Category Archives: Cyber security

Why you really need trust and influence in cybersecurity

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‘Will you walk into my parlour?” said the Spider to the Fly, ‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy; The way into my parlour is up a winding stair, And I've a many curious things to show when you are there.'

The ‘Spider and the Fly’ is a famous poem by the Victorian author Mary Howitt. First published in 1828, it tells the story of a spider who ensnares a fly through the use of seduction and flattery. I used to read it to my children at bedtime. It was a firm favourite, and with a theme of trust, I believe its simple message is ever more relevant.

You see, we live in remarkable times, where trust is re-emerging as a currency of the new economy. Going hand-in-hand with influence, trust is enabling companies and individuals to stand out from the crowd, be heard admidst the noise, and become more successful in their bid for new opportunities. Let me explain.

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Personal branding: Do you really need it in cybersecurity? This will help you decide!

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My father is neither a politician nor businessman but when I was growing up he always ensured I understood the value of personal branding. He didn't call it this though. All he told me to do was to value my surname and protect it. To me that meant showing integrity, doing what I said I was going to do, and being really good at it. It’s a lesson I’ve never forgotten.

First impressions count. Today, more so than ever. You see, as of today, you are who Google says you are. When someone Google’s your name, the first page of results is how the world sees you. This is your reputation and it’s online for the whole word to see.

The connection between your reputation and cybersecurity is real and continuous. It's more than just protecting an organisation's online assets. It’s actually about protecting trust, which enables us to innovate, collaborate, build wealth and maintain peace whilst using technology for human progress. And trust, as Niloofar Razi Howe, cybersecurity strategist and entrepreneur, so rightly said in her keynote at RSA Conference this year,

“…is to the economy what water is to life.”

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Rethinking failure in cybersecurity

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(NOTE. This blog is one of a series and unless you join my IN Security Tribe whereby can get them early, plus other useful content, you’ll just have to wait for the others.)

I’d just finished my keynote and walked off the stage when a young woman approached me with a question. She wanted to know if I’d ever failed. I smiled, and perhaps I even laughed a little as I answered her,

“All the time!”

Any extremely successful person will tell you this,

“Success truly is the result of good judgement. Good judgement is the result of experience. And, experience is often the result of bad judgement.”

The wisdom of learning from failure is undeniable. Yet, despite a commitment to learn from failure, few leaders succeed. For over two decades I’ve watched leaders devote hours to critiquing sessions, postmortems, and analysis in the hope of not repeating the same learning lesson. And, whilst these approaches are useful (I advise they are done and wrote about why in a recent blog) again and again I’ve noticed minimal change, other than an increase in stress.

Here’s why.

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How to end cybersecurity planning failures

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When my eldest son was at middle school, he used to plead with me every single year to change schools. It always happened at the end of the summer holidays, and every time he’d sit half way up the stairs in our house, wailing. Once he calmed down, he’d talk about fresh starts and new beginnings. For some reason, he felt like he’d messed up and wanted a chance to reinvent himself. Sadly, the only way he thought he could, was by changing schools and starting anew. I never let him, for I understood that it wasn’t necessary. I knew that fundamentally he was happy at his school and had good friends there. The only way he could get what he wanted, was by applying a new technique, and that meant he had the power within himself to alter things.

Like my son, at some point in your life I bet you’ve probably committed to making a fresh start too. Typically, these occur on the first day of the year/month/week/season, on your birthday, or on some other memorable occasion, like an anniversary or religious event. These special days are what social scientists refer to as temporal landmarks – social and personal, and just like physical landmarks they can help you find your way when you feel lost.

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What everyone in cybersecurity ought to know about planning

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My face was blank but secretly I was screaming inside my head. I felt sick. Full of shame. How could I have been so stupid. And, as I stood there, being scolded for not delivering an effective plan and hitting my KPIs, the words my manager bellowed out at me became ingrained on my memory forever. He said,

“If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.”

These were the exact words Catherine used to describe a situation she’d found herself in at the start of her cybersecurity leadership career. When we met, she was still scarred from the ordeal and low in confidence.

It was a tough lesson for her to learn and she vowed never to repeat it. And, whilst I agree with her manager for directing her to Benjamin Franklin’s infamous quote, I know that if you want to hit a goal, KPI or target, planning isn't enough. Planning alone doesn’t prevent mistakes from happening or reducing all possible risks — not in an environment where technology, team capabilities, stakeholder expectations, and competition are perpetually changing.

What actually does is your agile resilience — your ability to recover and adapt, fast, when things go wrong. And this is why failure is such an important lesson to build into your planning, and if you’re leading, your management style.

It's something I regularly go through with my clients when I'm delivering business strategy and leadership training, and one of three little known strategies I use when I'm planning. Now, these aren't in my Clarity + Planning Workbook that many of you have downloaded, so unless you join my IN Security Tribe whereby you'll get them early, you'll just have to wait for the other two as I deliver them during February.

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Five valuable lessons of 2018 I won’t forget plus the progress I made

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In the corner of my dining room I sit alone, aside from my Weimaraner dog, Luna, who's curled up on a rug a few meters from me. I have an Irish jig on. The music is sweet and I'm reflecting on the year that's about to end. I've chosen not to go out. I want time to myself. It's been a busy year and I've been very social. But, with the new year ringing in, I want to write – to share the progress I've made and the lessons I've learnt in business and life during 2018. I do so in the hope that I may inspire you to stay strong, raise your game, and spread your message in cybersecurity.

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Struggling to protect machine identities? Read this!

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In the spirit of full disclosure, please be aware that I’ve received compensation for promoting this #ad for Venafi’s Machine Identity Protection event that was streamed live on 13 December 2018. Because your success is important to me, I only align myself with brands I believe in and Venafi is one of them.

Speeches. Events. Private dinners. Inner circles. Mixing with global influencers and thought leaders, I’ve participated in my fair share this year. And, as we draw to the end of 2018, one thing has become crystal clear. When we consider cybersecurity and our immediate future, threat actors are becoming far more strategic in whom they’re targeting.

They’re carefully considering how they can gain the most, whether it’s for politics, money or fame, by carefully calculating how, when and where to manipulate, steal, or release data.

With 0.8% of our global GDP coming from cybercrime, a rapidly increasing attack surface and a volatile global political climate, in 2019 it’s highly likely that we’ll see more sophisticated attacks coming from both organised criminal gangs and state sponsored attackers. And, with fuzzy lines drawn between both threat actors, it’s going to become even more difficult to ascertain who’s working for who. That’s why getting the balance right between people, processes and technology will become even more key to ensuring an organisation’s survivability and competitive edge.

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Some practical thoughts on change, Industry 4.0 and machine identity protection in cyber security

By | Cyber security | No Comments

In the spirit of full disclosure, please be aware that I’ve received compensation for promoting this #ad for Venafi’s Machine Identity Protection live streaming event on 13 December 2018. Because your success is important to me, I only align myself with brands I believe in, and Venafi is one of them.

“Turn and face the strange,” I said, “Just gonna have to be a different man.”

The one-liner from David Bowie’s classic song, ‘Changes,’ was the perfect way to end my keynote on humans, machines and the rapid changes that beset us in cybersecurity.

I wanted to spark my audience’s imagination and leave them contemplating. This was my cue. If ever there had been a time to get them to open up and exploit their own thinking it was now. I wanted them to dig deep, debate with one another, and fully explore the paradox of change. The change that everybody says they want.

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