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Security / November 5, 2017

Turn Cybersecurity Awareness into a Priority. First Step, Collaborate and Take Action.

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM) made clear that cybersecurity is complex and challenging, but perhaps even more so, that it’s a “shared responsibility” and we all – individuals, businesses, governments – have our parts to play in making the online world a safer place.

Over the past several weeks and in keeping with this NCSAM theme, the Gigamon team came together to offer some practical security advice.

NCSAM Week 1. In my blog “Visibility Is Key to Security and to Outsmarting the Smartest Malware,” I compare network security tools to overloaded toll booths on a highway. Not only can they not keep up with increasing traffic, but multiple sets of tools are checking the same traffic for different things and creating countless alerts of which only a fraction need attention. With the right visibility into network traffic, however, it is possible to more quickly and precisely identify real issues like malware.

NCSAM Week 2. Our Distinguished Sales Engineer Ian Farquhar presents “Cybersecurity in the Workplace: Adapt or Go the Way of the Dodo.” Adaptation, Ian says, is one of the fundamental drivers of evolutionary change – and survival – and today, as cyber threats continue to evolve, so too must we. We can’t accept a set-it-and-forget-it cybersecurity culture. In fact, as an information security (InfoSec) industry, we have no option but to adapt and to learn how to use our limited resources – security tools and staff – more wisely. A piece of this adaptation includes automation. Anything that can be automated should be automated.

NCSAM Week 3. Our CTO Shehzad Merchant tells us “Why We Need to Think Differently about IoT Security.” We live in a world where everything is becoming connected and yet, where security is rarely a priority – especially for internet of things (IoT) device manufacturers whose consumers are most concerned about functionality and price, much less so about security. Unfortunately, it’s one thing to deal with attacks that cause loss of information, data and privacy – that’s the information technology (IT) world. It’s another thing entirely when lack of device security could result in harm to humans. A rethink seems more than in order.

NCSAM Week 4. Our CISO Simon Gibson shares his top reasons to consider a career in cybersecurity in “Why I Chose a Career in Cybersecurity: Choice, Challenge and the Chance to Play Paladin.” In his experience, InfoSec is where you can work on diverse projects – build, test or break into stuff – to help people work better and safer. It’s also where you’re guaranteed an adversary to defend against. Someone will always be trying to break, subvert or attack IT and therefore, the need for skilled cybersecurity professionals is not going away.

NCSAM Week 5. Our Vice President of Products Ananda Rajagopal tells us why “Protecting Critical Infrastructure Is … Well … Critical.” Much like Shehzad said during Week 3, protecting critical infrastructure is a whole different ballgame than protecting data center assets. We are more vulnerable than ever before to real, physical tragedy that could result from online attacks, and it should be a no-brainer that every country needs to take special steps – including understanding the relationship between security and visibility – to safeguard critical infrastructure.

Without security, we may not have anything else. No cool websites, no cool apps and potentially no cooling and heating, or energy or many other critical infrastructure services that are part of our daily lives.

As part of our shared responsibility, we must make security priority number one.

To learn more about ways to optimize your security posture, download the complete “Security Inside Out” e-book, and don’t miss joining our webinar “Hear from Our CISO: How to Use a Risk Registry to Track Risk and Protect Assets.”


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