NC1703

COMMENT
COMMENT
OWNERSHIP: ACCEPT RISK AND EMBRACE
CHALLENGE
BY RAY SMYTH, EDITOR
Arecent speech made at the Usenix Enigma security conference by Dr Ian Levy, the Technical
Director at the UK's National Cyber Security Centre, caused a bit of a kerfuffle when he
said that, in effect, the cybersecurity vendors overplayed the ability of hackers. More usefully,
he also advised organisations not to exclusively rely on advice from organisations that make
their living from cybersecurity.
Everyone who cares about cyber defence occupies their own cloister from which little should be
allowed to emanate, yet most of them cannot also be experts in the field as well the head of IT,
marketing or the Board. I felt it was a shame then that something else Dr Levy said received little
subsequent attention, namely "If you want advice, if you want threat information, if you want to
manage an incident that is going on, come to us and we'll do it for you."
This I believe is absolutely revolutionary. Not because it usurps security vendors - it doesn't and
wasn't intended to - but rather because it means organisations can now get the advice and guidance
to build the cyber defence strategy that they need, as opposed to one that is prescribed, by
referring to an organisation that by definition has a top-level oversight as opposed to a silo view.
Given the inevitability of an attack, that same organisation can now get real help - and it might
just mean the difference between the survival or failure of their business.
EDITOR: Ray Smyth
(ray.smyth@btc.co.uk)
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Ray Smyth
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If this is to work, and I hope that it will, it will be necessary for a change in both vendor and user
organisations. Vendors will need to understand what it means to engage with better informed and
more confident customers who know more about what they want, and user organisations will
need to stop hiding behind the claim that it's too hard or difficult, and energetically accept that
cyber defence is part of doing business, much in the same way that the production of financial
accounts is.
As Dr Levy suggest, buying a bigger amulet will not make an organisation any less vulnerable,
but moving away from fear, uncertainty and doubt might.
Ray Smyth - Editor, Network Computing.
Ray.Smyth@BTC.CO.UK | https://twitter.com/ItsRay
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MARCH/APRIL 2017 NETWORKcomputing 3