GO PHISH
How do you deal with
stress and unwind
outside the office?
It has to be all about
spending time with family.
Days out, holidays, just
spending time together
at home – it’s definitely
very important to me and
that balance is a broader
part of the SureCloud
culture too.
Still, I’m not sure I ever
really switch off from
the office entirely. I’m
always thinking about
a project that we’re
working on, broader
e a
trends in cybersecurity, how to solv
particular problem and so on.
If you could go back and change
one career decision what would
it be?
It’s tempting to say not getting into
I
cybersecurity sooner, but in fact
are
rs
teste
tion
etra
pen
t
bes
think the
those that come from more general
the
technology backgrounds. To find
are
gs
thin
how
w
kno
flaws you need to
.
put together
What do you currently identify as
the major areas of investment in
the cybersecurity industry?
are
I think remediation programmes
e
lleng
cha
a
an interesting one. It’s
t
mos
e;
mor
and
e
we’re seeing mor
a
have
days
e
thes
s
organisation
as
variety of controls in place, such
tion
etra
vulnerability scanners and pen
why
and
erst
und
tests taking place, and
nt.
they ’re importa
to
But they don’t always know what
by
cted
do with the information colle
r
clea
a
have
those processes and
ting
strategy for isolating and remedia
s
ilitie
erab
vuln
and
ses
knes
the wea
that
ise
real
to
t
rtan
impo
It’s
.
find
they
ess
cybersecurity is an ongoing proc
of
case
a
just
of improvement, not
implementing a series of tests and
saying ‘job done’.
72
Are
there any differences
in the way cybersecurity
challenges need to be tackled
in the different regions? Middle
East, Africa, Europe, Americas.
Not really. At the end of the day,
g
ever yone is using similar operatin
so
and
ware
hard
,
ware
soft
,
ems
syst
liers
supp
on. The major vendors and
are international.
Clearly regions vary in terms of the
the
attention paid to cybersecurity and
But
it.
le
tack
to
lable
avai
resources
g
there are plenty of ways of protectin
nt;
stme
inve
ont
data without a huge upfr
s
tool
ce
sour
n
ope
y
man
there are so
and information-sharing forums, that
to
really the most important thing is
on
ge
wled
kno
and
s
have the right skill
ity
mun
com
urity
rsec
cybe
The
hand.
of
is fantastically collaborative – and
course, international.
Now, the most
common way for
organisations to be
targeted is far more
personal.
What changes
to your job role have you seen
in the last year and how do you
see these developing in the
next 12 months?
e
I would say that I am working mor
and
closely with clients from a strategy
a
was
I
than
int
dpo
best-practice stan
used
I
than
time
less
d
spen
I
.
year ago
to on frontline testing – though I still
.
like to keep my hand in when I can
ned
sitio
tran
have
I
that
e
hop
Essentially I
er.
lead
ness
busi
a
g
bein
into
e
mor
As we continue to grow the team
and expand our capabilities we will
–
be working on more – and bigger
it’s
that
n
mea
ld
projects, which shou
ide
ever more important for me to prov
that top-level strategic advice.
What advice would you offer
somebody aspiring to obtain
a c-level position in the
security industry?
t
Working hard is a given. Know wha
,
orks
netw
the
you’re trying to protect:
you
h
whic
of
ions
licat
systems and app
are in charge.
is a
And focus on continual learning; this
t
rtan
impo
it’s
so
e,
spac
mic
hugely dyna
g.
for us to be constantly improvin
get
Collaborative with the community and
u
in.
be
to
e
spac
t
grea
a
is
involved – this
Issue 09
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