Ely Pinto joined Bank Leumi as chief information security officer. In this role, Pinto is responsible for leading and executing the bank’s information and cybersecurity programs and will also be tasked with redeploying an end-to-end information security program.

Pinto will report directly to Martin Droney, chief operations and technology officer. The two will work together on developing and expanding the bank’s established information and data security culture with a risk-based approach that enables the business to continue to deal with cyber threats.

“Cybersecurity is a critical area of focus at Leumi, and we are pleased to have Ely on board as we continue to build our bank-wide information security infrastructure,” Droney said. “Ely’s extensive experience in financial services and technology will bolster Leumi’s information security efforts at a time when banks need to be hypervigilant in the face of heightened cyber activity.”

Pinto has more than 20 years of leadership experience in providing security solutions at large financial and corporate institutions. Most recently, he spent 12 years as an information security specialist at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking, where he had also previously served as a solutions architect. In these roles, he was responsible for developing the strategic direction of the bank’s cybersecurity program and the overall security of bank systems, data and networks. Pinto also led the design and implementation of new security technologies and spearheaded security integration and risk mitigation efforts across all technology platforms and business applications, including cloud-based technologies.

Pinto previously worked as a research and development manager for Linux-based software at Etagon and as a Unix Engineering Team Lead at Newscorp.

Pinto is a contributing author for several “CIS Benchmarks,” which are published by the Center for Internet Security and are used by hundreds of businesses and organizations worldwide to safeguard technology systems.