Paul Benda is the Executive Vice President for Risk, Fraud and Cybersecurity at the American Bankers Association. Paul joined the ABA in 2018, where he leads the association’s initiatives in fraud, cybersecurity, physical security, and information security practices and chairs the ABA Fraud Coordination Group. In addition, he acts as a media spokesman for the ABA and the banking industry on these issues.  He currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Financial Services Sector Coordinating Council which is the primary point of contact for the Departments of Treasury and Homeland Security on cybersecurity and resiliency issues facing the Financial Sector.

His past experiences include leadership positions in the Department of Homeland Security where he was head of research and development and in the Department of Defense where he was a DARPA Program Manager and designed security systems for the Pentagon. Paul started his career as an Active-Duty U.S. Air Force officer and transitioned to the private sector where he worked as a consultant for Booz Allen before returning to government service.