Cybersecurity isn’t just for the CISOs

Maryland’s cybersecurity community has a big influence on an industry with work that’s getting a lot more attention in the wake of large breaches.

On Wednesday morning at Brown Advisory’s Fells Point headquarters, a group of leaders from the industry offered insights on cybersecurity’s role across businesses and the tech landscape. It was the Baltimore Innovation Week edition of the Waterfront Tech Series, which is spearheaded by MOXIE Promotion.
Big breaches such as WannaCry in recent months were found to be sourced to small patches that weren’t made. Ask many in the industry, and they’ll tell you that the first step a business can take toward addressing the risks posed by data breaches is to make security a priority.
“There’s no question that the tone comes from the top,” said Gustavo de los Reyes, the Chief Information Security Officer at Brown Advisory. It’s a change, as data security has often been the responsibility of employees who aren’t at the executive level. When it comes to putting a focus on cybersecurity, “If the top says it’s important and shows it’s important, everyone will fall in line,” he said.

Talking security in virtualization, blockchain and Bluetooth at @WFTechseries to start the day. #BIW17 pic.twitter.com/5T7uGBg5S8

— Technical.ly Baltimore (@TechnicallyBMR) October 4, 2017

Cybersecurity isn’t the first thought when it comes to tech development, either. During the Q&A portion, the panelists also talked about how security factors into technologies that are growing rapidly. Here’s a glimpse of what’s out there:
Social media: With many stakeholders using social media from marketing and other channels, cybersecurity when using social media is a team approach. Tim O’Rourke, VP of Product Marketing and Strategy at ZeroFOX, said it’s important to take precautions so that all members who have access to an account are using measures like two-factor authentication to protect passwords, as well as digital risk monitoring. Having a plan to address cybersecurity is also key, he said.
Virtualization: We’ve seen virtualization talked about for IT teams. The approach allows developers to isolate environments on separate server computers. Former Tenable Network Security CEO Ron Gula said it’s being talked about in the security community as well.
Blockchain: It’s associated with Bitcoin, but blockchain is a big topic in the cybersecurity community as it leans on encryption. It’s something that Gula is watching closely, as it has implications across multiple facets of society, as well as digital functions like sending files. Our sister site Technical.ly Brooklyn has lots of coverage.
Internet of Things: Security has been frequently pegged as one of the issues that must be solved for Internet of Things to be adopted widely. Johnny Collins, Hunt Lead of Mandiant, said the networks that provide internet allowing devices to link are also vulnerable to attack. “There is no WiFi network that is secure,” he said.