Good morning. Cybersecurity is a top priority for many C-suite executives and audit committees, but experts say cyber attacks, especially in the healthcare sector, are on the rise.
“In my opinion, this is almost an act of war,” Stephen Gillette, chairman and CEO of life sciences company Verily, said earlier this week at Fortune's Brainstorm Health conference in Dana Point, Calif. “These are people's lives, their personal information. This is not just a technology problem that we have to solve.”
For example, Change Healthcare, a division of UnitedHealth Group, was hit by a ransomware attack targeting its claims and treatment authorization portal on February 21. The attack caused network outages across the country, with some providers initially suffering losses estimated at $100 million per day. It is estimated that the health information of one-third of Americans was exposed on the dark web.
“Cybersecurity in healthcare truly takes a village,” said Andrea Downing, president and co-founder of The Right Collective. “What happens behind the firewall is no longer enough.” Downing added that many hackers are slipping through existing defenses, and said organizations are starting to see ransomware attackers posing as doctors to infiltrate clinical studies.
“In the field of medical cybersecurity, [Health-ISAC] and [Bio-ISAC]”We need to expand our capacity beyond just one health system, sharing information with each other,” Downing said. “To really be more resilient, we need to strengthen public-private partnerships and invest in infrastructure to really be proactive in detecting and responding to these attacks.”
Financial leaders at hospitals and health systems are focused on increasing patient loyalty and using advanced technology to improve the customer experience. Few things can destroy customer loyalty more quickly than a targeted cyber attack.
You can watch the full video of the panel session at Brainstorm Health here:
In honor of the Memorial Day holiday, the next CFO Daily will arrive in your inbox on Tuesday. Have a great weekend!
Cheryl Estrada
cheryl.estrada@fortune.com
Leader board
Notable developments include:
Justine Picic has been promoted to CFO of Ralph Lauren Corporation (NYSE: RL), effective May 23. Picic succeeds Jane Nielsen, who became CFO in 2016 and assumed the role of chief operating officer in 2019. She will remain with the company as COO until March 2025. Picic joined Ralph Lauren in 2006 and most recently served as enterprise CFO as part of the company's multi-year succession selection process.
Paul Vogel has been appointed CFO of VF Corporation (NYSE: VFC), a branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories company, effective July 8. He succeeds Matt Puckett, who will retire as previously announced. Vogel most recently served as CFO of Spotify Technology SA from January 2020 to December 2023. During his tenure as CFO, Spotify transformed into an EBIT-positive company and expanded from 80 to 180 markets. Prior to his role as CFO, Vogel was responsible for financial planning and analysis, finance and investor relations at Spotify.
Peter Nag has been named CFO of Offerpad Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: OPAD), a technology platform for residential real estate, effective June 5. Nag is the former EVP and CFO of Turner Broadcasting System, parent company of CNN, TNT and TBS. Prior to that, he was EVP of WarnerMedia Finance. Prior to his tenure at Turner, Nag held key leadership roles at AT&T.
Krishna Rao has been appointed the first CFO of AI startup Anthropic. Rao joins the company from Fanatics Commerce, a digital sports platform, where he served as CFO. He also served as Chief Financial Officer at Cedar, a healthcare payments and patient engagement platform, where he led both the finance function and operational initiatives. Previously, he was an executive at Airbnb, where he served as Global Head of Corporate and Business Development and led Corporate and Operational FP&A. Earlier in his career, he worked as a private equity investor at Blackstone and as a strategy consultant at Bain & Company.
Deborah Nobelman was named Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer of Kronos Bio, Inc. (Nasdaq: KRON), effective June 3. Nobelman previously served as Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development at Senti Bio, Inc., which Nobelman took public in 2022. Prior to Senti, Nobelman served as interim CEO at several life sciences companies, including Jogo Health, Thinklabs and Aktiv Pharma Group, and served as Chief Financial Officer at GeneriCo LLC and Chief Operating Officer at Ampio Pharmaceuticals.
Jamie G. Pearson has been named interim CFO of Forward Air Corporation (Nasdaq: FWRD), effective May 20. Pearson succeeds Rebecca Garblick, who is retiring from the company. Garblick, who has served as CFO since 2020, will remain in the role for the transition period. Pearson most recently served as CFO of MV Transportation. Prior to that, he held a variety of senior management roles, including EVP and CFO at Ecobat Technologies and YRC Worldwide, Inc. Forward has initiated a search for a CFO with the assistance of an executive search firm.
AI company Cerence Inc. (Nasdaq: CRNC) CFO Daniel Tempesta resigned effective May 17 for personal reasons, according to a regulatory filing. Tempesta assumed the role on March 18. The board of directors appointed President and CEO Stefan Ortmanns as the company's chief financial officer and Executive Vice President and Corporate Controller Katherine Roman as the company's chief accounting officer on an interim basis. The company has launched a search for a permanent CFO.
Big Deal
According to a new report from S&P Global Market Intelligence, the top 35 venture capital firms announced 51 artificial intelligence-related funding rounds in the first quarter, up from 31 during the same period last year. According to the report, AI will account for a larger share of total corporate investments, growing from 1 in 10 deals in early 2023 to 1 in 5 deals in early 2024.
Provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence
Going deeper
Below is an excerpt from Fortune magazine's article over the weekend.
“NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang doesn't wear a watch. Here's why” – Chloe Berger
“Inflation may be subsiding, but most Americans still feel pressured by the rising cost of living” – Alicia Adamczyk
“Walmart and Target earnings reveal America's struggles with high inflation” by Will Daniel
“3 Ways to Nurture Your Employees' Mental Wellness: Build Trust that You Have Their Back” by Lindsay Leake
Stories I've heard
“There's something of an endemic problem at OpenAI where major problems keep surfacing. There's a culture born of hyper-growth, born of being the most important company in one of the biggest trends in history, and right now there are few signs of stress cracking.”
—Daniel Newman, principal analyst at Futurum Group, told Fortune.
