Ellen Ritchey, vice chairman of risk and public policy at Visa, urged cybersecurity officials and executives to meet and work together more efficiently and completely to counter threats from hackers.

“At Visa we aren't as interested in what happens after the fact as in what we can all do to prevent attacks and make things better,” Ritchey told the audience at the Washington, D.C. meeting on March 26. “We need to communicate more and cooperate more because we know the other side is cooperating. We know the other side has no problem communicating and coordinating on what they're doing, and we have to do that and surpass that.”

Ritchey spoke as part of a panel with Nuala O'Connor, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for Privacy and Technology, and Governor Tim Pawlenty, CEO of the Financial Services Roundtable. 

The Center is one of the most vocal advocates of consumer privacy and The Roundtable is the trade association for the biggest banks.

Pawlenty agreed with Ritchey about the need to cooperate and urged lawmakers to elevate cybersecurity concerns, particularly with countries that either sponsor hackers or simply shelter them, to the level of foreign affairs and national security discussions.

“That's really what it's going to take to make progress,” Pawlenty said.