded within almost all business functions. However, CISOs still need to demonstrate their worth by promoting security as a key-enabler in delivering products and services and meeting overall business goals. I am delighted to join the advisory board of Obrela. In my role I will act as a trusted guide to help the fantastic team achieve their business and growth goals,” said Katz.
The Obrela Advisory Board is a group of world-class professionals who have been tasked by the company to advise the board and executives on strategy, growth and expansion. Steve joins three other Advisory Board members who include Bob Wilkinson, a seasoned security and operational risk professional who has worked closely with Fortune 100 companies for over 30 years, Dimitris Stratakis, a cyber and risk professional with over 20 years’ experience in the financial industry, and Dr Irini Tzannetou, who has over 25 years’ experience helping organisations drive human resources and management frameworks.
“We are thrilled to have Steve join our team and I know his knowledge and experience of the security industry will offer great value to Obrela. I worked with Steve back in Citigroup when I just started out in security and I always found him an inspirational and dynamic leader. Today, organizations need to focus on operational resilience and to do this they need to have a clear understanding of all the security risks they are facing. Once they have identified the risks, they can build their security programme around them, putting their strongest defences into protecting against their worst-case scenarios. Steve has been reinforcing the importance of a risk-based approach to security for many years now and this is also a key focus for Obrela. I believe by appointing Steve to our advisory board we can enhance our offerings to customers, and he can help us build out risk-based security programmes where operational-resilience is the primary goal,” said George Patsis, CEO of Obrela.
