Welcome to the latest episode of the Zero Hour Podcast and I’m your host Karl Sharman. Today we are joined by Allan Alford. Allan is Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Mitel, previously CISO at Forcepoint and CISO at Polycom.  With 30 years’ experience in IT and Engineering, Alford has a long history with product security as well, having served as Pearson’s Product Information Security Officer (PISO), and as Sr. Director of Product Security at Polycom.

KEY MINUTES

2:20 - Things are not stable for the adults

3:30 - Attending Harvard while at high school

6:55 - Working to pay for your education

8:20 - What cybersecurity means?

9:50 - Making the transition from IT to Cyber

10:58 - Making the transition from Product Security to CISO

12:25 - Picking the right and best products

14:38 - Cloud Security Transformation

16:04 - Being in the role of the CISO

16:53 - The first 90 days in being a new CISO

19:57 - Communicating with board & C-Suite

22:01 - Using metrics to deliver your budget

24:10 - Moving away from security being seen as a cost centre

26:30 - People first approach

29:25 - Choosing Mitel

30:55 - Branding Mitel in the cybersecurity industry

32:00 - Constantly learning

34:28 - Standing out as a vendor

38:20 - Out of your comfort zone

39:50 - Advice for individuals starting in the industry

Three key takeaways

- Educate and train your team

- Never stay still, keep evolving

- Find the business need first

You can find Allan at:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allanalford/

Website: https://allanalford.com/about

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/defense-in-depth/id1450197741

Follow us:

Twitter: @zero_hourpod

Instagram: @zerohourexperience

Website: www.beechermadden.com

This podcast is sponsored by:

BeecherMadden - www.beechermadden.com

Cyber Security Professionals - www.cybersecurity-professionals.com