
Meet the Team!

Meet Matt! š
Matt Cooper is Principal, Cybersecurity & Data Privacy on Vantaās sales team. Matt has been with Vanta since February of 2021.Ā
Tell us about your role at Vanta.
I have a cross-functional role as an information security, data privacy, and compliance subject matter expert. My specialty is helping customers manage their information security and privacy risk and get ready for compliance audits. I have different hats to wear: assisting customers with audit readiness; working to understand the big picture of what they are trying to achieve; and helping them prepare to meet their SOC 2, ISO, or HIPAA compliance goals. Iām also a resource for customers on information security, privacy, and risk and governance generally.
Another aspect of my work is with our audit partnersāvetting our partners and acting as an interface with organizations to help improve their experience from an audit perspective. Iām available to gather customer feedback on our product and services, and can then bring that back to our product and engineering teams, so we can continue to improve our product as it applies to the audit experience.
My third function is interfacing with the product and engineering teams to continually make improvements and add new functionality to the product. I bring the perspective of someone who is very familiar with audit standards and related requirements, as well as best practices for information security and data privacy. Iām also here to offer general pre-sales support for companies that may have questions.
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What made you realize this was the right career field for you?
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Broadly speaking, my career field is information security and data privacy. I like information security because itās trendyāthereās a lot of need in the marketplace. I feel like working in information security, Iām wearing a white hat by helping customers feel more secure, and helping companies to have more security around their products and services, which benefits both orgs and consumers at the end of the day.Ā
Information security is extremely complex, deep, and broad. There are endless opportunities for learning and growth into various different areas. There is always something new to learn, thatās what I love most!
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Why did you choose Vanta over other companies?
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Vanta was an easy choice for me. First off, I loved the people I met during the interview process, which is important to me. More to the pointāVanta is on the bleeding edge in the compliance automation space. Weāre also a disrupter in the market. The net effect of that is that we are making compliance and certification more affordable and attainable for smaller organizations. We are also helping customers effectively understand and manage their information security risk.
Vanta is the leader in our space; weāre at the forefront of technology and thought leadership; and weāre making difficult processes much easier and more accessible. Those qualities all excite me and Iām happy to be part of it.
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What excites you about Vanta?
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Vanta is an innovative product disrupting the space. Our mission is to secure the internet, and Iām fully excited about it. This is the industry I come from. There are other folks at Vanta who are new to the audit space or come from another space; this is the space Iāve chosen to work in, and I find it super interesting. There are so many opportunities to learn and grow and to do things in a new way. Weāre challenging our partners and other players in the industry to adapt.
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Whatās your favorite quarantine activity?
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My favorite quarantine activity is one of my favorite anytime activitiesāhiking in nature! I tell people I live outside Seattle, which is technically true. I live in a quaint small town on the north end of the Olympic Peninsula, so I have awesome access to the Olympic National Forest and its amazing natural beauty!
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PCIĀ Compliance Selection Guide
Determine Your PCIĀ Compliance Level
If your organization processes, stores, or transmits cardholder data, you must comply with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS), a global mandate created by major credit card companies. Compliance is mandatory for any business that accepts credit card payments.
When establishing strategies for implementing and maintaining PCI compliance, your organization needs to understand what constitutes a Merchant or Service Provider, and whether a Self Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) or Report on Compliance (ROC) is most applicable to your business.
Answer a few short questions and weāll help identify your compliance level.
Does your business offer services to customers who are interested in your level of PCI compliance?
Identify your PCI SAQ or ROCĀ level
The PCI Security Standards Council has established the below criteria for Merchant and Service Provider validation. Use these descriptions to help determine the SAQ or ROCĀ that best applies to your organization.
Good news! Vanta supports all of the following compliance levels:
A SAQ A is required for Merchants that do not require the physical presence of a credit card (like an eCommerce, mail, or telephone purchase). This means that the Merchantās business has fully outsourced all cardholder data processing to PCI DSS compliant third party Service Providers, with no electronic storage, processing, or transmission of any cardholder data on the Merchantās system or premises.
Get PCI DSS certified
A SAQ A-EP is similar to a SAQ A, but is a requirement for Merchants that don't receive cardholder data, but control how cardholder data is redirected to a PCI DSS validated third-party payment processor.
Learn more about eCommerce PCI
A SAQ D includes over 200 requirements and covers the entirety of PCI DSS compliance. If you are a Service Provider, a SAQ D is the only SAQ youāre eligible to complete.
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Use our PCI checklist
A Report on Compliance (ROC) is an annual assessment that determines your organizationās ability to protect cardholder data. If youāre a Merchant that processes over six million transactions annually or a Service Provider that processes more than 300,000 transactions annually, your organization is responsible for both a ROC and an Attestation of Compliance (AOC).
Automate your ROC and AOC
Download this checklist for easy reference
Questions?
Learn more about how Vanta can help. You can also find information on PCI compliance levels at the PCIĀ Security Standards Council website or by contacting your payment processing partner.

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