Tag Archive for: Ray Rothrock

Seven Cybersecurity Lessons the Coronavirus Can Teach the Armed Forces (and Us All)

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Cyber Defense Review | May 21, 2021

If we have learned anything from the COVID-19 pandemic, it is that very bad things can happen very quickly, especially if we are not sufficiently prepared. It turns out that everything we have been told about the pandemic is also relevant for cybersecurity; as such, the pandemic is an exceptional learning tool for cyber professionals.

Cyberattacks are like biological viruses in several ways: they can spread incredibly fast, their consequences can wreak huge economic damage, and the destruction they cause can be very difficult from which to recover. Viruses spread through human social networks and cyber-attacks exploit our online networks of trust.

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Prioritizing risk in M&A due diligence in the COVID-19 era, and beyond

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Cybersecurity Drive | March 22, 2021

The recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic had a chilling effect on economic activity, as companies determined next steps. For some, the solution to weather the contraction was to limit spending, while others accelerated innovation and technology adoption.

The good news is that there is nowhere to go but up. There is likely to be significant pent up demand in the coming year for M&As. In fact, a global survey of 250 senior M&A executives conducted by law firm White & Case LLP found dealmakers are optimistic about the outlook for M&A activity, with three-quarters saying they expect M&A activity to increase in their region in the coming year.

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4 tips for aligning security with business objectives

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TechTarget | February 11, 2021

Today’s most effective CISOs develop cybersecurity strategies that fit their organizations’ risk appetites and support business growth. Learn how they do it….

Of course, to successfully align cybersecurity initiatives with business goals, CISOs need buy-in from and access to their CEOs and boards of directors, added Ray Rothrock, executive chairman of the board at cyber-risk modeling company RedSeal. Such support is far from a given. A 2018 survey by PwC found just 40% of CISOs reported directly to CEOs and only 27% to their boards of directors.

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The Pandemic Is a Catalyst for Better Board Discussions About Cybersecurity

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NACD Directorship | January/February 2021

By Mike Lloyd and Ray Rothrock

Cybersecurity is a universal challenge because there is an appreciable
part of every modern organization’s business that is digital
and therefore vulnerable to cyberattack. And this really is a war,
albeit with blurred front lines and unclear rules of engagement.
But the perennial challenge for directors is to clear away the fog.
The cyber landscape is exceptionally difficult because it is constantly
shifting—and winning depends on those who can best act
on imperfect information.

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7 SecOps roles and responsibilities for the modern enterprise

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SearchSecurity | December 7, 2020

Security operations, or SecOps, has had a direct, if increasingly challenging, mandate since the dawn of enterprise networking: detect, respond to, predict and prevent cyberattacks. But SecOps roles and responsibilities are shifting to accommodate growing interest in an offensive, rather than defensive, approach to cybersecurity. By staying ahead of threats and anticipating bad actors’ next moves, security leaders aim to thwart attacks before they happen.

Podcast | Cybersecurity in the Pandemic: How Can We Protect Ourselves?

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Supply Chain Brain | July 31, 2020

Far from slowing down cyber thieves, the coronavirus pandemic presents them with ever greater opportunities to hack into networks. You don’t have to be a cynic to expect cyber thieves to take advantage of a global health crisis. From their perspective, the time is ideal. In the confusion surrounding the lockdown, companies might indeed be letting down their guard. And employees working from home present a whole new range of possible network vulnerabilities.

On this episode, we learn about the heightened risk of cyber crime from an expert in the field: Ray Rothrock, executive chairman of RedSeal, a cyber terrain mapping company. He offers valuable advice on shoring up networks in this critical time, and explains what it means to operate in a “zero trust” environment.

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COVID-19 + Cybersecurity: Parallels and Lessons from a Pandemic

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Nuclear Threat Initiative |  June 17, 2020

The following is a conversation between Dr. Mike Lloyd, an epidemiologist-turned-Chief Technology Officer of RedSeal, and Ray Rothrock, member of the NTI Board of Directors and its Science and Technology Advisory Group, and author of “Digital Resilience: Is Your Company Ready for the Next Cyber Threat.”

Ray: Mike, you’re a rare guy: you have both a PhD in epidemic modeling, and a long career in cybersecurity. Now both of your careers are relevant. Does this pandemic have anything to teach cybersecurity and technology?

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The new cybersecurity resilience

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SC Magazine | May 1, 2020

Is your cybersecurity posture resilient enough to survive a pandemic? You’re about to find out.

The quick spread of COVID-19 has lent urgency to that mission and underscored the importance of building resilience. “Cyber, or digital resilience should be considered essential – like water, gas, and telephone/internet. Maintaining essential services that keep the lights on, keep people operating in their roles, and keep the digital world safe from attack is critical,” says RedSeal CEO Ray Rothrock, who penned the book Digital Resilience: Is Your Company Ready for the Next Cyber Threat?

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To Recover and Rebuild, Look to Technology

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As I write this, our society is amid an economic collapse and social closure the likes of which no one in our lifetime has ever seen. People everywhere are trying to create some kind of certainty so that they can plan their future, get back to their “day job” and feel safe while resuming a normal, active life. While the recovery process will be long and the challenges many, when we emerge on the other side it’ll be our uniquely American characteristics which help us triumph.

A recent op-ed in USA Today perfectly summarized the opportunity this pandemic presents: In recovering and rebuilding, every American should contribute and can do so by utilizing our most unique quality: ingenuity. While many characteristics define us as a nation, ingenuity is the engine which drives our success.

As each industry sector finds ways to contribute, the technology sector has its own unique role to play. Among the many advancements that have proved essential during this time, technology has allowed for productive work away from an office and schooling at a distance, automation has reduced in person interactions and supercomputing has helped model the spread of the disease. It is important that while we adopt new technologies and further embed others ever deeper into our daily lives, we consider how to secure those devices and the networks on which they function. As we apply techniques in the physical world to keep us healthy – handwashing, social distancing – we must also implement cyber hygiene principles to keep our networks healthy.

Implementing cyber hygiene means your organization is less likely to battle common cybersecurity issues. Utilizing a cyber terrain modeling tool like RedSeal as part of regular cyber hygiene practices means executives and business leaders can automatically view and monitor their network and identify potential problems before they manifest. This allows organizations to make better decisions about where to allocate budget and funding and to put greater focus on their primary goals.

Technology can both contribute to solutions and help guard against the challenges we face. Practicing good cyber hygiene keeps businesses healthy so executives and business leaders can focus on what really matters—producing original and inventive ways to improve our society and creating a future we all want to live in.

Ray Rothrock: The Fortune Teller

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Spirit Magazine, Texas A&M Foundation | Spring 2020

Ray Rothrock ’77 uses his proven penchant for predicting the future to bolster resilience against cyberattacks and advocate for a nuclear solution to the planet’s energy crisis.

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