CIO Bulletin

With a passion to live, work, and nurture relationships, Steve Soukup (CEO) is defining and driving the strategic direction of DefenseStorm

Cyber-attacks are becoming ever more frequent and sophisticated, and firms and policymakers list cyber risk as a major concern. Financial institutions and financial market infrastructures are especially at risk, and the financial industry ranks consistently as one of the most-attacked industries. While there have been several studies and surveys on cyber threats for the private sector – and firms in the financial sector in particular – the assessment of cyber-risk. Cyber Risk Management approaches are now bound with overall IT Risk Management, which in turn is part of Operational Risk Management. The framework also promotes strong alignment of a cyber-risk approach with company business objectives to ensure implemented security controls are fit for purpose.

DefenseStorm provides an integrated platform of cyber risk assessment, governance, security, and fraud solutions that ensure financial institutions achieve and maintain cyber risk readiness. The only system specifically built for banking, it accounts for all the daunting challenges, regulations, and technology requirements financial institutions face. Their intelligent data engine, GRID ACTIVE, ensures real-time access, analysis, and action on all critical threat data. The Threat Ready Active Compliance (TRAC) team enables access to co-managed resources 24x7x365, providing the help and expertise needed by financial institutions.

The DefenseStorm GRID

With the constantly evolving storm of threats facing the financial services industry, organizations need an efficient way to connect monitoring, detection, triage, response, resolution, audit-trail and reporting. And with a global shortage of qualified cyber staff and a highly competitive marketplace for well-credentialed experts, it’s difficult to hire the people needed to stay ahead of these threats.

DefenseStorm CyberSecurity leverages human interaction with machine learning for optimal performance. Security data is consolidated from any and all sources without volume limits, real-time visibility into the entire security operation is achieved, false positives are eliminated and events are prioritized to enable you to zero-in on the threats that matter most. A co-managed approach multiplies your cyber team and talent instantly. Their Threat Ready Active Compliance (TRAC) team of banking and cybersecurity experts helps monitor and manage your security posture 24x7x365.

The state-of-the-art DefenseStorm GRID powers the only purpose-built for banking system that combines human interaction with machine learning for optimal performance. The co-managed solution integrates essential threat detection with compliance processes to deliver automatic regulatory adherence and real-time threat visibility and prioritization. Since leveraging the compliance capabilities of the GRID, the organizations have been able to easily gather everything they need from a single system, saving them approximately a month of work in advance of an examination.

Threat Ready Active Compliance (TRAC)

Maintaining compliance in the face of complex and ever-changing regulatory requirements can be overwhelming. The ability to quickly and easily prove you are doing the right things, in the right way, at the right time is crucial to completing your self-assessment. DefenseStorm CyberCompliance leverages an always-on policy and control engine to drive perpetual, full-cycle Active Compliance. Financial institutions can connect policy with real-time enforcement of cyber controls, decrease audit preparation and inquiry response time, answer audit requests with Google search-like speed and simplicity and enhance separation of duties with an objective partner. Because DefenseStorm CyberCompliance works in conjunction with the technology of DefenseStorm CyberSecurity, you can enjoy the added benefits of automatic monitoring, updating and reporting.

DefenseStorm's co-managed approach to cybersecurity is supported by a team of analysts and engineers who continuously monitor and protect your network. The TRAC team of certified cyber professionals augments your staff and investigates alerts on your behalf, allowing you to focus on your core business.

TRAC’s Four-Pronged Approach:

Monitoring – review alerts, close false positives, escalate incidents and continuously tune triggers.
Investigating – geo-locate anomalies, analyze north-south and east-west patterns, investigate untracked assets and log analysis.
Community Intelligence – Access Cyber Threat Center forum in which DefenseStorm clients share experiences and insight with one another.
Incident Response – Experience 7x24x365 protection aligned to your escalation process, including mitigation and change recommendations from experienced incident managers.

DefenseStorm’s TRAC team applies advanced information processing techniques using GRID to provide incident response, investigation of indicators of compromise (IOC) and threat analysis. The team has access to three Security Operations Centers (SOCs) for collaboration and training but operate independent of a specific geographic location. Defenders need to understand the tactics, techniques and procedures of bad actors to detect and defend against attacks in the real world. TRAC team members are encouraged to learn and practice ethical hacking and penetration testing, as well as acquire and maintain diverse certifications.

Steve Soukup | Chief Executive Officer

In May 2017, Steve Soukup was appointed Chief Revenue Officer for DefenseStorm with a primary focus to drive business growth while leveraging his extensive experience serving the banking vertical. Based on his ability to successfully deliver results, Steve was promoted to DefenseStorm President in October 2019 and then to CEO in April 2020, where he leads all aspects of the business. Under his direction, DefenseStorm has set the standard for enabling banks and credit unions to achieve cyber risk readiness while establishing an empowering tone and culture through the company’s core objectives. He prides himself on nurturing relationships between the company, employees, and clients, which has resonated deeply into the fabric of DefenseStorm’s client base, proving that a positive culture starts from the top.

Steve holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Boston College and an MBA from Boston University’s Questrom School of Business. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Steve and his family have resided near the DefenseStorm headquarters in the metro-Atlanta area for over ten years.