Paul Horn, C|CISO, CISSP, CRISC, CISM, GCIH

Paul Horn is a Bates Consulting Expert and seasoned Cybersecurity Executive with 20 years of experience based in Prosper, Texas.  Paul previously served as the Chief Information Security Officer for an independent Broker-Dealer with billions of dollars in assets under management and thousands of Advisors spread across the United States.  Paul has been a part of several FINRA and SEC Cybersecurity sweeps and examinations and maintains a deep understanding of the regulatory requirements associated within financial institutions as well as prioritizing risk remediation activities.  With a sister company operating in the tax preparation space and a large majority of Advisors having a separate tax practice, Paul has comprehensive experience with the IRS requirements set forth in the Strategic Threat Assessment & Response (STAR) work group to help protect taxpayers and the integrity of the tax ecosystem.  Paul helped educate Advisors on security requirements that are present to both their businesses by drafting policies and procedures that are closely aligned to meet both business needs.  Paul was also a 2016, 2015, 2014 & 2013 EC-Council Certified Chief Information Security Officer of the Year Finalist and was presented with the Excellence in Finance Leaders Award in recognition of his contributions to the Finance Industry at the 2019 FiNext Conference. Paul was also a panelist for Cyber Incident Response Plans and Resources at the 2018 FINRA Cybersecurity Conference.

Paul has a Master's of Science in Management with a concentration in Information Systems Security and a Bachelor's of Science in Business Administration in Information Technology from Colorado Technical University as well as the following certifications:  Certified Chief Information Security Officer (C|CISO), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Security Manager (CISM), Certified in Risk and Information System Controls (CRISC), and Certified Incident Handler (GCIH).  Paul has also contributed to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) request for information and has positively contributed to the development of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) as well as serves on a variety of Advisory Boards for information security related topics and shows a deep dedication to the information security community by mentoring other security professionals.

Paul honorably served in the United States Air Force as a Special Agent and has an extensive physical and information security background from his time spent as an Agent as well as leading a global information security program for logistics and air operations for various government contracts within a major defense contractor.