GO PHISH
From a technical capabilities perspective, cloud security is probably a hot topic, particularly given the number of highprofile breaches or leaks that have been attributed to poorly secured cloud environments. thinking you can prevent all breaches isn’ t feasible.
GO PHISH
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office?
I may be in the minority here but work doesn’ t stress me out. I rarely feel like I need to leave work to‘ unwind’ and I can’ t remember the last time I had the‘ Monday feeling’.
Having said that, a lot of my time outside of work is spent with my family and I do enjoy a good movie.
If you could go back and change one career decision what would it be?
I don’ t really believe in going back and changing aspects of one’ s past. Every decision, good or bad, led me to this point in life and I’ m content with that.
Aside from impacting decisions, I do wish that I had more confidence in myself from earlier in my career and didn’ t spend so long seeking validation or approval from others. Something I have to remind myself of continually.
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in the cybersecurity industry?
Investing in people should always be the first area to look at. From a technological perspective, it has to be around business resilience. Companies getting breached is a common occurrence and
From a technical capabilities perspective, cloud security is probably a hot topic, particularly given the number of highprofile breaches or leaks that have been attributed to poorly secured cloud environments. thinking you can prevent all breaches isn’ t feasible.
Rather, one should look at how breaches can be detected quickly and having plans in place to recover from that breach. Whether that involves notifying customers, regulators or switching to manual processes. It’ s an area that is in real need of investing.
Are there any differences in the way cybersecurity challenges need to be tackled in the different regions?( Middle East, Africa, Europe, Americas)
From the perspective of technology, I’ d say that the challenges are largely the same and should be handled in a similar manner.
The cultural and people challenges do vary across geographies. It will impact how security leaders can get buy-in to implement or enforce security. The local culture will also impact some aspects of technology, for example, some geographies have stricter privacy regulation or some areas will run legacy operating systems for a lot longer. So the security approach will need to be tailored accordingly.
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain c-level position in the security industry?
I’ d say to first consider why someone wants a c-level position. The truth is that not everyone is suited for every position. So one should really try to be self-aware in what their strengths are and what they actually want to achieve. There are many cybersecurity professionals who have made a profound impact to the industry that aren’ t c-level executives. There isn’ t just one career path and people should focus on their strengths and move to roles that are best for them. u
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