Jon Oltsik
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Jon Oltsik
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Security data growth drives SOAPA
Happy new year, cybersecurity community! I hope you are well rested; it’s bound to be an eventful year.Way back when at the end of November 2016, I wrote a blog post about an evolutionary trend I see happening around cybersecurity analytics and operations technology. Historically, large enterprises have relied on SIEM products to anchor their security operations centers (SOCs). This will continue, but I see SIEM becoming part of a more global cybersecurity software architecture called SOAPA (security operations and analytics platform architecture). To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Looking Back to Look Forward on Cybersecurity
By now, everyone in our industry has provided 2017 cybersecurity predictions and I’m no exception. I participated in a 2017 infosec forecast webcast with industry guru Bruce Schneier, and ESG also published a video where I exchanged cybersecurity prophecies with my colleague Doug Cahill (note: I am an ESG employee).Yup, prognosticating about the future of cybersecurity has become a mainstream activity, but rather than simply guess at what will happen next year, I think it is useful to review what actually happened over the past few years and extrapolate from there.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Looking Back to Look Forward on Cybersecurity
By now, everyone in our industry has provided 2017 cybersecurity predictions and I’m no exception. I participated in a 2017 infosec forecast webcast with industry guru Bruce Schneier, and ESG also published a video where I exchanged cybersecurity prophecies with my colleague Doug Cahill (note: I am an ESG employee).Yup, prognosticating about the future of cybersecurity has become a mainstream activity, but rather than simply guess at what will happen next year, I think it is useful to review what actually happened over the past few years and extrapolate from there.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Looking back to look forward on cybersecurity
By now, everyone in our industry has provided 2017 cybersecurity predictions, and I’m no exception. I participated in a 2017 infosec forecast webcast with industry guru Bruce Schneier, and ESG also published a video where I exchanged cybersecurity prophecies with my colleague Doug Cahill.Yup, prognosticating about the future of cybersecurity has become a mainstream activity. But rather than simply guess at what will happen next year, I think it is useful to review what actually happened over the past few years and extrapolate from there.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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High Demand Cybersecurity Skills in 2017
As I’ve written many times, the cybersecurity skills shortage is the biggest cybersecurity issue we face today. Not only are there too few bodies to fill the cybersecurity jobs, but a recent series of research reports from ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) indicates that many currently employed cybersecurity professionals are overworked, not managing their careers proactively, and not receiving the proper amount of training to stay ahead of increasingly dangerous threats. Yikes!So, the skills deficit is clear but which types of cybersecurity skills are in the highest demand? In the recently published ESG/ISSA research report title, Through the Eyes of Cybersecurity Professionals, 371 cybersecurity professionals were asked to identify areas where the organizations they worked for had the biggest skills gaps. The results are as follows:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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High-demand cybersecurity skills in 2017
As I’ve written many times, the cybersecurity skills shortage is the biggest cybersecurity issue we face today. Not only are there too few bodies to fill the cybersecurity jobs, but a recent series of research reports from ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) indicates that many currently employed cybersecurity professionals are overworked, not managing their careers proactively, and not receiving the proper amount of training to stay ahead of increasingly dangerous threats. Yikes!So, the skills deficit is clear, but which types of cybersecurity skills are in the highest demand? In the recently published ESG/ISSA research report, Through the Eyes of Cybersecurity Professionals, 371 cybersecurity professionals were asked to identify areas where the organizations they worked for had the biggest skills gaps. The results are as follows:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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New Research Reveals Cybersecurity Skills Shortage Impact
When it comes to the cybersecurity skills shortage, I am somewhat of a “Chicken Little” as I’ve been screaming about this issue for the last 5 years or so. As an example, ESG research conducted in early 2016 indicated that 46% of organizations indicate that they have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills today (note: I am an ESG employee).So, ESG and other researchers have indicated that there aren’t enough infosec bodies to go around but what about those that have jobs? How is the cybersecurity skills shortage affecting them and the organizations they work for?Earlier this week, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published the second report in a two-part research report series investigating these issues. This new report titled, Through the Eyes of Cyber Security Professionals, uncovers a lot more about just how deep the cybersecurity skills shortage cuts. For example:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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New Research Reveals Cybersecurity Skills Shortage Impact
When it comes to the cybersecurity skills shortage, I am somewhat of a “Chicken Little” as I’ve been screaming about this issue for the last 5 years or so. As an example, ESG research conducted in early 2016 indicated that 46% of organizations indicate that they have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills today (note: I am an ESG employee).So, ESG and other researchers have indicated that there aren’t enough infosec bodies to go around but what about those that have jobs? How is the cybersecurity skills shortage affecting them and the organizations they work for?Earlier this week, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published the second report in a two-part research report series investigating these issues. This new report titled, Through the Eyes of Cyber Security Professionals, uncovers a lot more about just how deep the cybersecurity skills shortage cuts. For example:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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New research reveals cybersecurity skills shortage impact
When it comes to the cybersecurity skills shortage, I am somewhat of a “Chicken Little,” as I’ve been screaming about this issue for the last five years or so. As an example, ESG research conducted in early 2016 indicated that 46% of organizations indicate that they have a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills today (note: I am an ESG employee). So, ESG and other researchers have indicated that there aren’t enough infosec bodies to go around but what about those that have jobs? How is the cybersecurity skills shortage affecting them and the organizations they work for? Earlier this week, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published the second report in a two-part research report series investigating these issues. This new report, titled "Through the Eyes of Cyber Security Professionals," uncovers a lot more about just how deep the cybersecurity skills shortage cuts. For example:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Why CISO Succeed and Why They Leave
Earlier this year, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published a research report titled, The State of Cyber Security Careers. The report was based on a survey of 437 cybersecurity professionals, the clear majority of which were ISSA members.Two-thirds of these cybersecurity professionals worked at an organization that employed a CSO or CISO. These individuals were then asked to identify the most important qualities that make a successful CISO. Here is a sample of the results: 50% of respondents said that strong leadership skills were most important 47% of respondents said that strong communication skills were most important 30% of respondents said that a strong relationship with business executives was most important 29% of respondents said that a strong relationship with the CIO and other members of the IT leadership team was most important 23% of respondents said that strong management skills were most important Based upon this list, it’s clear that successful CISOs need to be strong business people who can work with business and IT executives. This is an important consideration since many security professionals are deeply rooted in the technology rather than the business aspects of infosec.To Continue reading
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Why CISOs succeed and why they leave
Earlier this year, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published a research report titled, The State of Cyber Security Careers. The report was based on a survey of 437 cybersecurity professionals, the clear majority of which were ISSA members.Two-thirds of these cybersecurity professionals worked at an organization that employed a CSO or CISO. These individuals were then asked to identify the most important qualities that make a successful CISO. Here is a sample of the results: 50% of respondents said strong leadership skills were most important 47% of respondents said strong communication skills were most important 30% of respondents said a strong relationship with business executives was most important 29% of respondents said a strong relationship with the CIO and other members of the IT leadership team was most important 23% of respondents said strong management skills were most important Based upon this list, it’s clear that successful CISOs need to be strong business people who can work with business and IT executives. This is an important consideration since many security professionals are deeply rooted in the technology rather than the business aspects of infosec.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading
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Why CISOs succeed and why they leave
Earlier this year, ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) published a research report titled, The State of Cyber Security Careers. The report was based on a survey of 437 cybersecurity professionals, the clear majority of which were ISSA members.Two-thirds of these cybersecurity professionals worked at an organization that employed a CSO or CISO. These individuals were then asked to identify the most important qualities that make a successful CISO. Here is a sample of the results: 50% of respondents said strong leadership skills were most important 47% of respondents said strong communication skills were most important 30% of respondents said a strong relationship with business executives was most important 29% of respondents said a strong relationship with the CIO and other members of the IT leadership team was most important 23% of respondents said strong management skills were most important Based upon this list, it’s clear that successful CISOs need to be strong business people who can work with business and IT executives. This is an important consideration since many security professionals are deeply rooted in the technology rather than the business aspects of infosec.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please Continue reading
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Trump Cybersecurity Do’s and Don’ts (Part 2)
Given recent cybersecurity incidents like the Google Android data breach, the DDoS attack on Dyn and the data breach of the DNC, President-elect Donald Trump will find cybersecurity policy a top priority when he takes office in January.What should Mr. Trump do and what should he avoid? In my last blog, I presented some recommendations for the “do” column. Alternatively, here is a list of things President Trump should eschew in his administration’s cybersecurity agenda. The “don’t” column includes the following: Don’t obsess over cybersecurity intelligence sharing path. Public/private partnerships for cybersecurity cooperation have roots that go back to the Clinton administration’s original PDD-63 for critical infrastructure protection. In more recent times, congress struggled with CISPA then CISA as stand-alone bills before sneaking CISA into a federal spending bill in late 2015. Intelligence sharing is a good step but it’s been beaten to death and most large organizations have figured this out on their own. What’s needed is a concerted effort on best practices and sharing threat intelligence with small businesses. Yes, these things should happen but the feds should do so as part of CISA and not spin up Continue reading
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Trump Cybersecurity Do’s and Don’ts (Part 2)
Given recent cybersecurity incidents like the Google Android data breach, the DDoS attack on Dyn and the data breach of the DNC, President-elect Donald Trump will find cybersecurity policy a top priority when he takes office in January.What should Mr. Trump do and what should he avoid? In my last blog, I presented some recommendations for the “do” column. Alternatively, here is a list of things President Trump should eschew in his administration’s cybersecurity agenda. The “don’t” column includes the following: Don’t obsess over cybersecurity intelligence sharing path. Public/private partnerships for cybersecurity cooperation have roots that go back to the Clinton administration’s original PDD-63 for critical infrastructure protection. In more recent times, congress struggled with CISPA then CISA as stand-alone bills before sneaking CISA into a federal spending bill in late 2015. Intelligence sharing is a good step but it’s been beaten to death and most large organizations have figured this out on their own. What’s needed is a concerted effort on best practices and sharing threat intelligence with small businesses. Yes, these things should happen but the feds should do so as part of CISA and not spin up Continue reading
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Trump cybersecurity dos and don’ts (Part 2)
Given recent cybersecurity incidents such as the Google Android data breach, the DDoS attack on Dyn and the data breach of the DNC, President-elect Donald Trump will find cybersecurity policy a top priority when he takes office in January.What should Mr. Trump do and what should he avoid? In my last blog, I presented some recommendations for the “do” column. Alternatively, here is a list of things President Trump should eschew in his administration’s cybersecurity agenda: Don’t obsess over cybersecurity intelligence sharing path. Public/private partnerships for cybersecurity cooperation have roots that go back to the Clinton administration’s original PDD-63 for critical infrastructure protection. In more recent times, Congress struggled with CISPA then CISA as stand-alone bills before sneaking CISA into a federal spending bill in late 2015. Intelligence sharing is a good step but it’s been beaten to death and most large organizations have figured this out on their own. What’s needed is a concerted effort on best practices and sharing threat intelligence with small businesses. Yes, these things should happen, but the feds should do so as part of CISA and not spin up another distracting effort. Remember that threat intelligence sharing is a means Continue reading
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Trump cybersecurity dos and don’ts
President-elect Donald Trump ran a campaign focused on national security and making America great again through economic reform. Clearly both goals should include policies and programs to bolster the nation’s cybersecurity capabilities. This shouldn’t be an abstract concept to Mr. Trump after an election cycle featuring Russian hacks and WikiLeaks posts. To reinforce this priority, it is also worth noting that in a pre-election survey by ESG research, 49 percent of cybersecurity professionals said cybersecurity is a critical issue and should be the top national security priority for the next President, while 45 percent said cybersecurity is a very important issue and should be one of the top national security priorities for the next President. If those citizens on the front line see cybersecurity as a major priority, this should speak volumes to the President-elect. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trump cybersecurity dos and don’ts
President-elect Donald Trump ran a campaign focused on national security and making America great again through economic reform. Clearly both goals should include policies and programs to bolster the nation’s cybersecurity capabilities. This shouldn’t be an abstract concept to Mr. Trump after an election cycle featuring Russian hacks and WikiLeaks posts. To reinforce this priority, it is also worth noting that in a pre-election survey by ESG research, 49 percent of cybersecurity professionals said cybersecurity is a critical issue and should be the top national security priority for the next President, while 45 percent said cybersecurity is a very important issue and should be one of the top national security priorities for the next President. If those citizens on the front line see cybersecurity as a major priority, this should speak volumes to the President-elect. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Goodbye SIEM, Hello SOAPA
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems have been around for a dozen years or so. During that timeframe, SIEMs evolved from perimeter security event correlation tools, to GRC platforms, to security analytics systems. Early vendors like eSecurity, GuardedNet, Intellitactics, and NetForensics, are distant memories, today’s SIEM market is now dominated by a few leaders: LogRhythm, McAfee (aka: Nitro Security), HP (aka: ArcSight), IBM (aka: QRadar), and Splunk.Of course, there is a community of innovative upstarts that believe that SIEM is a legacy technology. They proclaim that log management and event correlation can’t keep up with the pace of cybersecurity today, thus you need new technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms, and neural networks to consume, process, and analyze security data in real-time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Goodbye SIEM, hello SOAPA
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems have been around for a dozen years or so. During that timeframe, SIEMs evolved from perimeter security event correlation tools to GRC platforms to security analytics systems. Early vendors such as eSecurity, GuardedNet, Intellitactics and NetForensics are distant memories. Today’s SIEM market is now dominated by a few leaders: LogRhythm, McAfee (aka: Nitro Security), HP (aka: ArcSight), IBM (aka: QRadar) and Splunk.Of course, there is a community of innovative upstarts that believe SIEM is a legacy technology. They proclaim that log management and event correlation can’t keep up with the pace of cybersecurity today, thus you need new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms and neural networks to consume, process, and analyze security data in real time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
0
Goodbye SIEM, hello SOAPA
Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) systems have been around for a dozen years or so. During that timeframe, SIEMs evolved from perimeter security event correlation tools to GRC platforms to security analytics systems. Early vendors such as eSecurity, GuardedNet, Intellitactics and NetForensics are distant memories. Today’s SIEM market is now dominated by a few leaders: LogRhythm, McAfee (aka: Nitro Security), HP (aka: ArcSight), IBM (aka: QRadar) and Splunk.Of course, there is a community of innovative upstarts that believe SIEM is a legacy technology. They proclaim that log management and event correlation can’t keep up with the pace of cybersecurity today, thus you need new technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning algorithms and neural networks to consume, process, and analyze security data in real time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here