Congratulations, security executives, soon you will officially be the “corporate rock-star.” That’s according to one industry analyst, Ted Schlein, who is also a general partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. In the article, “The Rise of the Chief Security Officer: What It Means for Corporations and Customers,” published by Forbes, Schlein wrote: “For business leaders today, no task is more important than ensuring confidence and trust in the organizations they lead. The boardroom has woken up to the importance of security – and to the enormity of what it will take to protect company and consumer data from attacks.”
It’s about time that our nation begins to focus more solidly on the security and safety of our schools. We’ve enjoyed a relatively safe existence in our schools for decades and decades. We have had some very high-profile tragedies in our schools recently, from weather to shooters to fires, but for the most part, our schools remain the safest place to be for our kids. But they are not forever going to be that way. It's time for our nation to address school safety in a more proactive way. We are noticing trends and events that are preventable in this day and age.”
If you figure that a better economy these days means less metal theft, think again. Theft of copper, aluminum and other metals continues as people see a way to easily make money to buy drugs or other uses.
What do you think of when you think about a security officer? Is your perception tainted by Hollywood which generally paints security officers as comedic caricatures with delusions of grandeur? Do you think of security officers as “wannabe cops” who have no career path? If your answer is affirmative, I ask you to push aside these dated and inaccurate perceptions about security officers and learn what is truly involved in this critically important profession today.
You can let events impact your life and shape your career, or you can take control. If you are either looking to make a career change from your current role, or leaving government for the private sector, consider taking the following preliminary steps before developing and sending out any resumes.
In early April, Wall Street’s oversight committee announced that bank’s oversight of cybersecurity measures at outside firms it does business with remains a work in progress, at best. It cited a survey of 40 banks that found that only about a third require their outside vendors to notify them of any breach to their own networks, which could in turn compromise confidential information of the bank and its customers.
With enterprises’ rising reliance on data and the need to protect it, investments in data security and data centers are rising. Data center company Equinix Inc. is expanding its Rio de Janeiro data center; Penn State University is finalizing plans for a second data center, projected at a cost of $58 million; Google is reportedly considering a $300 million data center expansion at its campus outside of Atlanta.
There are times and situations when security executives or law enforcement need to mount a covert investigation or monitoring event that may include cameras, sometimes infrared and low light, or audio.
All too easily, there can be a vast disconnect between security and finance. Chief financial officers are looking out for every penny, and security departments can be frequently written off as cost centers. However, there has been growing involvement and partnerships in both directions, with CSOs now successfully proving security’s value to the enterprise and CFOs championing security and cybersecurity initiatives to better mitigate enterprise risks.
This month’s column takes over where we left off in April, bringing to a close our Top 10 list of widely held cybersecurity myths. This month’s list should prove no less provocative.
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