Three speakers gave presentations on the importance of cyber security in modern business Feb. 1 to a crowd of information systems and information security and assessment majors.
The speakers offered wisdom about cyber security and its growing necessity to modern businesses. Students listened while the speakers covered such topics as the prospects of a career in cyber security, the risk factors associated with online security and whether online users can trust their information to cyber security professionals.
The presentations began with a warning: data is not safe online, and many service providers do not have secure networks. Hackers run rampant in the cyber world, and security networks are in need of constant evaluation and improvement in order to keep up with the many ways hackers are learning to bypass security and access valuable data.
Taiye Lambo, who founded the security-software company CloudeAssurance Inc., spoke first about the security of online cloud services for users. According to Lambo, security breaches cost companies billions of dollars. He predicted that cloud security industry will be worth $241 billion by 2020, and that the global security market will reach $8.9 billion.
Lambo’s company uses a ranking system to rate cloud services on their safety. Microsoft Office consistently ranks in the top 10 safest cloud services, while the popular shopping website Amazon.com was rated as “high risk” for security breaches.
Philip Mahan, privacy and risk professional of Ionic Security, talked about the need for disaster recovery plans in case of a network breach and how cyber security professionals can work to make networks safer. He said that disasters happen, and nobody will ever be ready for them, which is why companies need disaster recovery plans to ensure “business continuity,” or keeping a business running smoothly after a disaster scenario.
Bob Long, director of IT at Coregistics, ended the presentations with a brief talk about governance and structuring a cyber security network before taking students’ questions.
Despite the constant need to adapt to a changing landscape, the three speakers assured the crowd that a career in cyber security was rewarding.
“If you want a job that is boring or if you want a stable job, cyber security is not for you,” Lambo said. “It’s a very exciting industry, in spite of the challenges.”
