Tassat, a company that provides fintech and digital payments products, has tapped Barbara Kissner as its Chief Information Security Officer.
In this role, Kissner will oversee the company’s infrastructure, technology and data security, a press release shows. She will also maintain and strategize the company’s security processes and ensure due diligence practices.
Kissner has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry and has held numerous executive leadership positions. In the past, she has served as EVP and Chief Information Officer for Amalgamated Bank, and SVP, CIO and Chief Compliance Officer at International Fidelity Insurance Company.
“Tassat is committed to partnering with our clients and that includes our unwavering commitment to comprehensive security measures that help protect their businesses and reputations. Our clients trust us with their most critical digital payments applications, and Barbara’s deep expertise and unique experience in the financial sector make her the perfect fit to help us streamline our processes and ensure we and our clients are protected and have the most robust risk posture,” Ron Totaro, CEO, Tassat said in a statement.
Tassat specializes in real-time payments and its platform connects with core banking platforms while also allowing banks to take advantage of blockchain technology, Kissner explained in an interview with FinLedger.
Kissner started her role in March and said that although Tassat has strong security, she’s helping bolster its capabilities.
“[Tassat] has reached a point of maturity where they need somebody to pull together not just information security, but also governance and controls and understanding of the regulatory environment, what our clients will be expecting from us,” Kissner said. “It’s like an intersection of governance, compliance, risk and security.”
In this role, Kissner aims to evolve the company culture so that when its clients ask questions, Tassat has a strong story about risk and controls.
“It’s not just about information security — that obviously is front and center along with cybersecurity — but also it’s evolving the company’s stance on governance and controls,” she said. “So, when our clients and prospective clients put us through the due diligence process, we have a very strong story to tell about our stance, our controls and our framework. That’s my strategic goal for the next six months or so.”
Going forward, Kissner said she is looking to hire some analysts but wouldn’t give specifics on a certain number, except to say that the team size would be relative to the growing pace of the company.
In the realm of security, the bad actors are lightyears ahead of the good guys, Kissner explained. In this role, Kissner will have to focus on what the next potential hack or threat could be.
“I am looking externally at what is going on. Internally [I’m looking at] how can we be as secure as humanly possible to make sure that if for some reason there is a threat that we are protected against that threat,” she said.