Cybersecurity Conventions 3

Can we make the world both safer and better for our children, but how can we do this with cybersecurity? This is where the direction, focus and purpose came in. For every speaker at the Official Cybersecurity Summit they spoke about how a tool or technique could protect our systems but also about how in doing so we are protecting real world assets that run our country. I never thought of it this way. I suppose coming from the law enforcement/physical security environment I tried to use that as a hook for IT security job interviews but in the places I worked it never became more clear that this was necessary.

Bomb smelting factories, HR contractors for the Pentagon, industrial machine part factories for fighter jets, agriculture chemical processing plants these companies move, protect and feed our country. This job is so important. Cybersecurity is a duty to protect, not just a 9-5.

Listening the speakers they talk about AI threats, AI usages, and how we identity management in relation to AI. Some of it was clearly a plug for a tool but it was all worth listening to.

Larry Whiteside Jr. and Richard Dean made the biggest impacts on me. Larry Whiteside Jr. spoke about the dangers and benefit of being a CISO. He asked who wants to be one. Which honestly and a path that I never considered would be open to me. But I think if I continue to grow that could be open to me. Learning about good cybersecurity leadership and learning my craft could help me to be a better leader. Richard Dean spoke about the AI threat in cybersecurity. Some was to consider the uses of AI, but also to ask the questions before implementation, "Just because can add AI, should we add AI?" and also, "What problems could arise from using AI, and do we have defenses for that?"

These questions were thought provoking, but also helped me to understand my purpose and direction better. Also there were opportunity for earning Continuing Education Units for certs, and some opportunities for winning some cool swag (cybersecurity education, headset, glasses, phone, watches).

Still, it the next cybersecurity convention helped me to see things even better.

Read next blog to continue.