By Betty Elliott, Partner and Chief Information Security Officer, MercerJuly 14, 2020 In this time of change and uncertainty, it’s very important to stay connected to your teams. My team and I already were a remote team before the pandemic but I still felt it was necessary to take extra steps to ensure the safety and well-being of the team. We are all located in different regions of the country and have different personal experiences. Zoom was already a part of our interactions and we were all comfortable with video meetings and working from home. At the onset of the ...
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By Loren Dealy Mahler, President, Dealy Mahler StrategiesJuly 13, 2020 When we measure individual success in the cybersecurity industry, we most often look towards metrics that can best be described as “on paper” achievements. We evaluate whether someone has the requisite security certificates, a sufficiently lengthy resume to prove years of practice and time spent developing specific technical expertise, and a number of tours with companies whose names and reputations are familiar across the industry. If someone can achieve a relatively high score across these quantifiable areas, they are by and large considered successful. Bonus points are given for those ...
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By Tina Meeker, Sr. Director of Information Security, Sleep Number; Vice President - Minnesota WiCyS AffiliateJuly 13, 2020 As an industry, we are all acutely aware of how important it is to identify, foster and promote new and existing talent (from ALL backgrounds) in the ever-evolving cybersecurity field. Our industry is much too monolithic today which results in open unfilled roles, lack of creative solutions to fighting hackers and threats, and inability to make meaningful strides in connecting with diverse workforces to advance security culture within organizations. According to Cybersecurity Ventures, at the end of 2019, it was estimated that ...
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By Shelly Blackburn, Vice President, Global Security Systems EngineeringJuly 13, 2020 We need to recognize that “going back to normal” isn’t likely to happen...ever. At some point, we will be able to go back to attend concerts, sporting events and industry conferences but masks and remote working at varying levels of application are likely here to stay. We are moving from the new normal to the next normal. At the same time, cybersecurity challenges not only are here to stay, but will become increasingly complex. We are also an industry in dire need for talent, both in recruiting and retaining ...
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By Christopher Buse, Audit and Security Leader and Former CISO for the State of MinnesotaJune 18, 2020 We are living in unprecedented times; times when many people are stepping up to the plate to keep our businesses, government, and citizens safe. As a former government security leader, I saw firsthand the vital role that cyber security professionals play in protecting our critical infrastructure. Cyber security professionals often work long hours, collectively and creatively solving complex and dynamic problems. We are blessed to have these heroes in our midst. It bothered me that the important work of cyber security professionals went ...
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By Andrew Borene, JD CISSPJune 16, 2020 Leaders with higher emotional quotient, or “EQ”, bring greater success to their organizations. We’ve been talking about emotional intelligence for years, but it has never been more important than it is in these very challenging times for ourselves, our teams, our Twin Cities community and our entire nation. We are all confronted daily with fear, disruptions to our lives and real uncertainty about issues related to public health, governance and the future of our economy. We also can reasonably expect a challenging period ahead for team unity and effort, as we know politics ...
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By Chrysa Freeman, Security Program Manager, Code42June 18, 2020 There are many ways to lead people, some are more effective than others and there are lots of experts in the field of leadership. I don’t propose to be an expert, but as someone who has observed good leaders and bad leaders, there are some traits that I think are critical for success which translate perfectly in supporting a successful Security Awareness program. In my summation, the measuring stick of a visionary leader is whether or not you are getting positive results over time. Short term results are not hard to ...
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By Dr. Massoud Amin, Professor - University of Minnesota and Cofounder/Past Chairman - Cyber Security SummitJune 18, 2020 The Why: Complexity, systems dynamics and interdependencies Around 1600, John Donne, an English poet and preacher, delivered a sermon that began: “No man is an island.” Today, a less poetic, but more politically and technologically correct, version of this sentiment might be: “All human beings are interconnected through complex interactive dynamic networks and systems.” As our society, enterprises and industries, and the world, grow more interconnected, we are becoming surrounded by complex networked systems. These systems consist of numerous components interlinked in ...
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By Jennifer Czaplewski, Director of Product Security, Target May 21, 2020 Predicting the future is hard. I’m pretty sure at least 99% of us had no inclination 3 months ago that the entire world would be operating like it is today. I’ve seen people describe themselves as a “futurist” and that’s not a title I ever expect to be given (or give myself), but I do operate by one of my favorite quotes from Louis Pasteur which is “chance favors the prepared mind.” And for Cyber Security, and my specific field Application Security, I think that’s where the future is ...
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