Dark Reading Enterprise IT Virtual Event Panel: Making Cybersecurity Work in a Post-COVID World

This past Thursday July 23^rd, Axio’s Chief Product Officer, Dale Gonzalez joined Senior Research Director of OMDIA, Maxine Holt, CISO of Delta Dental Plan Association, Fred Kwong and Senior Threat Intelligence Analyst of Symantec, A Division of Broadcom, John DiMaggio in an exciting conversation about making cybersecurity a priority in the uncertain time we currently live in.

The panelists talked about how these adversaries are not just exploiting system vulnerabilities but also human vulnerabilities as there was an increase in attempts and attacks during the height of COVID-19. Not only is there a heightened amount of threats, but also a change in how security decisions are made. CISO’s are being asked to make decisions faster than they previously have.

Dale talks about how there’s an increased realism when it comes to cybersecurity. Leadership understands that it’s impossible to defend against all cyber events but rather it’s necessary to focus on the impact of potential events and decrease their susceptibility.

During this unprecedented time, “…there’s much more of an interest, in tools and technology that help you understand the dollar value that you get in return for security tech that you adopt…” Budgets are being squeezed and gone are the days where controls are being added without evaluation of its efficacy.

This was a point that was echoed across the panel as companies don’t have unlimited cyber budgets and need to optimize their cybersecurity investments. As Fred Kwong said “I do not have unlimited funds in my security budget…”

Panelists ended with their advice on how organizations can do more with less, reflecting the overall theme of this virtual event.

Dale says that “[there are] 3 things, understand the value in dollar terms in what the pieces of your security stack are defending and what they’re providing… the next is recognize that not all security controls have to be from the security team and not all have to be technological, the other side of the ‘it’s a people problem’ is that there are people solutions for things too…and anything you can insure against you can control for too…”

Axio enjoyed participating in this engaging virtual event with leaders across the industry. To access this recording please click here for Panel Session III: Making Cybersecurity Work in a Post-COVID World, register and you’ll have access to the entire virtual event.