Nearly two years after the Securities and Exchange Committee suffered a major data breach, the financial regulatory agency plans to hire a chief risk officer to help shore up its cyber defenses.
SEC Commissioner Michael Piwowar, speaking at a Data Coalition event on regulation technology, said the idea for the new hire came from Chairman Jay Clayton, who has been leading the SEC’s response to the cyber breach since it was discovered last September.
“We’re having discussions right now with folks in the industry in terms of what types of qualities we would like to have in someone in that particular role,” Piowar said during the March 7 event in Washington.
Last September, the SEC discovered evidence of a data breach through a software vulnerability in its Electronic Data Gathering, Analysis, and Retrieval (EDGAR) system, which handles more than 1.7 million electronic filings per year. The breach, which took place in 2016, may have also led to illegal trading.
Piwowar said Clayton, who took over as the head of the SEC last May, has been an “unsung hero” when it comes to shoring up the agency’s cybersecurity.
“Not only has Chairman…
