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In The Boardroom With...

 

Mr. Dov Yoran

Sr. Director, Strategy & Business Development

Security Business Group 

Cisco


SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thank you for joining us today, Dov. Before discussing Cisco’s Security Business Group and the upcoming Cyber Investing Summit in greater detail, please tell us about your background.

Dov Yoran: Hi there, it’s good to meet you. I’ve been involved in the cyber space for my entire career.  At Cisco, I lead Strategy and Business Development for the Security Business Group. This team focuses technology integrations & ecosystems, OEM, licensing, and strategic partner relationships across the security portfolio. So, everything from IBM and Apple to over 150 other security vendors.

I came to Cisco as part of the ThreatGRID acquisition in June of 2014. I was co-founder and CEO of ThreatGRID, the first unified malware analysis and threat intelligence solution that helps organizations defend against advanced cyber attacks. Prior to that, I was a co-founder and partner at MetroSITE Group, an advisory services firm to both emerging security companies and large enterprises. Previously, I held several leadership roles at Solutionary (now NTT), Symantec, Riptech one of the pioneering Managed Security Services Providers (acquired by Symantec) and Accenture. I was also a Founding Member of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), contributing to the first several publications.

SecuritySolutionsWatch: We understand that you participated at the recent Cyber Investing Summit in New York City. May we have an overview of the key topics that were discussed?

Dov Yoran: It was a delightful conversation with participation from a deep bench of experienced cybersecurity investors. We covered a lot of ground including topics such as attracting the right types of investors for your business and how to scale effectively. We had a healthy debate about corporate structure and culture. We deliberated whether a startup can be effective with a distributed team or if employees must be co-located. We also examined the impact of location on the ability to attract investment, talent and overall viability. There were some strong opinions across the spectrum here. We discussed areas of investment opportunity and touched on some that might be overcapitalized – Endpoint and Deception technologies were two that fell into the latter category. A clear takeaway was that there is no single formula for success. Investors and innovators alike must approach each opportunity thoughtfully and with cautious optimism.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: We’re all familiar with the headlines about Equifax, Uber and Orbitz and more recently the ransomware attack on the city of Atlanta plus reports of tainted data in blockchain transactions . What is your perspective, please, regarding best practices that should be followed by the public and private sector in this environment?

Dov Yoran: There is no silver bullet. A committed attacker will always find a way. Your best defense is a balance of both protection and detection. When bad things do inevitably happen, your detection capabilities will enable you to find the threat quickly and mitigate the damage. Our focus in Cisco Security is to automate as much of this process are possible for organizations so that once a new threat is identified, it is automatically blocked across not only the enterprise, but also the entire Cisco user-base. In doing so, we multiply the collective wisdom of our customers, partners, and our deep bench of talented threat researchers.

Regarding Bitcoin and tainted data, we have to remember that there will always be unexpected issues with technology, especially as they are in the process of gaining widespread adoption. Business decision makers must partner with the CIO and CISO to weigh the potential benefits of early adoption vs the risk. Often times you will find that if you understand the risks upfront, they can be managed relatively easily.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Any new solutions at Cisco’s Security Business Group that you would like to mention?

Dov Yoran: One trend we are seeing in the marketplace today is that enterprises are looking to hand over the management of their security needs to professional service providers. This is true in small as well as very large enterprises. Cisco has invested significantly in product and business model innovation to meet the needs of these service providers as they try to capture this immense growth opportunity.

Recently we announced the launch of new versions of our Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) for Endpoints and Umbrella internet security products specifically designed for delivery by Managed Security Services Providers (MSSPs). Stay tuned for more in the coming months.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: May we ask you, Dov…what does your crystal ball reveal regarding cybersecurity headlines in the coming year? 

Dov Yoran: I think certainly we are not done seeing the misuse of social media for the manipulation of public sentiment. More and more we will see these channels used to disrupt the natural and unbiased flow of information between organizations, government, and the people.

We will need to be more vigilant than ever in guarding our personal liberties. As individuals, we can help by maintaining control over our online accounts. This starts with strong passwords that are not reused. It’s that simple. That’s what each and every one of us can do to protect ourselves and each other.

SecuritySolutionsWatch.com: Thanks again for joining us today, Dov.



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