Key Learnings
Real World Impact on Cybersecurity Landscape
- Working to catch/end ransomware
- Preventing hackers from getting sensitive information
- Find sensitive or harmful data and get rid of it
- Protect others, including civilians
- Help other people
- Example: Disgruntled senior director was discovered to be stealing company data, emailing proprietary data to competitiors
- Important: Stay curious! Always question the intent and actions of others when you have a reason to do so
- Fight both external and internal threats
Biggest Threats Today
- Ransomware
- Costs $10s of Bs, can threaten businesses
- Foreign adversary threats (China, etc.)
- IPs can get stolen and ruin companies, people’s lives
- AI as cyber weapons
- Educate others on the attack power of AI tools, stay aware
- 0 day: vulnerability with no patch for it yet
- Company has a bug, hacker takes advantage of vulnerability, pushes through malicious update to all users
- Phishing attempts
- Humans can be our weakest link
- Can make companies very vulnerable, especially when working with serious or vulnerable clients
The Cybersecurity Landscape: How to Stay Safe
- Use a hacker’s mentality to keep yourself protected from vulnerabilities
- Test systems with these things in mind
- Ensure that you’re fully protected
- Look for backdoors, keep an eye out
- Have legal boundaries (code of conduct)
- Have recurring checks
- Have integrity
- It is your responsibility to keep data secure
How to get started career-wise
- Get strong background/foundation in IT before jumping into cyber background
- Develop social skills, be likeable, passionate, organized, curious
- Develop skills in personal time
- Do hackathons
- Find mentors
- Build a network
Cybersecurity in different sectors
- Convince “civilians” how important cybersecurity infrastructure is to the company
- Learn non-technical jargon to be able to communicate with others and impart how important cybersecurity can be
- Do outreach in order to educate people on what counts as access control, what is and isn’t normal to be shared with others
- Learn how to accomplish things with limited staff
- No tool can fully replace human expertise
Future of Cybersecurity
- More specialization, especially for different sectors with more chance for human risk
- Healthcare IT vs business IT
- keep in mind the people that are affected by cyber risks (ex, bluetooth pacemaker that can be hacked)
- More people who need expertise in AI
- People who can be skilled at coding, know AI
- Next 5-10 years, more hiring in cybersecurity
How to prepare for constantly evolving market
- Stay up to date
- Be curious
- Stay aware of what others are doing with new innovations
- Get a network of people who are good
- Will teach you things, get you jobs, be allies with you, be a people person, learn from others
- Must be passionate
- Must understand newest way to do things from 5-10 years ago
- Work together with communities to solve problems faster
Personal Takeaways
I went into this panel not knowing much about the field of cybersecurity, besides general common knowledge. After coming out of this panel, I have discovered that there are many unique paths to cybersecurity. As a senior, this could potentially impact my future career aspirations, as I know now that I could go into cybersecurity even from an unsuspecting field. While I have always known that cyber security is vital to the survival of any person or business, I now understand the different aspects that go into protecting cyberspace and have more respect for the profession.
Proof of Attendance
