Prove Identity Appoints Cybersecurity Professor Amanda Fennell as CISO

Prove Identity has appointed Amanda Fennell as the company’s chief information security officer (CISO).

Fennell brings 20 years of experience in the security industry to the digital identity firm and is also an adjunct professor for cybersecurity at Tulane University, Prove said in a Thursday (Jan. 26) press release.

“Amanda’s experience and leadership will be an asset to our company as we continue to grow our global operations,” Prove CEO Rodger Desai said in the release. “Amanda will help lead Prove as well as educate the broader security market about next-generation digital identity authentication technologies.”

Fennell most recently served as CISO and chief information officer (CIO) at Relativity, overseeing security strategy for the company’s key business functions and hosting its “Security Sandbox” podcast, according to the press release.

Before that, Fennell worked in digital forensics and cybersecurity at Symantec, Dell SecureWorks, Zurich Insurance Group, Booz Allen Hamilton and Guidance Software.

At Prove, Fennell will focus on helping other companies establish trust in digital commerce, the release said.

“Prove is a driving force in modernizing digital identity to ensure the security of companies and their users while also enabling fast and seamless customer experiences,” Fennell said in the release.

Consumer behavior is changing as individuals navigating the digital shift have found it easy and appealing to apply for a credit card or deposit account with just their phone number — an innovation that Prove has been a key part of — Desai told PYMNTS’ Karen Webster in an interview posted in November 2022.

Sending a one-time password (OTP) SMS to get the go-ahead with a transaction or log into a site is just the beginning. Forward-looking companies are already taking advantage of more advanced identity authentication tech that solves for some of the security vulnerabilities, cost and experience issues of OTPs, Desai said at the time.

“I just don’t think that banks or merchants can take their over-reliance on SMS OTP for much longer,” Desai said.