Disruption Is Your Tool

There's a reason they call some technologies, but not all of them, disruptive. 

A disruptive technology "Changes the way society behaves, thinks, or interacts." Sometimes the technology is as 'low tech' as the Erie Canal (pictured above) which transformed the United States by created new markets for importers and exporters, shuttering farms in Europe, opening doors for immigrants, and creating social mobility on a previously unseen scale. Sometimes it's something as routine as plastics. Next it will be quantum computing. 

A constant in disruption is people adapting the new technology into their lives for their own purposes. Good current examples include artificial intelligence (AI), internet of things (IoT), cloud-based computing, and maybe blockchain. In each case there is a strong need for cybersecurity that anticipates, adapts, and enables people using tech.

And that's the problem.

People are always capable of disrupting the technology as much as the technology has the potential to disrupt organizations or societies using the technology. The "good" news is that you will never run out of challenges as a cybersecurity professional because the cycle of disruption will continue to evolve; and, that's also the "bad" news.

How do you build and maintain an integral cybersecurity platform when its constituent parts are constantly undergoing disruption? Because our focus is behavior, let's re-frame that question: How do you build and maintain your career as a cybersecurity professional when your areas of expertise are constantly undergoing disruption?

The constants in this equation are the curiosity of the people using the systems your secure and the motivations you have to rise to the challenges of cybersecurity. Sure, there are people -- both insiders and external agents -- who will attempt to misuse the system for criminal or counterproductive goals. And yes, there is no end to the demands you will face to get the security/usability balance right and keep improving your game.

Your challenge as a CISO or technologist is to continue to find your motivation. A lot of days it's going to be absent, or it's a Sisyphean slog where you start all over again at the baseline. For some people just like you it's about winning the day -- "no one hacked my system today," for example. Or it's about creating a system that enables customers to use your products in ways that seemed edgy before you made it easy & secure.

If you create a platform that is effective and easy to use, you have disrupted the attack vectors of people working against you.

Think of it as disrupting the forces of disruption. That's a pretty cool motivation.

Ask us how you can tune out the noise and focus on building the platform you need now and into the future.