PSCU’s Fredriksen named CISO of the Year by TBTF
Credit Union Service Organization also recognized as finalist for Innovative Project of the Year
ST. PETERSBURG, FL (November 12, 2015) — Gene Fredriksen, PSCU’s Chief Information Security Officer, was named CISO of the Year by the Tampa Bay Technology Forum at its 12th Annual Industry Achievement Awards Gala held November 6, 2015 in Tampa, FL. TBTF also recognized PSCU as a finalist for its Innovative Project of the Year for the company’s Intelligent Platform.
The TBTF honored Gene for his development of information protection and technology risk programs for the company and his leadership in the information security industry in both the public and private sector.
Fredriksen demonstrated a consistently proactive ability to understand the ever-evolving security threat landscape and respond with the level of leadership so critically needed to protect companies’ sensitive data. Recognizing that the current industry CISOs are the first generation of the new cyber leadership imperative, Gene has actively worked to guide the development of the next generation to ensure that business and organizations maintain a resilient cyber security program that is tightly coupled to the goals of the company.
Mr. Fredriksen has published numerous papers and books, and is a frequent speaker before audit and security audiences, He served as Chair of the St. Petersburg College Information Security Advisory Board and the Howard University Technology Advisory Board. He is a member of multiple advisory boards for universities, organizations, and security product companies. Gene attended the FBI Citizens Academy and maintains a close working relationship with both local and federal law enforcement agencies.
“I am fortunate to have had many brilliant and generous colleagues who have supported and helped me during my career and shared their knowledge and experience,” said Fredriksen. “I consider this very much a team award for all the folks on the Information Security team at PSCU who work so hard to protect our company’s and our clients’ sensitive data. It reflects PSCU’s ongoing commitment to guarding the information entrusted to us by our member credit unions.”
PSCU’s SVP and Chief Information Officer, Dave Stafford, noted the significance of the TBTF awards for PSCU. “We are humbled and very appreciative to be recognized with these prestigious awards from the TBTF. It means a great deal to our entire team. This recognition also validates our strategy to focus on the member experience, data security and leverage technology to move faster in developing smarter solutions to real business challenges.”
PSCU’s submission for the Innovative Project of the Year award centered on a project called Intelligent Platform. Intelligent Platform is a technology solution that provides PSCU’s Member Owner Credit Unions a consistent integration capability across multiple channels, such as at a branch, via mobile or web-based solutions. When deployed, it will enable PSCU’s Member-Owner credit unions and approved third-party developers to access a PSCU-hosted directory of widgets and web services. The widgets and web services then can be downloaded and inserted in the credit unions’ own systems and applications to address requirements for data and functionality that resides on other systems, such as those hosted by mobile and online banking providers, transaction processors and core banking platforms. In addition to providing the future foundation upon which all PSCU internal applications will be based, Intelligent Platform addresses a longstanding challenge for credit unions and developers to integrate with other systems’ data and services and deploy these resources in their own platforms and applications.
About PSCU
PSCU/Co-op Solutions is the nation’s premier payments credit union service organization (CUSO) and an integrated financial technology solutions provider. With over four decades of industry experience and a commitment to service excellence and innovation, the company serves more than 4,000 financial institutions throughout North America. PSCU/Co-op Solutions leverages its expertise and resources on behalf of credit unions and their members, offering an end-to-end product portfolio that includes payment processing, fraud and risk management, data and analytics, digital banking, instant payments, strategic consulting, collections, ATM and POS networks, shared branching and 24/7/365 member support via its contact centers. For more information, visit pscu.com and coop.org.
