,

The human-error side of cybersecurity

Want better enterprise cybersecurity? It may seem counter-intuitive, but the answer probably isn’t a surge in employee training or hiring of cybersecurity talent. That’s because humans will always make errors, and humans can’t cope with the scale and stealth of today’s cyberattacks. To best protect information systems, including data, applications, networks, and mobile devices, look to more automation and artificial intelligence-based software to give the defense-in-depth required to reduce risk and stop attacks.

That’s one of the key conclusions of a new report conducted by Oracle, “Security in the Age of AI,” released in May. The report draws on a survey of 775 respondents based in the US, including 341 CISOs, CSOs, and other CXOs at firms with at least $100 million in annual revenue; 110 federal or state government policy influencers; and 324 technology-engaged workers in non-managerial roles.

Looking at the CXO responses in the report shows that corporate executives see human error as one of the biggest risks to information security. The most common response (47%) is to invest more in people via training and hiring than in technology in the next two years. Less common is to invest in new types of software with enhanced security, upgrade infrastructure, or buy artificial intelligence and machine learning to use for security, all of which could contribute to minimizing human error.

Learn more about this in my article, “You Can’t Improve Cybersecurity By Throwing People At The Problem,” published in Forbes.

, , ,

It’s time to log some miles with Enterprise.nxt Magazine

Enterprise.nxt magazine

The editors of Enterprise.nxt wanted to publish one of my photos to illustrate their article, “Geek spotting: 3 ways to recognize a tech geek in the wild.” Yeah, it’s a photo of yours truly driving around in his Mazda Miata alongside a giant Pickett slide rule.

Correction. Actually, it’s my wife’s Miata — a surprise birthday present back in 2006.

While I am very much a geek, it’s ironic that I don’t fit into a lot of geek culture. For example, Judy-Anne Goldman’s article says,

Geeks instinctively know how to recognize other geeks based on shared interests, such as TV shows like “Big Bang Theory,” role-playing games, or Comic Con. But, in the way that old-school nerds could be recognized by their calculators and pocket protectors, today we can categorize geeks in three ways: by what they wear, the first-adopter technology they acquire, and the vintage technology they use until it dies.

Yet I have never watched a full episode of Big Bang Theory, don’t care for role-playing games, and have no interest in attending Comic Con. (I did go to one Star Trek convention in the late 1990s. One was enough.)

Enjoy the article and enjoy my photograph.

, ,

Tech makes sailing more fun and engaging

I was pleased to contribute to a nice sport-technology story published in Mirage News, “Oracle Applies Cutting-Edge Tech to Enhance Fan Experiences.” My part begins like this:

Racing space-age yachts in San Francisco Bay (or anywhere) presents its own set of technological and athletic hurdles. SailGP catamarans are the fastest boats in the world, capable of reaching speeds of up to 50 knots (or 60 mph on land), said Sir Russell Coutts, CEO of SailGP and five-time Americas Cup Winner.

Hans Henken, flight controller for the USA SailGP Team, described the experience for those who’ve never raced:

“It’s like driving your car down the freeway with the top down in the pouring rain. The exit is coming up fast, you change lanes and find your traction controls are off, you slam on the brakes and the brakes are out. You have to make quick decisions in a lot of spray, and it’s very, very noisy.”

In SailGP races, all of the boats are built to the same specifications, meaning that any edge the crew can get from 1,200 embedded sensors could be the difference between victory and defeat.

Sensor data is sent to the Oracle cloud in 200 msec, less time than the time it takes to blink, said Edwin Upson, Oracle group vice president of Enterprise Cloud Architects. Then it is returned to the crew for analysis in near-real-time.

Mirage News is published in Australia: “As a non-aligned, independent online media platform operating out of Wollongong NSW, Mirage News provides real-time coverage of newsworthy developments firsthand from primary and authoritative sources, with the main focus on media & public releases to deliver the news as it is with no comment or interpretation (This is particularly important in the era of fake news and media manipulation).”

I hope you enjoy the story. I certainly enjoyed hanging out with the SailGP folks.