Episodes

Robert Austin, Professor, Ivey Business School, discusses the value of cyber-attack simulation by drawing upon the learning tool (IT Management Simulation: Cyber Attack!, Harvard Business School Publishing) that he has developed. Using powerful metaphors such as "it's better to have a smaller portion of an expanding pie than to have an expanding portion of a shrinking pie," Rob highlights the need for an unselfish and collaborative approach (among competitors) to dealing with cyber threats. He a...

"Cybersecurity is patient safety and patient safety is cybersecurity," is how Stoddard Manikin, Chief Information Security Officer, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, described the significance of cybersecurity readiness in the healthcare sector. Speaking with exceptional clarity and eloquence, Stoddard traced the evolution of the cybersecurity threat landscape and governance approaches, before discussing in detail what it takes to succeed as a modern CISO. To access and download the entire podc...

The incredibly articulate Anne Leslie, Threat Management Consultant, IBM Security, shares some powerful messages and recommendations on threat management. One such message is to nurture a Whole-of-Enterprise approach where "leaders believe that the people who work for them are not just as important as the systems and the data, they're more important." Anne also emphasizes the importance of "looking within and knowing what it is that we have, why people might want that, and how they might go abou...

Fly the Plane is how Dr. Timothy Chester, Vice President of Information Technology, The University of Georgia, characterizes his philosophy and approach to cybersecurity readiness. Dr. Chester spoke at length about a proactive approach to information security management anchored on strategic planning, senior leadership commitment, strong teamwork, sophisticated intelligence monitoring, and robust training and testing practices. His candor and reflection made for a most interesting conversation. ...

Driven by a mission and passion to fight online crime, Ori Eisen, Founder and CEO of Trusona, explains the fundamentals of passwordless authentication and why it is a superior and simpler way of securing access. He also dispels several myths and addresses potential adoption hurdles, ranging from incompatibility with legacy applications to transition costs, regulatory compliance, privacy concerns, and more. Ori offers some valuable tips and recommendations to protect individuals from becoming vic...

While small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the same cybersecurity issues as large enterprises, SMEs don’t have the resources to effectively manage those risks. Research reports reveal alarming statistics on the state of cyber readiness of SMEs -- 60% of small businesses that are victims of a cyber attack go out of business within 6 months; 47% of small businesses have no understanding of how to protect themselves against cyber-attacks. Mike Benz, Partner | Fractional CIO at Fortium Par...

From the standpoint of cybersecurity governance, how does an organization stay on the right side of the law? Rois Ni Thuama, Ph.D. (Doctor of Law), Head of Cyber Governance, Red Sift, spoke with great clarity and eloquence in explaining what it means to practice good and sensible cyber governance. She emphasized the importance of looking to expert sources and established security frameworks for guidance, addressing foreseeable and avoidable threats, and making cybersecurity investments that woul...

In a very engaging and thoughtful discussion, Dr. Jimmie Lenz, Dir. Master of Engineering in FinTech and Master of Engineering in Cybersecurity at Duke University's Pratt School of Engineering, spoke to the importance of a multidisciplinary and integrative approach to cybersecurity education. He emphasized the need for a very pragmatic approach to cyber education where students are taught by active industry professionals and also get to apply the learned skills in real organizational settings. D...

Ram R. Kumar, Executive Director, AT&T Business, discusses at length significant cybersecurity governance issues, from achieving inter-and intra-organizational buy-in to employee empowerment, education and training, integration of security and development teams, vendor selection and monitoring, and more. Mr. Kumar also speaks to the operational realities and dilemma of speed vs safety and ethics vs loyalty. To access and download the entire podcast summary with discussion highlights -- https:/...

Richard Biever, Chief Information Security Officer, Duke University, shares valuable insights on how to create an effective CISO function. In a wide-ranging and substantive discussion that touched upon key aspects of cybersecurity governance, Richard shared his philosophy and approach to a) building strong relationships, b) creating a strong sense of agency and ownership, c) communicating effectively, d) protecting against ransomware attacks, e) creating and sustaining a high-performance informa...

A widely reported 2019 survey found that 99% of the attacks are focused on exploiting human vulnerabilities by targeting people instead of computer systems and infrastructure. Some of the most significant data breaches were carried out after stealing login credentials from human actors. Jenny Radcliffe, also known as “The People Hacker,” a world-renowned Social Engineer, provides some fascinating insights and stories regarding the human factor in cybersecurity. She discusses the various challeng...

When top management proactively takes every possible precaution to protect sensitive data because it is the right thing to do and not because there is a legislative requirement, that’s when the organization would have taken a huge step forward in earning customer confidence and trust. Tushar Sachdev, Executive Vice President, and Chief Technology Officer, KORE Wireless, is emphatic about top management’s role in creating and sustaining a proactive information security culture. In a very reflecti...

Educational institutions have been the target and victim of ransomware attacks. Garry Scobie, Deputy Chief Information Security Officer, The University of Edinburg, spoke at length with Dr. Dave Chatterjee on protecting academic institutions from ransomware and other forms of cyber-attacks. The very engaging and informative discussion covered a lot of ground ranging from identifying the most significant threats to reviewing the challenges of dealing with such threats and making recommendations o...

The recent ransomware attacks on Colonial Pipeline and JBS are grave reminders that organizations at all levels must constantly be in a high state of cybersecurity readiness and alert. This is no easy task as the points of vulnerabilities are numerous, especially the probability of humans falling prey to innovative hacking maneuvers. The senior leadership has an incredibly important and critical role to play in securing operations, sensitive data, and other digital assets. They must actively eng...

Welcome to the Cybersecurity Readiness Podcast! The Podcast serves to have a reflective, thought-provoking and jargon free discussion on how to enhance the state of cybersecurity at an individual, organizational and national level. Host Dr. Dave Chatterjee converses with subject matter experts, business and technology leaders, trainers and educators and members of user communities. He has been studying cybersecurity for over a decade. He has delivered talks, conducted webinars, consulted with co...