SIMNJ Roundtable Discussion – Third Party Risk Management

Third Party Risk Management (TPRM), sometimes known as Vendor Risk Management, is the practice of evaluating and mitigating risks introduced by third parties (suppliers, business partners, etc.)  TPRM is a process that begins before establishing a business relationship and continues throughout the business partnership.  TPRM is important because unaddressed risks can expose an organization to cybersecurity threats, data breaches, and other disruptions.  Risks can be operational, reputational, financial, and compliance.  In many industries, TPRM has become a regulatory requirement.  More customers now require a TPRM program. 

On March 23rd at noon, Roota Almeida, CISO at Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut (DDNJ, Inc.) will host this Zoom session and walk us through DDNJ’s TPRM journey. 

About the Moderator

ROOTA ALMEIDA
Chief Information Security Officer
Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut

Roota Almeida is the Chief Information Security Officer at Delta Dental of New Jersey and Connecticut (DDNJ, Inc.). Roota has been instrumental in helping to establish Delta Dental of New Jersey’s Office of Information Security and leading the development and implementation of enterprise-wide information security strategy, policies, risk assessments and controls, including leading the HITRUST Certification effort for DDNJ. She believes more women should be encouraged to pursue STEM careers and has started a summer internship program at DDNJ, Inc. specifically designed to give graduating female high school students insight into the field of corporate cybersecurity.

Prior to joining Delta Dental, Roota was the Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Covanta Holdings Corp., a leader in Energy-from-Waste. As CISO, she led all aspects of Information security and risk, including global information security awareness programs, policies, business continuity, and incident response teams.

With over 15 years of direct experience in establishing and maintaining global security strategies, architectures, standards, and compliance Roota drives the necessary cultural changes to affect measurable improvements in organizations’ security posture. 

Roota is a recognized industry thought leader who serves as a member of the Board of Advisors at several organizations, a governing body chair for Evanta’s NJ CxO Summits and other technology conferences, a faculty and a security awards judge.  Her in-depth experience and expertise in the field of information security and risk management can be measured by the various articles, eBooks, interviews, and podcasts she has to her credit. Roota is also working to build and encourage new talent and solutions in the security arena. 

Roota holds CCISO, CISSP, CISM and CRISC certifications.