“Never before has there been a time when our job was so important as it is now.”
These were the words of Jane Frankland, cybersecurity speaker, writer and entrepreneur, speaking in the opening session of CLOUDSEC 2017 in central London today.
Frankland said that business is transforming, the world is becoming much more connected and technology is rapidly advancing with speed and agility becoming the new currency.
“Just think about what we [security pros] do. We secure the world. We protect it, and we secure our future. We ensure the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information. We protect people, businesses and countries from cybercrime, criminals and terrorists.
“Just acknowledge for one second the importance of the job you do, because it’s not very often that we do that. Imagine what the world would look like without us”, Frankland added.
Every day security professionals wake up to encounter a new threat actor without a face, she said, and everyday we’re reminded just how smart and creative (even collaborative) cyber-criminals are, and how they can operate beyond any boundaries, laws or regulations.
“Every day we are definitely outnumbered and outgunned,” Frankland admitted, “but every day we wake up and show up to our jobs and we are hopeful and we are optimistic, because we know that we are not defeated. We know that by adapting and changing, and learning how to give to gain rather than to lose; to think more creatively; to collaborate and communicate better, we actually have a chance.”
It’s our job to be able to detect attacks, respond to them and recover from them in as timely a manner as possible with a minimum impact to the business, Frankland concluded. “It’s also our job to collaborate with key stakeholders and make them understand why this matters to them and not just to us.”