In a special podcast interview, Tom Scarborough, SVP and Senior Director, Extended Security Program at Fifth Third Bank, speaks with PJ Kiggins, Senior Account Executive, North Central, GuidePoint Security, about his career trajectory, responsibilities, and the bank’s approach to cybersecurity for mergers and acquisitions.

Scarborough’s program is helping drive M&A from a security perspective and integrating the acquired entity into the bank’s environment. He explains that apart from regulatory guidance like FFIEC, it involves leveraging a 15-point cybersecurity assessment to understand risk.

This is followed by due diligence to understand potential risk and a pre-close assessment to learn more about the new entity’s environment and technology. Scarborough says that another key aspect is the integration strategy.

He mentions that some recent acquisitions were left as separate programs with oversight. He explains that being in a heavily regulated environment requires robust governance, but the oversight processes established for the bank may be optional for acquired smaller entities.

The goal is to help them look for ways to improve their productivity and absorb the operational overhead, Scarborough concludes.

CDO Magazine appreciates Tom Scarborough for sharing his insights and data success stories with our global community.

The views expressed by the speaker are not necessarily those of Fifth Third Bank, National Association, and are solely the speaker’s opinions. This podcast is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute the rendering of legal, accounting, or other professional services by Fifth Third Bank, National Association, or any of their subsidiaries or affiliates and is provided without any warranty whatsoever. Deposit and credit products provided by Fifth Third Bank, Member FDIC.