Equifax has announced Jamil Farshchi will serve as the credit agency’s new chief information security officer.
Farshchi faces a large task of turning around Equifax’s data security systems following its massive data breach that affected more than 145 million consumers and saw its chief information security officer and chief security officer for the company retire amid the fallout from the breach.
Farshchi, who previously served as CISO at The Home Depot, will assume company-wide leadership of the work already underway to transform the company's information security program, and collaborate with the industry to share best practices on information security, the company said in a release.
"We are pleased to welcome Jamil to our team and confident that he possesses the talent and skillset needed to continue our journey toward developing industry-leading security practices and, ultimately, to help us regain trust with consumers and customers," said Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., interim chief executive officer at Equifax.
"Jamil has a reputation for helping enterprises rebuild and fortify information security programs. His expertise in risk intelligence and cybersecurity combined with his intimate knowledge of industry best practices will allow us to design and deploy a best-in-class, global security strategy to re-establish ourselves as a trusted leader."
Prior to his role at The Home Depot, Farshchi was the first global chief information security officer at Time Warner, where he brought to bear risk-management techniques from the financial and government sectors to develop a model security program for the media and entertainment industry. Before that, Farshchi served as the vice president of global information security at Visa, where he developed and implemented the firm's first global information security strategy, led efforts in mobile security, identity and big data, and transformed Visa’s security program into a recognized global leader, Equifax noted in its release. He has also held senior-level roles at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sitel Corporation, Nextwave Broadband and NASA.
"Equifax is a company with tremendous potential, and I am confident that we will transform our security program into one of the most advanced and recognized globally," said Farshchi. "I am grateful for this new challenge and am looking forward to enabling the business with new insights, a fresh perspective, and a multi-dimensional way of thinking about global data stewardship and information security. Together, we are going to do great things for consumers, customers, and employees alike.”
