Dive Brief:

• Home Depot has appointed Steve Adegbite as chief information security officer, responsible for overseeing the company's data protection and vulnerability management, according to a statement emailed to CIO Dive.
• Adegbite, who started at the company Tuesday, will report directly to EVP and CIO Matt Carey. 
• He will build off of his previous CISO experience at Cotiviti and E*TRADE and cybersecurity experience at the Department of Homeland Security. Adegbite also worked in security at Lockheed Martin, Adobe Systems and Microsoft. 

Dive Insight:

Home Depot is filling the vacancy left by former CISO Jamil Farshchi, who was scooped up by Equifax in February to revamp the credit bureau's security strategy. 

The company recently kicked off its largest technology hiring wave ever with plans to hire 1,000 more technologists across software and systems engineering, UX design and product management. With an in-house technology training program and opportunities to work on diverse projects, the company hopes it can attract and retain technology talent in the competitive market. 

But building out a strong security workforce, starting with effective leadership, is critical for companies. Retailers led the world in security breaches in 2017, and with its own messy history with a data breach that resulted in $19.5 million in lawsuit settlements, the imperatives of cybersecurity are fresh in Home Depot's mind.