Growing up in the Dominican Republic with limited means has had a big impact on Yonesy Núñez’s career and the way he sees his role.

“When you have limited resources, you become very resourceful at figuring out how to move forward, how to strive,” said Núñez, the CISO at fintech company Jack Henry. “I’ve always been a person who wants to take things apart and figure out how to make them better.”

These austerity-driven lessons stay with him today, at a time when money and cybersecurity talent are tight. Limitations can be worked around with the right approach, he said.

“Limitations are really about helping people understand what the problem is and its potential impacts,” he said. “Once they understand that, learning how to work around those limitations is part of the job. I don’t find there are limitations when you’ve prioritized activities, whether you’re managing a $2 million budget or a $2 billion budget.”

Technology crush

At age 12, Núñez emigrated with his family to the U.S., where he quickly became enamored with technology.

“I was always amazed that there was so much inside such a small device that you could interact with, and bring to life,” he said.

After college, he worked as network administrator and director at New York Media Group. He got into security after attending a 1997 conference on security and management.

“The internet was nascent at that time, but I understood that once it would become pervasive, we were going to be under siege,” he said. “I came back and said to my boss, ‘We need to get somebody here to protect us.’ He turned around in his leather chair and said, ‘You’re going to do it.’”

Got messages across

Núñez got his first big CISO job at a global manufacturing firm, Pall Corporation, after he gave a talk at a conference.

“The CIO came up to me and said, ‘Normally, I can’t understand what you guys say but I understood everything you said. I want to hire you,’” he recalled.

“I learned a lot in that role about different cultures, the global landscape, people and their differences, and how we’re basically all the same, just different points of view depending on what our culture shows us and what we learn from it as we grow,” Núñez said.

His frequent trips to Japan spurred him to learn martials arts . He also picked up the language.

“Going to Asia as an Afro-Latino at that time was really hard,” he said. “The best thing you could do is try to speak the language.”

Doctoral studies

While at Pall, he also completed his doctorate in computing and information security.

Núñez pivoted to financial services after a fellow speaker on a panel told him financial services “is where the battle is being fought.” After a year and a half as manager for Practice Leader Risk and Security Assurance at PWC, Citigroup came knocking. Wells Fargo followed shortly after.

Over time, Núñez came to understand that the job is not only about understanding cybersecurity, but also about helping to take the company and its customers forward.

“You’re not just protecting the environment, you’re using security as a differentiator,” he said.

“One of the things that drew me to Jack Henry was the drive to make sure that community financial institutions remain competitive in this space. Community financials are the lifeblood of America, and it’s really exciting for me to do what I do to help in this space, always striving for positive outcomes.”

Transformational role

The CISO’s job has expanded beyond security to become a transformational role, Núñez said.

“COVID accelerated digital transformation for all companies, and the CISO is probably best positioned to help with that digital transformation by understanding how technology works and what is within the realm of possibility to help organizations remain competitive and succeed,” he said.

The main trait he thinks a successful CISO has to exhibit doesn’t involve technology, however.

“Empathy is probably the biggest thing, not just for cybersecurity, but for being a leader,” he said. “It behooves you to empathize with your constituents, customers and peers, and the folks in the world around you. Understand their stories.”

Methodology focus

One prominent feature about Núñez’s approach to his job is the focus on methodology.

“Endeavor to continuously modernize the approach to cybersecurity,” he said. “Shake things up within your teams to start honing in on new attack patterns, vectors, or new technologies. Remove the fanaticism about tools and processes, focus more on solving problems, and develop teams that solve the problems, rather than focusing on the tools.”

Building a roadmap is essential, he added.

“Many leaders across the board don’t really take the time to understand the current state, map out where they want to go, and align that with the business and their customers,” he said. “Bringing those elements into the program helps build a strong following and a passionate team. They’ll be more mission-driven, and I think that’s something that we ought to bring to the table more often.”

Automated attacks

Faster and more automated attacks are the biggest trend the industry has to deal with now, he said.

“Sometimes we think that there is an attacker, a person, coming after us, but 99 percent of the time these are bots that we’re contending with,” he said. “It’s an asymmetric battle with humans fighting machines. Humans get tired, machines don’t. We need a better defense system. 24/7 automation is what’s really going to help with that process,” and automation is a major innovation he’s bringing into his company.

Aside from practicing martial arts, Núñez likes to watch sports – basketball, football and baseball. For a long time, he also built and raced cars, and he still has one car left. “It’s that tinkering,” he said. “How much more performance can we squeeze out of this machine?”

Giving back

Giving back was always a priority, and during his years at Pall, he built a cybersecurity program for Mercy College in the Bronx. He also taught several classes there. One of his passions is to help the next generation of women and minorities in cybersecurity, and he has been mentoring and advocating in this space since 2005.

“It’s a little grain of sand because I can’t mentor the world, but I think it’s important. We have a saying in the Dominican Republic: poquito a poquito se llena la jarra – little by little, the jar is filled,” Núñez said. “Seeing them see things the same way and pay it forward, that for me is the best feeling in the world. I will keep working on filling the jar.”