Cyber resilience: do boards fall short?

Cybersecurity and governance, risk and compliance are converging, driven by developments in technology, and a shared threat. But how do organisations handle the differences between GRC functions, with a background in audit, and cybersecurity with its more technical outlook? Why is automation increasingly important in keeping enterprises secure and compliant? And how do business leaders move audit and compliance from systems of record to a source of intelligence, and protect the organisation from an ever wider range of risks? Our guest is Richard Marcus, CISO at Optro, formerly the Audit Board.

Businesses are capturing, and storing, ever larger volumes of data. These data sources are vital for decision making, and of course for AI. But they can pose security risks. Data can be corrupt, contain malware, or even just be wrong. And as enterprises connect more systems to shared data -- in data warehouses or datalakes -- any threat can quickly spread right across the business. But, as our guest for this episide argues, often security isn’t even in the room when it comes to discussions about data management. Even so, security expertise is vital, if we are to ensure that new data projects do not create new vulnerabilities, epecially in a data driven enterprise. Our guest is is Danielle Kinsella, senior direct at Gigamon. Interview by Stephen Pritchard.  

In the face of growing cyber threats, the obvious step is to ask for more budget. But does spending more on security tools always improve an organisation’s defences? Are there more effective ways for cybersecurity teams to marshal their resources? This is where security frameworks come in. Standards such as TOGAF, Open FAIR, zero trust architecture and an upcoming framework on security roles from the Open Group are all vital tools to help CISOs define what they need to defend, and how. Our guest is John Lindford, Forum Director of The Open Group’s Security Portfolio.  

A recent survey suggests that, in the UK at least, boards overestimate their organisations' ability to withstand a cyber attack. And they overstate their ability to recover from an incident, and restore even to minimum viable operations. What does that mean for security, and does it increase risk? And will pressure, from regulators, law makers, and even shareholders and investors, force boards to take cyber resilience more seriously, and view it at least on par with business continuity? Our guests are Paul Cragg, CTO at NormCyber, and  Richard Beeston, Chief Operating Officer at Digital Space.

Recent incidents show the risks AI can pose to cybersecurity. At the same time, the security industry is putting a lot of store on AI as a way to bolster defences. So is AI a threat, or an answer to our security challenges? As the CEO of a business supplying security services to global organisations, our guest is well placed to discuss how CISOs view the risks, and benefits of artificial intelligence. And, as Raluca Saceanu, CEO of Smarttech247 puts it, there are those who are "all in" on AI, and those who view it with distrust. Interview by Stephen Pritchard.

Physical and cyber security are separate disciplines. But are they converging, and what can they learn from each other? Do changes in the threat landscape, from geopolitics to AI, mean physical and cyber teams need to work more closely together? And can a more joined-up approach to security improve operational resilience? Our guest is Cohesity's James Blake.

Is shadow AI today as great a risk as shadow IT was over the last decade? And have we learned the security lessons from previous IT transformations, including BYOD and the cloud? In this episode, we discuss why unauthorised and uncontrolled AI tools pose growing threats to both security and data confidentiality. And we look at how agentic AI brings a whole new set of risks, as systems create their own connections without human oversight. How can cybersecurity leaders ensure the safe development of AI, without creating a whole new attack surface? Our guest is Simon Gooch, field CIO at Saviynt. Previously a director of security at Accenture, Simon has more than 25 years direct experience of cybersecurity and governance. Interview by Stephen Pritchard.

According to the NCSC, there were over 200 attacks against UK critical national infrastructure last year. Some three quarters of these are thought to be linked to state actors. On the surface, that number of attacks might seem small. But their impact could be significant. Attacks against power, water and transport can quickly bring the country to a halt. And no advanced economy can operate for long without banking and telecoms services. And the cyber risks faced by CNI operators are worsening, not least because of AI. As our guest explains, AI doesn't have to be smarter. It's enough that it's fast, works at scale, and doesn't need to take a break. This, in turn, demands a different response from cyber defenders, including their own sovereign AI capabilities. Our guest is Rob Demain, founder and CEO at e2e-assure.

In this episode, we hear how security researchers and law enforcement worked together to disrupt Tycoon 2FA, a phishing as a service group. How did they discover, and then counter the group's activities? And what were the results? Our guest is Robert McArdle, director of forward threat research at TrendAI.

In this episode we welcome back the Cyber Agony Aunts, Amelia Hewitt and Rebecca Taylor. As the UK's Cybersecurity and Resilience Bill works its way through Parliament, has the debate about cyber resilience changed? What does a resilient organisation look like? And above all, how do we create one, without putting cybersecurity professionals under extreme pressure? As Amelia and Rebecca explain in their second book, Resilient You, we need to take control of our own resilience and wellbeing, even as we try to build those more robust operations.