Ex-Amazon Security Chief Joins Capital One Board

In a nod to just how important cybersecurity is becoming to larger firms within the financial space, Capital One said on Monday (Feb. 29) that it has brought on board Amazon’s former chief security officer, Tom Killalea. Brought on board, in this case, is literal, as Capital One has created a new seat on its board of directors dedicated to cybersecurity.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the former Amazon honcho, who spent more than a decade and a half at the tech giant, will be on tap to be confirmed at Capital One’s annual shareholder meeting, slated to be held in May. WSJ noted that “especially valuable” is Killalea’s experience within the customer service arena, with security complementing expansion efforts by Capital One into data usage and software development, among other areas. The announcement underscores the increased focus of boards in delving into technology security, with risk assessment both internal and external to the firm. The National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) said that only 11 percent of more than 1,000 directors said they have a “high level” of cybersecurity knowledge. The NACD also said that boards should eyeball, consistently, a series of measures that spans the percentage of corporate data used in tandem with encryption and just how much infrastructure is scrutinized in real time.

Capital One has been hit by an insider trading scheme in which two employees, both of them data analysts, were able to access customers’ credit card data during the period of 2012 to 2015. The pair then used this inside knowledge to trade stock in retail companies, based partly on sales trends within the data owned by Capital One. One of those analysts has been ordered to pay $13 million in gains to be forfeited back; the other analyst was similarly ordered to pay more than $2 million.