GO PHISH
security cameras , or even smart lightbulbs ? These are all potential security issues .
How do you deal with stress and unwind outside the office ?
Most importantly , I cherish spending time with my family . I also love sports and tennis in particular .
If you could go back and change one career decision what would it be ?
In the last 18 years at Check Point , I ’ ve moved eight positions and I ’ m proud of my accomplishments and that I ’ ve been able to work in different roles . I ’ m probably the wrong person to ask this question to as I ’ ve had a really interesting career so there isn ’ t anything I would change .
What do you currently identify as the major areas of investment in the cybersecurity industry ?
The top area of investment I would say is cloud security , especially automation . There is a huge lack of expertise here . For example , as the CISO of Check Point , I am managing about 46 different solutions . Of course , 90 % are from the same brand , but the variety is still huge , so you need that expertise . The only way you can sustain it is through automation . If you have good automation it can save up to 70 % of the manpower , so it ’ s important to invest here . In the last few months , we ’ ve also seen a lot of startup investment in building security into DevOps and CI / CD approaches .
Another obvious one is threat prevention . We ’ re likely to be living in ‘ hybrid mode ’ as we continue to navigate through the post-pandemic world , which will see some people working from home , some returning back to the office , so automated threat prevention for remote access security will be key .
Are there any differences in the way cybersecurity challenges need to be tackled in the different regions ?
I don ’ t think so . I live in Israel and we have customers from all over the world , but I hear the same challenges from all the different regions . The only thing that differs is their intensity .
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 ?
Organisations have no doubt admired and cherished their IT security teams for helping employees adapt to the seismic shift of securely and effectively working
People always want to hear about the ‘ war stories ’ that you ’ ve experienced in your role , which is always a good way of explaining .
from home . That ’ s undoubtedly the biggest change over the last 12 months . I also think that the last year has made it clear that IT security teams can only work under stress for so long , as the pandemic was a very stressful time for those in the industry – it isn ’ t sustainable to work under stress for months on end , as it leads to mistakes .
Mistakes often lead to the security posture being jeopardised . That ’ s why we have so many great products at Check Point that offer red alerts when there is a problem or misconfiguration . Finally , I ’ d say that the personal touch is missing .
We can do plenty of things online but you can ’ t beat in-person time with colleagues .
What advice would you offer somebody aspiring to obtain a C-level position in the security industry ?
In the past , people thought that being a CISO is a very technical role , but it ’ s also a managerial role . You need a technical understanding , but if you ’ re not a manager or leader , it will be very difficult to succeed . You have to know how to deal with peers and customers and to be able to manage and prioritise requests efficiently . It ’ s a question of communicating clearly and helping people to understand your expectations . u
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