Vice President, Product Strategy, Takes Long Road to Cybersecurity
By Roy Urrico
Finopotamus presents InfoSec People Profiles, a series spotlighting individuals working in information security (infosec), cybersecurity and/or information governance to protect data and transactions at credit unions, other financial institutions, and fintechs serving the financial services industry.
“Cybersecurity became a serendipitous journey for me a couple of decades ago. While pursuing my physics Ph.D. at UT Austin (University of Texas at Austin), following a master’s degree in physics from IIT Kanpur (Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur), I was offered an internship at Cisco,” Rohit Dhamankar, vice president of product strategy, at Eden Prairie, Minn.-based cybersecurity company Fortra, told Finopotamus.
“The opportunity involved working on a team dedicated to testing Cisco’s products internally before hackers could exploit vulnerabilities. This experience introduced me to the ever evolving and exciting field of cybersecurity, and I have never looked back,” Dhamankar recalled.
Current Role Regarding Information Security
Dhamankar currently represents product strategy at Fortra, a company, he points out, “distinguished by the breadth and depth of its security products and services—an exceptional strength in today’s fragmented cybersecurity industry.” Strategy, at its core, is about making informed, deliberate choices to win in the market and carve out a unique niche, focusing on specific customer sizes, verticals, and needs, noted Dhamankar.
He described his role as revolving around ensuring its “portfolio remains relevant, differentiated, and competitive in both the present market and the future by anticipating and adapting to potential shifts.” Fortra’s cybersecurity solutions serve the financial services, healthcare, the government and public sector, industrial manufacturing and retail industries. The company supports zero trust and risk management frameworks, data defense, and protection against cybersecurity threats.
“In addition to shaping our overall product strategy, I am responsible for Fortra’s AI (artificial intelligence) and threat intelligence strategy,” Dhamankar said. He maintained new technologies often come with significant hype, and it is essential to identify the areas where they genuinely align with and advance a company’s vision and mission. “AI is no exception. At Fortra, our mission is clear: to break an attacker’s kill chain at every critical step, ensuring robust protection for our customers.”
Top Cybersecurity Dangers to Credit Unions
“Financial institutions, including credit unions, have always been prime targets for cyberattacks,” said Dhamankar. “While many are familiar with traditional identity theft techniques such as phishing and smishing, the rise of AI introduces even greater challenges. AI is enhancing the sophistication of phishing messages and undermining certain signature technologies, such as voice recognition.”
For instance, operations like wire transfers often leverage voice recognition for authentication,” said Dhamankar. “However, with AI, a cybercriminal can use a social media video to capture a victim's voice and create a convincing synthetic prompt. This is no longer a theoretical concern — it is a reality that necessitates a re-evaluation of such technologies and techniques in the face of AI-driven threats.”
Dhamankar provided another critical challenge: managing cybersecurity budgets, particularly for nonprofit organizations like credit unions. “As threats grow more complex, it is essential to allocate resources effectively to enhance cybersecurity posture and maturity. Prioritizing investments to address these evolving risks is no longer optional but a necessity.”
Fortra’s Cybersecurity Operations
At its core, Fortra is a cybersecurity-focused company, noted Dhamankar. “We help our customers find and mitigate cyber threats. In a world of complexity, growing regulatory requirements, and resource limitations, we meet our customers where they are and address their most pressing risks.”
Dhamankar continued, “Our solutions portfolio contains both offensive and defensive security solutions. With best-in-class infrastructure protection, data protection, managed services, and security awareness training, our portfolio is one of the most robust in the market.”
And perhaps most exciting, suggested Dhamankar, is Fortra’s our multi-vector threat intelligence hub, called the Fortra Threat Brain. The hub he explains pulls together telemetry from Fortra products, the dark web, social media, law enforcement, and “our partners to help customers stay ahead of cybercriminals and respond rapidly to threats.”
Avoiding Sleepless Nights
Asked “What threats keep you up at night?” Dhamankar responded, “Years ago, I was deeply immersed in tracking every newly announced vulnerability or zero-day discovered in the wild. “Over time, my focus naturally shifted to broader classes of threats and patterns.”
Dhamankar said, “While the attack surface continues to expand relentlessly, my current concern lies in how AI is transforming the threat landscape — introducing automation that enables attackers to execute their campaigns faster and more effectively.”
This evolution, Dhamankar explained, presents a significant challenge, especially in response times, where many organizations still struggle to meet their mean time to respond (MTTR) key performance indicators (key performance indicators). “Bridging this gap is critical as the pace of attacks accelerates, demanding faster and more adaptive defenses.”
Embracing Various Cybersecurity Roles
Over the years, Dhamankar said he has embraced diverse cybersecurity roles, “spanning deeply technical positions to strategic leadership roles across startups, small, and medium-sized companies. The constant innovation and new challenges have kept my passion alive and thriving.”
Dhamankar explained he has also enjoyed giving back to the community as well, notably as the author of the SANS @RISK Newsletter, published by the SANS Institute, a cooperative for information security thought leadership. Dhamankar said the publication reaches a readership of half a million.
“My work, along with speaking engagements at conferences, customer, and partner events, has taken me to over 30 countries,” revealed Dhamankar. “Despite the varying work cultures, sales cycles, and IT environments worldwide, I have consistently found cybersecurity practitioners willing to share unique insights. These interactions have been invaluable in shaping better products and fostering a collaborative global cybersecurity community.”