Latest news with #RathiMurthy
Business Insider
17-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
SquareX Collaborates with Top Fortune 500 CISOs to Launch The Browser Security Field Manual at Black Hat
Palo Alto, California, July 17th, 2025, CyberNewsWire SquareX announced the official launch of The Browser Security Field Manual at Black Hat USA 2025. In addition to a comprehensive practical guide to the latest TTPs attackers are using to target employees in the browser, this comprehensive manual features industry perspectives from leading CISOs from multiple Fortune 500 enterprises and other iconic companies, who share their perspectives on the evolving browser security landscape, the importance of each threat vector, and how they expect these attacks to evolve in the near future. Major contributors include: Rathi Murthy, CTO of Varo Bank, Fmr. CTO of Expedia and Verizon Rahul Kashyap, Fmr. CISO at Arista Networks John Carse, Fmr. CISO at Dyson As the browser becomes the new endpoint, it has also become the single most common initial access point attackers use to target employees. This is evident in the recent uptick in browser-based attacks such as the Cyberhaven breach, polymorphic extensions and Midnight Blizzard RDP-based attack. Yet, despite the increasing awareness of the browser security gap, given the nascency of the space, most security professionals lack the resources and tools to learn about this emerging threat landscape. To address this gap, The Browser Security Field Manual systematically guides practitioners through the techniques attackers are using to target employees in the browser across five major threat vectors - Phishing, Malicious Browser Extensions, Browser-based Data Loss, Identity Attacks and Browser-Native Ransomware. Co-authored by Audrey Adeline and Vivek Ramachandran, the book covers everything from common to bleeding edge techniques, including sample code snippets and case studies of such attacks unfolding in real life. "Attackers thrive on information arbitrage. As the place where 85% of work happens, it's imperative that security teams understand how their employees are being targeted," said Audrey Adeline, SquareX Researcher and Co-author of The Browser Security Field Manual. "We've been extremely fortunate to work closely with some of the industry's top thought leaders, and we hope that this new edition of The Browser Security Field Manual will provide security teams with not only the practical aspect of browser security, but also an industry perspective of how these threat vectors are impacting organizations in real life today and how they may evolve in the future." This release builds on a successful soft launch of the book at RSAC this year, where SquareX shared early copies with hundreds of CISOs for early feedback and worked closely with many of these security leaders to incorporate their deep industry insights into the second edition of the book. The Browser Security Field Manual will be available at Black Hat and DEF CON 33 bookstores, with the authors participating in both stores' book signing event. The Black Hat book signing event is taking place at the Black Hat bookstore on Thursday August 7 at 3:00pm - 3.30pm. The book is also available for pre-order via The Browser Security Field Manual website. Alternatively, you can find out more about the manual at SquareX Booth #6825 during Black Hat on August 6 from 10am to 6pm or on August 7 from 10am to 4pm. About SquareX SquareX's browser extension transforms any browser on any device into an enterprise-grade secure browser. SquareX's industry-first Browser Detection and Response (BDR) solution empowers organizations to proactively detect, mitigate, and threat-hunt client-side web attacks including malicious browser extensions, advanced spearphishing, browser-native ransomware, genAI data loss prevention, and more. Unlike legacy security approaches and cumbersome enterprise browsers, SquareX seamlessly integrates with users' existing consumer browsers, ensuring enhanced security without compromising user experience or productivity. By delivering unparalleled visibility and control directly within the browser, SquareX enables security leaders to reduce their attack surface, gain actionable intelligence, and strengthen their enterprise cybersecurity posture against the newest threat vector – the browser. Users can find out more at Contact Junice Liew
Finextra
12-06-2025
- Business
- Finextra
Varo Bank hires Rathi Murthy as chief technology officer
Varo Bank, the first all-digital nationally chartered bank in the U.S., today announced the appointment of Rathi Murthy as its new Chief Technology Officer. 0 Murthy's arrival reinforces Varo's dedication to empowering customers through innovative technology, aligning with the bank's mission to help everyday Americans make progress in their financial lives. Rathi Murthy has been at the tech forefront for more than 25 years as a transformative Chief Technology Officer in a career that includes leadership roles at global companies including Expedia, Verizon, Gap, American Express, eBay and Yahoo. Rathi's appointment highlights Varo's commitment to empowering more customers through the development and adoption of technologies such as AI to improve access to financial services, transform how the bank assesses credit risk, and combat fraud. 'It's important to lean on innovation to address the financial needs of everyday Americans,' said CEO Gavin Michael. 'Rathi's deep knowledge and impressive track record of digital transformation and implementing industry-leading AI make her the ideal technology leader to move Varo forward.' Murthy's appointment comes as Varo approaches the fifth anniversary of being awarded its bank charter. With a focus on new digital tools and products, Varo continues to grow the Varo Bank app and evolve its technology infrastructure while giving its customers the security of a fully regulated bank. Along with specializing in AI and large-scale platform integration, Murthy, also an advocate for women in technology, mentors aspiring leaders. A board member of PagerDuty, a digital operations SaaS company and advisor for the University of San Francisco, Murthy's arrival at Varo dovetails with her enduring commitment to help companies get faster and smarter with technology solutions. 'The mission of Varo - to provide everyday Americans with the most advanced financial tools - perfectly aligns with my personal and professional ethos,' Murthy said. 'Varo is using technological innovation to ensure everyone is able to build financial resilience. I am very excited about joining Varo to see this even more fully realized.'
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Exclusive: Varo's new tech chief views responsible AI as differentiator
This story was originally published on Banking Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Banking Dive newsletter. Amid plenty of artificial intelligence buzz, establishing a robust foundation for responsible AI innovation is essential, said Rathi Murthy, the new chief technology officer at Varo. Implementing new technologies only where they deliver genuine value to customers is crucial in Murthy's eyes. 'I have a strong belief that technology is not built for the sake of technology. Technology has to have a purpose,' Murthy told Banking Dive. After joining Varo, Murthy saw the need for two critical roles within the company: a chief architect to ensure the technology architecture remains scalable and secure, and an engineering strategy and operations executive. She hired FS Nooruddin and Payal Carpenter as Varo's chief architect and engineering strategy and operations executive, respectively. Both executives previously worked with Murthy at American Express, Gap and Yahoo and are helping her establish necessary diligence and structure at Varo. The San Francisco-based digital lender has been using data and AI for its underwriting, fraud detection and risk compliance, while also incorporating personalization across the customer's journey. Responsible AI makes the 'right nudges [to] this huge opportunity…to make this experience about you and me,' rather than cookie-cutter, she said. This is an area that Murthy wants to explore and closely monitor. Still, Varo executives don't rush into new technologies unless they provide 'meaningful impact' to its customers, she added. Murthy took the helm of the technology unit at Varo in March. She replaces Sachin Shetty, the former tech chief who left the company in August 2024. In April, Varo's former CEO, Colin Walsh, handed the baton to Gavin Michael. Murthy spoke along the lines of Michael, who also emphasized the importance of AI and machine learning in underwriting for the neobank's low-dollar loan offerings, fraud prevention and detection, and in delivering data-driven customer experiences with enhanced personalization. 'We are building out a leadership team around Gavin that can help us go faster and smarter and build a team that is bold in their thinking and responsible risk-taking, and curiosity to take advantage of innovation where it matters,' which she referred to as 'a change.' Murthy was CTO and president at Expedia for about three years before joining the lender. She's also been CTO at Verizon Media and Gap, and chief information officer at American Express. At Varo, Murthy plans to leverage her experience at Expedia, which partnered with OpenAI as an early adopter of ChatGPT plugins. The team she headed at Expedia built models on top of existing systems to ensure security and governance and used AI to solve customer problems, like summarizing thousands of hotel reviews. 'I'm always looking at smarter ways that we can take advantage of modular technology to build faster,' Murthy said. She wants to focus on building differentiators for Varo. 'Data and AI is our secret sauce,' she said, adding that Varo's charter is also its winning formula, 'protecting [the charter] and making sure we focus on going as fast to deliver value through our partners, through buying the right technology and building the areas that matter.' Varo became the first nationally chartered all-digital consumer bank from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency in July 2020. Varo, built as a digital-first platform, has an edge over other banks trying to maintain legacy systems while balancing innovation and creating new features, she asserted. It's a 'trade-off that is very challenging' for those banks, Murthy said. Varo's cloud-native technology differentiates it from its competitors, while its modular architecture helps the lender to focus on 'being purposeful' in what and how it's building, according to Murthy. The lender's modular architecture helps to break down the banking software into smaller, independent components, while each component handles specific business functions and can be updated independently. Varo intends to lean on things like its partnership with Visa to offer 'friction-free' services to its customers, she said. Varo may add other services to support its core banking aim, such as lending products with faster decision-making, Murthy said. Customer feedback is also important, and Murthy is keen to listen to customers to understand the patterns that draw more 'good customers' and keep the bad ones at bay. 'The better our models get, the better our data gets, the more you are able to take in more signals,' Murthy said. 'You can determine fraudsters proactively and make it friction-free for the ones who are coming with the right intention.' She wants to ensure Varo's tech strategy prizes customer experience, addressing their needs through in-house innovation or partners whose services enhance customer experience. Varo seeks to embed security protocols and automated compliance within its technology, using identity management and data protection tools while enhancing monitoring capabilities. The lender is working to mature its Supernova model, the in-house decision-making platform, to better interpret customer responses. 'We just need to keep feeding the engine and maturing the engine as we go,' Murthy said. Murthy has established an 'architecture guild' at the company that reviews all new features, technologies, and tools; it includes participants from across product and engineering teams, not just leadership. The team is tasked with flagging any security concerns for additional testing. 'We are continuing to lean in on building out the products that we have, and continue to drive those products in an exceptionally well manner,' Murthy said. Sign in to access your portfolio
