Equifax has gone across town for help, naming an executive who is leaving Home Depot to become its new chief information security officer.
Jamil Farshchi, who was hired by Home Depot after that company’s data breach, takes the slot at Equifax about five months after the company revealed that hackers had accessed the personal information of more than 145 million Americans held in Equifax systems.
Farshchi, 40, fills a position that has been empty since the fall. The opening was created when the previous chief of security, Susan Mauldin, resigned in the wake of news about he massive data breach.
Farshchi’s job is to lead the transformation of the company's information security program, according to a statement issued by Paulino do Rego Barros, Jr., interim chief executive officer at Equifax.
“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,” he said.
Before Home Depot, Farshchi held “senior positions” at Visa, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sitel Corporation, Nextwave Broadband, and NASA, do Rego Barros said.
“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.”
Farshchi has a master's degree from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and a bachelor's degree from the University of Oklahoma.
Last week, a report issued by Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren excoriated the company for its failure to protect consumer data and, what she said was an inadequate response to the breach.
That report came a day after news that Trump administration officials have apparently decided that the nation's consumer watchdog agency will not press an investigation into Equifax.
The company still faces several hundred lawsuits.
