PayPal appoints Shaun Khalfan as CISO

Digital payments company PayPal has appointed Shaun Khalfan as senior vice president and chief information security officer (CISO). 

“We’re excited to announce that Shaun Khalfan is joining PayPal today as Chief Information Security Officer. Shaun brings more than 20 years of experience in information security and risk management, including serving as Chief Information Security Officer with the US Department of Homeland Security, Discover Financial Services, Barclays International, and Freddie Mac,” PayPal posted on LinkedIn.

Khalfan has over 20 years of experience in information security and risk management. In the past, he has worked with the US Department of Defense as the CISO for Department of Homeland Security. He was also CISO at Freddie Mac, responsible for cybersecurity risk reduction, security architecture, and end-user experience. In his last held role, he was CISO at Discover Financial Services. “I am excited to embark on a new challenge as SVP, Chief Information Security Officer at PayPal! I am inspired by the leadership team, growth strategy, and look forward securing a digital company on a global scale. Let’s Go!,” Khalfan said in a LinkedIn post. He is an alumna of University of Maryland and the George Washington University School of Business. 

A 2023 report by Cloudflare showed that PayPal alongwith Meta and Microsoft are among brands that are most impersonated by hackers running phishing scams. According to the report, hackers create malicious domain names that seem like they belong to these well-known brands, but will actually steal user data. Firms like Adobe, Amazon, Apple, eBay, Instagram and Netflix are also among key targets for hackers.