AlphaPoint, a white label solutions provider for digital currency exchanges, announced on Thursday that it has appointed Srikant “Sri” Manda as Chief Information Security Officer. Manda is an experienced cybersecurity executive and is the first to join the company in this position.

Mandra brings more than a decade worth of experience in cybersecurity to the company. During his career, he has focused on the governance, architecture and operations experience. Manda has held positions in cybersecurity operations at Citigroup and TD Bank. His most recent positions were at Juniper Networks and Fortinet, where he led architecture and security teams.

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Commenting on his new position, Manda said: “one of the reasons I am especially excited to join AlphaPoint is that it’s clear that the company already prioritizes security — internally as a company as well as for its customers. For example, their partnership with Intel offers a trusted security-focused solution backed by Intel’s Software Guard Extensions (SGXs).”

Manda joins a team which is led by industry veterans. In particular, the company’s employees have extensive experience working across capital markets, fintech, exchange technology, options, forex, and engineering.

AlphaPoint’s co-founder and Chief Technology Officer, Joe Ventura, added: “there is a lot of scrutiny around hacks and lost funds on cryptocurrency exchanges and we do not take this challenge lightly.”

“We work every day to protect our clients and ensure the safety and security of our products and customers through multilayer cybersecurity, physical security, and operational best practices. Sri coming on board doubles down on our commitment to be a security first company.”

Protecting a hacking-prone industry

Security hacks in the cryptocurrency industry have become increasingly problematic. One of the most notable hacks was to Japanese exchange Coincheck on January 26 this year. Unidentified hackers managed to steal more than $500 million worth of NEW tokens. At the time of the attack, the tokens were worth about $0.94 apiece. It took the exchange around eight hours before they noticed the attack.

As a result, the company experienced financial troubles which led to Japanese online trading giant Monex acquiring the firm. According to our report on the acquisition earlier this year, the deal was worth $33.5 million.

Salil Donde, AlphaPoint’s Chief Executive Officer, noted: “Sri has successfully implemented best practices around cloud and application security within the financial services industry and is well positioned to oversee the security of AlphaPoint’s technology and products as well as to further mitigate any potential technology threats.”

“AlphaPoint implements best practices and leads the way in terms of security. We are excited for Sri to ensure that AlphaPoint continues to set the precedent for others in the industry to follow.”