cybersecurity leadership
In recent times cybersecurity functions have grown and evolved due to a tightening of risk tolerance, in turn, due to the increasing societal consciousness for data protection. But what happens next?
Cybersecurity teases the tension between control, performance and freedom at a scale not previously encountered. Be ahead of where today’s CISOs are - this is the innovator’s narrative for zero trust, people-centric & granular cybersecurity.
the microcosm of future digital societies
In May 2023, the Dark Mode cybersecurity podcast quizzed me on innovations in cloud, decarbonisation, AI (LLMs / generative AI), data governance, quantum computing and all things combined. I highlight how the academic sector has a long-time dynamic that is only now becoming apparent in other areas. Innovators need executive leadership and new ways to leverage their data and technology-creating ability without breaking their internal culture & strengths (or purposefully resetting) whilst aligning with the growing public awareness and sentiment around technology, data and climate. You might find it accessible, fun, informative and a good conversation starter for others.
You’ll find it here: The microcosm of future digital societies (available also on Apple/YouTube/etc.)
scaling out cybersecurity and data governance to 1000s of applications
In 2020 I partnered with the newly appointed CISO and the Australian global start-up Bugcrowd on a crowdsourced approach to identifying vulnerabilities in our ecosystem of hundreds of advanced research-led digital systems. I introduced scalable business processes to incentivise researchers to participate and respond to these vulnerabilities proactively. See the case study: Monash University Leverages Bugcrowd for improved security visibility and continuous assurance, 2021.
I subsequently partnered (predating the Innate Innovation brand) with Nvidia and the ARDC to explore the role of DPUs and AI in cybersecurity. The technologies and processes adopted by cybersecurity functions have evolved due to a tightening of risk tolerance, in turn, due to the increasing societal consciousness for data protection. Scaling out to 1000s of bespoke applications with their unique zone of data governance and business performance metrics lends itself to frictionless and zero-trust cybersecurity models. Else the friction will increase.
The amount of cybersecurity work to satisfy emerging best practices for the typical IT use case will limit a researcher’s collaboration liberty. Adopting AI and distributing that work adds substantive and scalable resources enabling more emergent and democratised ways to connect. It lowers the need for researchers to change their software due to increasing cybersecurity needs. It decreases the percentage of precious computational resources (CPUs and GPUs) used for security. At the time, these technologies were not yet mainstream (let alone GA’d), and part of my role is to drive us all there!
pioneering the use of Morpheus and DPUs in cybersecurity
Before too long, DPUs and AI will be pervasive in the data centre, and many users will be using DPUs and AI without realising. This an area where clouds and co-location providers can differentiate!
The Nvidia partnership centred on the concept that the research sector is a microcosm of a connected society and to use this observation to explore the transition to security everywhere. Cybersecurity teases the tension between control and freedom at a scale not previously encountered. Hence, there is a journey for the technology giants and the marketplace.
The evolution of my thought leadership on the matter, applicable to all industry sectors, is in my GTC series of talks (“Securing Health Records for Innovative Use with Morpheus and DPUs” 2021, “The DPU Paradigm Shift: Halos to Assure Data Governance” 2022). Both introduce the halo manifesto, which describes how to protect heroes (researchers) without adding work they need to do and without removing computing resources from them. It is the innovator’s narrative for zero trust.