(US and Canada) James Fitzgerald, SVP and Chief Information Officer at Western & Southern Financial Group, speaks with Jordan Shelton, Account Executive at GuidePoint Security, about the company’s security awareness culture and community involvement.

Fitzgerald says that security awareness is inherent to Western & Southern Financial Group’s DNA as a company, but the credit also goes to the company’s security partners. He notes that security threats have raised overall cybersecurity awareness among other businesses in the U.S., as well as the security issues posed by long-term infrastructure outages such as telecom and power.

Regarding the cultural side of cybersecurity, Fitzgerald says that the organization actively runs large-scale internal phishing campaigns. It has reached a point where senior executives are apprehensive when clicking on certain emails. Fitzgerald maintains that this slight fear proves the company’s heightened cybersecurity awareness.

The company has been growing steadily and has diversified its businesses, even drawing the attention of significantly larger competitors. Fitzgerald realized the value of this enterprise when the opportunity to become part of it arose. He then speaks about the company’s involvement in the local community and what brought him to Western & Southern in Cincinnati.

He recalls that a road trip around the city with CEO John Barrett cemented his decision to take up the job offer.

Fitzgerald then highlights the company’s community involvement, including the Western & Southern Open, the country’s oldest professional tennis tournament played in its city of origin. The annual tennis tournament raises funds for cancer research and other critical philanthropic organizations in Cincinnati.