While technology leaders know too well that building a strong security culture through awareness and training requires more than a single month of activities , many also concede that it ’ s a good opportunity to shine a light on the importance of awareness .

At Lynchpin Media , we marked the month with a number of events – both virtual and in-person – alongside our industry partners . Here ’ s a round-up of what we did and the key takeaways .

Women in Cybersecurity Breakfast

In South Africa , Intelligent CISO and Check Point Software held a Women in Cybersecurity Breakfast at the Houghton 1938 Estate in Johannesburg .

The event featured discussions on training , threat intelligence sharing and navigating the future of cybersecurity , in addition to a panel discussion with Maryanne Ndanu and Nadia Veeran-Patel , addressing breaking the barriers in cybersecurity .

Attendees shared their experiences and challenges in entering the tech field , focusing on ways to better promote women in cybersecurity . The event concluded with a sit-down breakfast where discussions continued among attendees . They were then treated to a makeup and photoshoot session , a generous gift from Check Point .

This was a unique event which served to address the gender imbalance in cybersecurity and provide an opportunity for women CISOs to connect and collaborate with others in similar roles .

Collaboration with Proofpoint

Our Global Cybersecurity Awareness Month Partner for 2024 was Proofpoint – a company which has long been at the forefront of awareness and training initiatives , and which is helping CISOs to bolster their defences against advanced AI phishing attacks .

During October , Intelligent CISO ’ s Editor , Mark Bowen , hosted a webinar discussion with Matt Cooke , Director of Cybersecurity Strategy at Proofpoint , to explore topics such as :

• How cyberthreats have evolved and the challenges they currently present to organisations

• How cybercriminals can be kept out of an organisation ’ s network in the first place

• The best strategies an organisation can employ for effective cybersecurity training

• How CISOs can deploy an effective company-wide , comprehensive cybersecurity strategy

It was an insightful discussion , with Matt sharing advice for those in the audience around how to build a cybersecurity culture .

Reflecting on the discussion , the most important takeaway was that there is not a one-size-fits-all approach for awareness training . Individual employees need to feel empowered to play their part in recognising risks , and this is best achieved via targeted , personalised training .

Intelligent ICT Awards

Lynchpin Media hosted its second Middle East edition of the Intelligent ICT Awards in October , during GITEX Global , and celebrated a number of cybersecurity leaders and vendors who are driving progress . Here ’ s a round-up of our winners and why they earned the recognition .

Intelligent Secure Software Partner – Darktrace

The winner of this award is a leading provider of cybersecurity AI , helping organisations to prevent , detect , respond to and heal from cyberattacks across the digital estate – cloud , endpoints , network , email , apps , OT and Zero Trust .

Intelligent Secure Digital Transformation Partner – Kyndryl

This organisation is the world ’ s largest IT infrastructure managed service provider . With a unique approach that supports continuous

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