When Enterprise Risk Management Inc. sought a person to combat cyber attacks and threats for its major league-like clients, the company called on Miami Lakes resident Mike Sanchez to tackle the arduous tasks.
Sanchez recently joined Enterprise Risk Management Inc. (ERM), one of the leading cyber security firms in South Florida, as the company’s vice president, helping to beef up cyber security, which is one of the biggest challenges facing American corporations. Sanchez oversees business development for the company and has the overall responsibility of growing the company to the next level worldwide.
“I am honored and excited for my new role,” Sanchez said during an interview.
He said the company’s main focus is the entire U.S. region, where the growing number of reported cyber attacks and threats are staggering. Sanchez said Enterprise Risk Management, headquartered in Coral Gables, is also doing important tasks with the U.S. Secret Service and Homeland Security to expose high level cyber threats and developing short-term and long-term solutions.
“On the consumer level, people are aware of identity theft but when it comes down to corporate and attacks that breach their business, we always have to be a step ahead of what’s going on and understand the challenge,” he said.
Sanchez said a client’s files of important work and information were hacked and held hostage and the principal owner was forced to pay a ransom to the perpetrator to release them undamaged.
“That’s just an example of the difficult issue we will be tackling on a daily basis,” he said. “It requires a lot of prevention, and working with our client to help them is also a big challenge for the company.”
Sanchez is well known locally for his dynamic leadership of the Miami Lakes Optimist Club, where he has served as president since 2007. He began his early career with the United States Marine Corps, where he earned the rank of Captain. Following the Marines, he graduated from the University of Miami with a degree in Computer Engineering. Before joining Enterprise Risk Management, Sanchez headed up the Americas Region of Transworld Payment Solutions for more than 10 years.
He oversaw the significant expansion of that firm and also served on the Emerging Technologies Advisory Board of VISA INTERNATIONAL.
“We are very excited that Mike has joined our team at Enterprise Risk Management,” said Silka Gonzalez, founder and president. “He is a dynamic individual with tremendous experience in a very technical field. He is a tremendous addition to our firm.”
As Vice President, Mike will work closely with Gonzalez on business expansion as well as technical projects. Cyber security is one of the biggest challenges facing corporations today. The U.S. Government has declared October as National Cyber Security Month, and has designated cyber security as a national security priority.
Enterprise Risk Management’s growing list of clients in both the public and private sector reflects the security challenges that companies face today. ERM has an important list of U.S. Government agencies as clients, as well as numerous regulated industries such as banking and health care, in addition to universities and other types of companies.
“ERM can help companies defend themselves against cyber attacks, or detect them if they occur,” Sanchez said. “We can help them harden their networks in order to prevent some of the breaches that we see happening every day.”