loanDepot CISO Billy Spears Joins NTSC Board of Directors
Wednesday, October 23, 2019
ATLANTA (October 23, 2019) – Billy Spears, Chief Information Security Officer at loanDepot, has been appointed to serve on the National Technology Security Coalition’s (NTSC) Board of Directors. Representing the financial services industry, Spears will help influence the strategic direction of the NTSC and join CISOs who represent a broad cross-section of enterprise companies. These CISOs have a vested interest in protecting the security of their customers and employees through policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness.
“While CISOs can spur many positive changes within their companies, those efforts may get thwarted by national cybersecurity policy in a way that increases compliance burdens or interferes with effective cyber threat intelligence sharing,” said Spears. “From my experience working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security early in my career, I understand the importance of a strong public and private sector partnership that strengthens the work of CISOs. The NTSC both serves as a way for CISOs across industries to collaborate on unique cybersecurity policy issues while also providing CISOs a long-needed voice in Washington, D.C. I am honored to serve on the Board of Directors with my CISO peers and look forward to contributing to this important and growing organization.”
As loanDepot’s Chief Information Security Officer, Spears oversees enterprise cybersecurity, privacy, IT risk, and enterprise records management practices. Prior to this role, Spears held similar positions at Hyundai Capital America, General Electric, Dell, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and the United States Marine Corps. He currently serves on a number of advisory boards including OpenText, Venafi, MediaPRO, and Webster University, where he is also an adjunct professor. Spears was awarded the 2018 Global CISO Breakaway Influence Leader by Evanta and selected as a finalist for both the Cyber Rescue Alliance’s 2019 CISO of the Year and ISE 2018 North American Executive of the Year.
“Billy has more than 20 years of experience as a collaborative business partner and possesses deep expertise across the cybersecurity, privacy, information technology, and risk management fields,” said Patrick Gaul, Executive Director of the NTSC. “He also has a passion for giving back to the CISO community, which is why we’re glad to have him join the NTSC Board of Directors. His experiences in both the private and public sectors, especially with DHS, give him a unique point of view on national cybersecurity policy that will greatly benefit our board.”
The NTSC provides a platform for CISOs to advocate for beneficial legislative and regulatory policies. We encourage dialogue about cybersecurity issues, laws, and regulations through advocacy engagement with congressional members, regional CISO policy roundtables, and our National CISO Policy Conference.
Spears joins a prestigious board of CISOs representing leading companies including Aaron’s, Aflac, Carrier, Dollar Tree, Ellie Mae, Globe Life, Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services, Huntington Bank, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase, MassMutual, Mastercard, McKesson, Motorola Mobility, NCR, Oceaneering, Ohio State University, Sage, Synovus, TaxSlayer, Technology Association of Georgia, TransUnion, Unisys, US Bank, VF Corporation, Voya Financial, WarnerMedia, and Western Digital.
About loanDepot
loanDepot continues to disrupt the lending industry with its focus on technology to deliver personalized experiences to its customers. An innovator since its inception, loanDepot was the first nonbank lender to offer home, personal and home equity loans. Today, loanDepot has funded over $181 billion since its founding in 2010, and currently ranks as the nation's fifth largest retail mortgage lender and second largest nonbank lender. NMLS #174457
About the National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC)
The National Technology Security Coalition (NTSC) is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that serves as the preeminent advocacy voice for Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across the nation. Through dialogue, education, and government relations, we unite both public and private sector stakeholders around policies that improve national cybersecurity standards and awareness.
Twitter @NTSC_CISO
To learn more about joining or underwriting NTSC, visit ntsc.org