InfoSec Pros On the Road: Brenda Bernal, VP, Product Security and Compliance at Digicert

Since the initial release of ISO 27001, the threat actor economy has diversified substantially, with both criminal groups and nation states developing and selling offensive cyber products and cyber surveillance solutions. In response, cybersecurity experts have documented and developed best practices and actionable guidance for organizations to effectively manage their cybersecurity risks. ISO 27001:2022 provides a risk-based reference set of information security, cybersecurity, and privacy controls that have been adopted by modern organizations as part of deploying cloud technologies and addressing data protection requirements driven by GDPR.

“Out of all the CISO’s and security leaders I’ve spoken with over the last three months, the main theme of 2023 is going to be ‘the year of risk,’ and a lot of that risk we’re talking about at this level is regulatory,” said Kayne McGladrey, Field CISO at Hyperproof.

This was the 7th series of WebForum which was in line with this year’s International CyberSecurity Awareness Month theme “See you in cyber – #becybersmart” held on 28th October 2022.

“Viruses are most commonly spread through phishing, which is a technique of sending emails designed to prey on a person’s emotions to make them click a link or open a malicious attachment,” says Kayne McGladrey IEEE member and director of security and IT for Pensar Development. “Besides running up-to-date commercial antivirus software, the easiest way to avoid viruses is to pause before acting on messages. Get a cup of coffee, or at least get up and stretch, before deciding if the email is trying to manipulate your emotions through a sense of authority (someone impersonating your boss or a police officer), a sense of urgency (because of an artificial time constraint), or scarcity (supplies are limited, act now).” These are the same psychological techniques used by con artists since time immemorial, with the only difference being that con artists had to con one person at a time. “With email, social media, and text messages, threat actors can con thousands of people. No antivirus software is perfect, but pausing before acting can stop most of today’s viruses.”