TBA’s Rich Perez speaks on panel about cybersecurity risks

The Texas Bankers Association’s VP of Innovation, Rich Perez, spoke on a panel for the Austin Business Journal about cybersecurity risks and possible solutions.

When asked about the biggest challenge leaders face today in the banking industry, Perez said: “Because of the industry we’re serving, we’ve got a lot of bankers who are wearing a lot of different hats. You might have a COO or CTO that is also operating as a CIO or a CISO. Because we’ve got these banks that are running so lean—and naturally burdened with regulatory compliance issues—they end up relying heavily on third parties, so there’s additional risk in their doing that as well, right? They must now take additional steps to ensure they aren’t taking on additional risk with the absorption of a new supply chain.”

Other local leaders on the panel included Shane Gronniger, CEO of GCS Technologies; Sumera Riaz, senior director of cybersecurity, Bluewave; and Mike Draeken, risk management executive, Watkins Insurance Group. Abby Mellott, ABJ’s market president and publisher, was the moderator. See more on the panel here.