GO PHISH
like to lose but the customer
base won’t allow it.
Most of my experience is
in the 0 to 1,000 customer
range for significant security
soft ware. The MIMESweeper
range exceeded 20,000
customers before I moved
on. Things will be different
for those developing
consumer apps.
What do you think
is the current hot
cybersecurity
talking point?
My biggest concern is
the view that things are
a case of ‘when’ and
pair
not ‘if’. It represents a state of des
the
in
ls
ona
essi
prof
rity
secu
the
among
customer base.
IT is growing in complexity and the
Internet provides too many public
with
interfaces. This trend is increasing
rity
secu
of
tage
shor
wing
an ever-gro
e
professionals. Thirty years ago, ther
not
–
ls
entia
cred
was a deep respect for
ut.
abo
y
worr
to
y
man
that we had that
too
Today the human cognitive load of
s,
che
brea
ng
drivi
is
many credentials
ess
Witn
ity.
mun
com
Ops
Dev
the
even in
on
unts
the recent ransoms for acco
GitHub, GitLab and BitBucket.
How do you deal with stress and
unwind outside the office?
Make stuf f, code stuf f, laser cutting,
ys
CNC and 3D printing. There is alwa
n.
lear
to
g
ethin
som
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
the cybersecurity industry?
It seems that people have bought
into the idea that monitoring is a
itoring
priority. It is easier to make a mon
uct.
prod
on
enti
prev
a
product than
ul
Forewarned is forearmed is a usef
es
com
this
ve
philosophy, but I belie
after defence in depth.
72
Are there any
differences in the way
cybersecurity challenges need
to be tackled in the different
regions? (Middle East, Africa,
Europe, Americas.)
of
The main difference is the degree
the
cts
affe
trust in staff, which in turn
degree in which organisations are
re is
worried about insider attacks. The
s
tion
nisa
also a difference where orga
In
IT.
their
of
h
muc
have outsourced
is
these cases, the security posture
can be
dictated by the outsourcers. This
bad
good, since experience counts, or
–
cost
nt
ifica
sign
a
is
nge
cha
in that any
.
tion
solu
the
of
cost
the
than
e
mor
Never engage in
office politics –
learn how to spot it
happening and how
to put the brakes on.
What
changes to your job role have
you seen in the last year and how
do you see these developing in
the next 12 months?
are
Recruitment and remote working
best
the
get
to
r
closely tied. In orde
ing.
people, we need to offer remote work
ork
But this means we need the netw
bandwidth and tools like Zoom and
the
Owl to get as close as possible to
ace
-to-f
face
a
of
part
g
bein
of
s
nce
nua
the
to
n
ntio
atte
meeting. We pay more
Slack
onboarding process. Working on
er.
bett
ing
gett
and
d
is goo
What advice would you
offer somebody aspiring to
obtain C-level position in the
security industry?
own
The quickest way is to start your
you
company. It could cost you a lot if
you
h
teac
will
ce
fail, but that experien
s/
about how managers feel about sale
s of
side
h
-tec
non
the
all
and
g
ketin
mar
the business.
A safer route is to star t at a large
company and switch to a senior
be
position in a smaller company and
er
Nev
ck.
sho
ure
cult
the
for
prepared
to
how
n
engage in office politics – lear
the
put
to
how
spot it happening and
brakes on. u
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