Capita hires Amazon executive for cyberattack recovery
Capita has recruited an Amazon executive Adolfo Hernandez to help the company recover in the wake of a £20m (US$25.43) cyberattack earlier in 2023. Hernandez has extensive experience in software and communications and aims to steer Capita towards further solutions for the company.
The company’s 50,000 staff were locked out of IT systems in March 2023, with approximately 90 organisations disclosing breaches of personal information, including critical services used by local councils, the military and the NHS in the UK.
It led to significant IT outages over multiple months and raised concerns for millions of policyholders.
The need for appropriate cybersecurity infrastructure
Hernandez is currently the boss of Amazon’s telecoms division and will be taking over from the chief executive of Capita, Jonathan Lewis, who will be retiring at the end of 2023.
He has held many leadership positions throughout his extensive career. Prior to AWS, he was the CEO of SDL plc, which is now part of the RWS Group, in addition to being the CEO of Acision (Mavenir) and senior positions at Sun Microsystems and IBM.
In a LinkedIn post, Hernandez said: “I’m delighted to be appointed as the CEO Designate at Capita plc, a FTSE 250 company. I am very much looking forward to the exciting opportunities this new role will bring.
“But until I join Capita later in the year, I remain passionate and committed to supporting customers and partners that are transforming the Telecommunications industry with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and supporting a smooth transition.”
Capita was forced to admit how much money was lost as a result of the cyberattack afterwards, as pension funds sought to find out if their customers’ information was caught up in it. The hack allegedly took place after Russian criminals gained access to files backed up from a piece of Capita-made software used by 350 pension funds, according to The Telegraph.
The implications of a large-scale cyberattack such as this highlights the importance of organisations prioritising strong cybersecurity measures to protect sensitive data and prevent business-altering consequences.
A recent report detailed how whilst 70% of cybersecurity executives think all alerts are being handled, front-line roles that address alerts have reported that in reality only 36% are handled - pointing to a massive disparity within the sector.
As cyber threats become increasingly more sophisticated and detrimental to businesses, ensuring the safety and integrity of sensitive information has become a top priority. It is essential that security measures do not continue to be overlooked, particularly within the workplace.
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