Going further back, I spent 13 years in the British army.
Each of those phases in my career contributed to my vision for cyber security and the capabilities of Cyhesion.
What are some key principles you follow in your work?
Firstly, Cyber security should be aligned with the business.
A business becomes vulnerable when it doesnt recognize the need for security solutions.
We need capability that balances threat prevention with detection and response.
This shouldnt be a difficult concept for the business to understand.
The key here is to go beyond prevention, because sometimes threats will get through.
Changing the dynamics is very important.
What are some challenging aspects that organizations dealing with in regards to implementing a security strategy?
This capability needs to endure and adjust over time.
Our approach begins with strategy.
This should start with an understanding of what needs to be protected.
What does the board consider to be of value to the business?
It might be intellectual property, customer information, resilience in the supply chain or finance and treasury.
This isn’t a technical question.
The greatest volume of serious threats tends to come from criminal action.
How to you begin planning a security strategy for a business?
Firstly, what are we trying to achieve?
The second question should identify what capabilities will be needed to achieve these goals?
This should not be drawn into technology selection.
It defines blocks of capabilities or functions and is limited to defining their purpose.
Third question is about how that capability will be sourced or procured?
Which elements will be in house and which will be out sourced?
How do you balance the conflict between ease of use and security?
That conflict will always be there.
In my view, security needs to operate with the businesses' consent.
If security is seen as a problem or a nuisance, it will cease to be effective.
But often, the actions they take can harm the business without them realizing it.
Good security is an enabler, and is about providing solutions to get the job done.
Creating that dialogue with the business often isn’t easy but it’s important.
But the business is a critical part of those controls, so it cannot be ignored.
I think there are similarities from history in the IT world.
Some twenty years ago, there were a lot of discussions about the role and authority of IT.
There were numerous debates about whether the CIO should be on the board or not.
The approach that Cyhesion takes increases the chances that the balance between control and business enablement will be correct.
We believe the secret to success is based on:
Do you have your own technology?
Cyhesion does not develop it’s own technology.
Which technologies do you feel are currently most relevant?
One technology I think can add a lot to security operations automation and orchestration.
Too date this area has being neglected, but used properly, it has a lot to contribute.
Analysts are more satisfied and less likely to leave if they feel their work is meaningful.
The use of tools for automation and decision support also means responses are more consistent.
Another technology taking a close interest in is remote browsing.
This is quite an emerging area, but I recognize it can deliver significant benefits.
Browsers are highly vulnerable to threats simply because they have largely unrestricted access to the internet.
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