SON OF A BREACH!

What’s rocking the insurance industry by creating the highest severity and most frequent losses for insurance carriers? One word: ransomware. Unlawful hackers take control of systems and try to force companies to pay huge amounts to unlock them. 

The average ransomware payout has grown to nearly $234,000 per event, according to the Coveware Quarterly Ransomware Report (Q3 2020). One cybercriminals gang extorted at least $75 million from private sector companies, local governments, and hospitals, a former NSA contractor determined in a months-long study released this month. 

Episode 6 of our SON OF A BREACH! podcast series dives deep into the world of cybersecurity insurance and the ramifications of ransomware. Senior Vice President and Principal at RHSB Insurance Doug Jones joins CRITICALSTART Chief Technology Officer Randy Watkins and brings his expertise in insurance risk management that began more than 30 years ago. Jones has focused on technology-oriented risk and cybersecurity insurance for more than 20 years.

The ransomware risk is real, so tune in for clear explanations and practical insights on: 

• The insurance implications of ransomware to your business, and why you shouldn’t assume your current cyber liability policy fully covers ransomware
• Which security measures and cybersecurity services can help your company more easily access insurance coverage and receive better rates
• What to emphasize to your insurance carrier if you’ve had a security-oriented loss
• What to look for in third-party warranties provided by cybersecurity product providers

Confused about risk and how to quantify? You’re not alone. CRITICALSTART CFO Andrew Kaufman brings clarity and insight to this episode of our SON OF A BREACH! podcast series, making dollars and sense of the finances behind security.

Risk will never be zero, especially in cybersecurity. Bad actors keep launching new threats, and attack vectors are always changing. With that in mind, Kaufman joins CRITICALSTART CTO Randy Watkins for a risk-focused discussion on: 

• How to quantify and manage risk so you can better prioritize your exposures and protect your organization
• The evolving threat landscape and its impact on “cost impact x probability” risk calculations
• How to decide when to accept, mitigate, or transfer risk
• The important CFO-CISO partnership in calculating the value of security and the cost of risk for your business

Kaufman’s accounting and financial leadership includes more than 16 years of experience in software, technology, and creating internal controls in financial reporting, particularly for high-growth technology firms. 

While women’s numbers in cybersecurity lag behind men, female leaders in our industry continue to pioneer the way forward. Episode 4 of our SON OF A BREACH! podcast series celebrates International Women’s Month with security visionary Didi Dayton, who joins host and CRITICALSTART Chief Technology Officer Randy Watkins for some timely insights into security growth investments and the expanding female influence in cybersecurity.  

Dayton is a partner at Wing Venture Capital, responsible for Customer Markets and Programs. She has held executive positions in sales, channels, and alliances for more than 20 years across multiple successful cybersecurity companies, including hyper-growth organizations such as Websense, FireEye, and Tanium. 

She successfully led sales and channel teams at companies such as Symantec, Arrow, and Cylance (now Blackberry) through 12 M&A and integration activities. Didi has received CRN’s prestigious Channel Chief award four years running, and she was named to the 50 Most Influential Channel Chiefs and the Power 100 Women of the Channel.  

Tune in for expert perspectives on: 

• Security investment strategy and trends 
• Which leadership traits are most important for sales and channel leaders 
• Mistakes CIOs and procurement teams need to avoid 
• Why organizations benefit from women’s style of decision-making 
• Dayton’s advice to women for success in leadership  

Dayton and Watkins also deliver shout-outs to some of the leaders who have influenced them most in their careers – who just happen to be women. 

Watkins also provides highlights of how SolarWinds testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee became a blame game, plus the recent attack against Microsoft Exchange Servers by a suspected Chinese-based attack group. 

Do you know how to find the right talent and skillsets to build up your Security Operations Center? Or are you looking to start or enhance your career as a security analyst and want to know what training and certifications will take you to the next level? 

Either way, don’t miss Episode 3 of our SON OF A BREACH! podcast series. Host and CRITICALSTART Chief Technology Officer Randy Watkins welcomes Jordan Mauriello, CRITICALSTART SVP of Managed Security Services, for an insightful look at how to find, train, and develop the type of talent needed to rock your SOC. 

Mauriello has military, government, and corporate backgrounds in cybersecurity, with experience in everything from penetration testing and malware reverse engineering to physical security, executive protection, and training. His visionary approach to leadership focuses on coaching and engaging highly technical personnel in the workplace. 

 Tune in for expert perspectives on: 

• What qualities and skills to look for when recruiting security analysts 
• Best interviewing techniques – and how a question about pancakes can uncover your best problem-solvers 
• Why building on fundamentals is so important in a cybersecurity career  
• Which free training offerings you can take advantage of now 

Before the deep dive with Mauriello, Watkins highlights the ever-evolving SolarWinds saga and the latest in nation-state sponsored activity by Russia, China, and North Korea. 

In Episode 2 of our new SON OF A BREACH! podcast series, host Randy Watkins, Chief Technology Officer at CRITICALSTART, looks at President Biden’s initial moves on cybersecurity, the new normal of advanced persistent threats, and why organizational security starts with individual users (hint: more than 3 billion passwords have hit the web in a massive collection called the COMB). 

 Watkins also welcomes special guest Dr. Anton Chuvakin to talk about the world of threat detection, including models, challenges, and how to do it right.

Dr. Chuvakin currently focuses on security solution strategy for Google Cloud. He previously was head of solution strategy at Chronicle, an Alphabet company acquisition. For several years he covered a broad range of security operations and detection and response topics at Gartner, where he was Research Vice President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner’s Technical Professionals (GTP) Security and Risk Management Strategies team.

Dr. Chuvakin is a recognized security expert in the field of security information and event management (SIEM), log management, and Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard compliance. He has authored several books and published dozens of papers on those topics.

Tune in for Dr. Chuvakin’s expert commentary on topics including: 

• How to get the most value and ROI from SIEM
• Tips for approaching SIEM and detection use cases
• What to look for in extended detection and response (XDR) models
• Additional perspectives on detection and telemetry  

Additional Resources:

• Look for more content to come from CRITICALSTART. We continue to research with our own facilities and team of experts to gather insights and discoveries around these issues, and we will continue to share our perspective on how to better secure your enterprise.

The SolarWinds cybersecurity breach, known as Sunburst, made global headlines in December and drew widespread suspicion of being a Russian-based nation-state attack.  

Kicking off our new SON OF A BREACH! podcast series, we’ll shine a spotlight on state-sponsored cyber-espionage. Join host Randy Watkins, Chief Technology Officer at CRITICALSTART, as he welcomes industry guests Ben Johnson, CTO and co-founder of Obsidian Security, former chief security strategist and co-founder of Carbon Black, and former NSA computer scientist and cyber engineer for the intelligence community; and Quentin Rhoads-Herrera, director of Professional Services and leader of TEAMARES offensive and defensive teams at CRITICALSTART. 

Expert commentary and conversations will cover the implications of the SolarWinds breach and what’s next, including: 

• The nature of nation-state attacks 
• Ramifications for security policy  
• Potential response to the Sunburst attack against the U.S. 
• Nation-state exploits and how advanced they’ve become 
• Additional perspectives on information security  

Looking for a new cybersecurity podcast? Check out Son of a Breach hosted by Critical Start's CTO Randy Watkins. Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and more starting January 12th.

Learn more about our podcast series at https://www.criticalstart.com/sonofabreach/.