What should you do with the SaaS products that your organization had to purchase without Single Sign-On (SSO)? And to get this out of the way: Vendors that lock SSO behind enterprise-only plans do a disservice to their customers. No wonder the US government’s Secure by Design Pledge expects vendors to offer SSO in baseline…
Blog
My writing focuses on information security, with topics ranging from broad IT trends to detailed technical advice on malware. Scroll through the posts to see whether my interests overlap with yours. Follow this blog to keep up with my latest publications.
Transform the Defender’s Dilemma into the Defender’s Advantage
The notion that cybersecurity defenders are at an inherent disadvantage—the so-called defender’s dilemma—is incorrect and counterproductive. Instead of focusing solely on how we respond to attackers’ tactics, we can identify and use the advantages inherent in our position as defenders. This article explains what a defender-oriented mindset entails and how it can help you strengthen…
Are CISOs of Security Vendors in Your Community?
Organizing events that gather cybersecurity leaders requires significant effort and sponsorships. Unfortunately, some events and communities exclude CISOs who work for security vendors. This stance, though well-meaning, harms the industry and allows hidden conflicts of interest to go unchecked. Here’s why and how we can address this issue to improve such events and the community…
How to Write Good Incident Response Reports
Creating an informative and readable report is among the many challenges of responding to cybersecurity incidents. A good report not only answers its reader’s questions but also instills confidence in the response and enables the organization to learn from the incident. This blog highlights my advice on writing such incident reports. It’s based on the…
My Story So Far and Your Own Career Journey
Wherever you are in your professional journey, it helps to peek into another’s career story to learn from their approach, mistakes, and triumphs. In the following three videos, I reflect on my career so far to share my story, hoping that others in the industry will find it useful. Perhaps you’ll glean from these short…
3 Opportunities for Cybersecurity Leaders Who Choose to Stay
Several years into your role as a security leader at a company, you’ll reach a point when you ask yourself, “What’s next for me?” This article discusses three ways to proceed if you choose to stay at your current organization. (It was co-authored by Yael Nagler and Lenny Zeltser.) At this point in your CISO tenure, you…
Distribute Cybersecurity Tasks with Diffusion of Responsibility in Mind
The notion that security is everyone’s responsibility in computer systems dates back to at least the early 1980s when it was included in a US Navy training manual and hearings in the US House of Representatives. Behind the pithy slogan is the idea that every person in the organization contributes to its security program. Even…
How Security Can Better Support Software Engineering Teams
As the CISO at a tech company, my responsibilities include empowering our software engineering teams to maintain a strong security posture of our products. While everyone agrees that security is important, the different incentives of security and engineering teams can make it harder to collaborate. Here’s some advice on weaving security into the software development…
A Report Template for Incident Response
Preparing for cybersecurity and data privacy incidents involves creating checklists and documented plans to enable the response team to do their best during the incident. Preparation also includes creating a template that the team can use as the basis for the incident report, which is critical to ensuring that the incident is handled well. We…
Security Leaders Can Lower Expenses While Reducing Risk
As companies seek to optimize operations and constrain expenses, cybersecurity leaders worry about funding the projects we consider essential. Fortunately, in such an economic climate, we can achieve an outcome that benefits the organization from cybersecurity as well as financial perspectives. Here’s how. Start by critically reviewing how you’ll spend the security funds; this involves…