FEATURE: 2019: THE CIO’S PRIORITIES
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IT’S IMPORTANT TO ENSURE
THAT EMPLOYEES ARE FULLY UP
TO DATE WITH THE LATEST SECURITY
PROTOCOLS AND PROCESSES
IN THEIR COMPANY TO HELP COMBAT
THE EVER-INCREASING TIDE
OF CYBERATTACKS.
Gary Watson, Founder and CTO, Nexsan
ransomware, phishing and viruses can be.
When you buy a bike, you should purchase a
helmet for safety and security just as IT pros
should be purchasing the right protection
for their technology. Equally important is to
have a second line of defence in place when
the inevitable does happen. Organisations
should consider investing in archive storage
– it’s a stable, reliable solution for storing
data on a central, secure repository, both
at home and at work. My advice for IT pros
navigating through the modern technology
world would be to buy your protection, put
on your helmet and enjoy the ride.”
developments. As it is, encryption is being
seen by IT operations as a tick-box exercise,
with point solutions encrypting only
segments of network infrastructure. There
is little to no push from leadership to ensure
there is a universal encryption policy over
the entire network. Without this overarching
encryption solution with centralised key
management, businesses create weak links
in their armour.”
Consider new approaches and
emerging technologies
However, as the threat landscape evolves, it
may be time to consider new and emerging
“It’s more important than ever to use all
the tools available and layer them where
you can. For example, Artificial Intelligence
(AI) is now available in backup and
recovery software to help you spot when
a ransomware attack is taking place, so
you can take remedial action. It will even
automatically extend retention just in case
you need to go further back in time. The
same AI can also provide reports on whether
you can meet recovery targets and will even
re-schedule things and make other changes
to help you meet them.”
Investment in the right infrastructure
management is also a theme that Luke
Brown, VP EMEA, WinMagic, raised as a
key part of minimising risk and meeting
legislative requirements – both key parts of
modern cybersecurity: “IT security teams
are doing their best to protect themselves
from cybercriminals, constantly playing a
cat and mouse catch up game. A key part
of their armoury is encryption. Almost as
old as the Internet itself, it’s a fundamental
point of defence in preventing against
data leaks. It’s a time-tested tool that can
severely hinder attackers in their goal to
steal confidential user and customer data,
trade secrets and more.
“However, the rise of new technologies
such as mobility, cloud and virtualisation
combined with an increasingly complex
regulatory environment means companies
are finding the need for encryption more
than ever before. To make this worse,
boardrooms are not adapting to these
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INTELLIGENTCIO
solutions, as Todd Kelly, Chief Security
Officer, Cradlepoint, explained: “Despite the
best efforts of the global IT community,
cybercriminals continue to make their
way into what many believe are secure
networks. The fact is that when it comes to
IT security, our businesses, organisations
and government agencies remain
outmatched by hackers who are becoming
bolder and more sophisticated. Even while
the network security industry introduces
more effective detection and defence
solutions, the traditional ‘fixed perimeter’
based approach to network security is
quickly becoming obsolete.
Luke Brown, VP EMEA, WinMagic
In such a diverse and quickly evolving
cybersecurity landscape, it’s clear that CIOs
need to be considering a broad range of
solutions to be as prepared as possible. From
investing in training, considering the latest
technology, or simply being aware of the
hard work that cybersecurity professionals
do, there are many lessons that business
leaders can take forward into their 2019
planning, to be better prepared in the face
of the next big cyberattack, whatever that
might be. n
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