Cyber Security Leadership

Speaking at the Cloud Security Summit Sydney

I had a great day speaking at the Cloud Security Summit on ransomware threats in cloud environments and how they’ve evolved over time. In this discussion I shared tips on the essential elements of a robust ransomware defence strategy in the Cloud and specific steps for incident response planning and recovery strategies.

I also provided recommendations for aligning cloud security measures with an organisation’s existing IT architecture and strategy, and how can businesses ensure this alignment contributes to their overall security posture effectively. Looking towards the future, I also shared my thoughts on evolutions in ransomware threats, and how can organisations prepare themselves for these events.

Cyber security operating model

Designing a target operating model for an organisation is a complex activity. It is important, therefore, to keep it simple initially. At a very high, level, I suggest CISOs start with three key capabilities:

Governance, Risk and Compliance
Security Architecture
Security Operations

These can then be decomposed further, tailoring to the needs of your particular organisation. Understand how each domain interacts with and supports the others, capturing key outcomes and dependencies for each function.

Key security capabilities are supported by Leadership and Governance streams, including Security Strategy, Business Alignment, Integration, Oversight, Optimization, Finance, Security Culture, Program Management, Stakeholder Management and Reporting.

Business as usual activities required to keep the lights on are often neglected when capability uplift is prioritized. For this reason, I placed it in the centre of the diagram, emphasising the ongoing importance of providing consistent security service to your organisation.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework functions at the intersections of domains aim to illustrate the collaborative nature of the security teams. It’s important to go beyond silos , ensuring frequent interaction with the business as well as within the security department.

Cybersecurity Board reporting – CISO Executive Network

I had a pleasure to participate in the keynote panel discussion on cyber security Board reporting at the CISO Executive Network event in Sydney. It was an insightful discussion where I had a chance to share my views on aligning on Board expectations, developing relationships and tailoring your message for maximum impact.

We also covered common challenges and strategies for winning the Board over as well as good practices for reporting. It was a great opportunity to contribute to the community and learn from my peers in the industry.

Applying AI and ML techniques to combat scams and social engineering

I’m happy to share that after a long review process, our paper on identifying and extracting scam stages and scripts is finally published.

It’s been a great collaboration with Macquarie University to analyse scammers’ strategies that built a foundation for developing a Conversational AI bot that wastes scammers’ time.

Read full paper here: https://arxiv.org/abs/2307.01965

How to develop a cyber security strategy

Cyber security strategy and execution is one of the top priorities for a CISO. It helps articulate the value of security, provide clarity on short and long term goals and outline a cyber security uplift roadmap.

In this blog I recommend a proven step-by-step guide for developing a cyber strategy.

Leading in a crisis: data breach response

Data breaches are unforeseen events that can have significant repercussions for organisations, demanding immediate action, composure, and transparent communication. In this blog, I explore the essential components of managing a data breach and provide practical guidance for security leaders to effectively navigate this complex situation.

Source: adapted from Davenport and Harris (2017)

Data strategy begins with an understanding of your business goals. What capabilities do you need to develop to realise your strategic objectives? In this blog I continue to build on the data analytics concepts to outline how to improve the analytics capability in your organisation.

I completed the Data Analytics and Decision Making course as part of my Executive MBA. In this blog, I summarise some of the insights and learnings that you can apply in your work too.

I’ve been invited to to share my thoughts on human-centric security at the Macquarie University Cyber Security Industry Workshop.

Drawing on insights from The Psychology of Information Security and my experience in the field, I outlined some of the reasons for friction between security and business productivity and suggested a practical approach to a building a better security culture in organisations.

It was great to be able to contribute to the collaboration between the industry, government and academia on this topic.

Scuba diving and cyber security

During one of my dives I pondered if there are any parallels we can draw between scuba diving and cyber security. They may seem like vastly different activities, but they share many important similarities. Both are dealing with unknown and often rapidly changing environments, where careful preparation, attention to detail and a focus are critical for success. I list some themes in this blog, feel free leave a comment to add your own.