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August 11, 2023
Adarma Joins Industry Leaders to Explore UK Cybersecurity Landscape
Adarma recently partnered with HotTopics to host a roundtable at the iconic Abbey Road Studio to explore the state of cybersecurity in the UK today. Adarma CEO John Maynard joined the panel to share his industry insights alongside other technology leaders, including Chris Brocklesby, CIO at Dunelm, Elaine Bucknor Group Director of Technology Strategic Services and Group CISO at SKY, and Brian Brackenborough CISO at Channel 4.
Collectively, the panel focused on identifying the key threats facing UK security leaders today and shared their strategies to mitigate them effectively. Maynard provided a panoramic view of the UK’s cybersecurity threat landscape, highlighting the spectrum of adversaries ranging from nation-state actors to highly organised criminal groups and solo threat actors. Maynard framed these threat actors as a mature ecosystem of adversaries, each with specialised knowledge to engage in which he either extortion or “political warfare.”
A major problem in the cyber threat landscape is cybersecurity fragmentation. The market is awash with a deluge of confusing acronyms and products that proport to be able to “do it all”. Maynard argues that corporate organisational structures contribute to this fragmented state because cybersecurity is often treated as an afterthought.
“It’s been technology-oriented rather than outcome-oriented. And so, we’re in a state of catching up and maturing our cyber defences”, he said. Maynard asserts that to move away from this fragmented approach, cybersecurity leaders, such as CIOs or CISOs, must play a crucial role in influencing the Board and C-suite’s understanding of threats and the need for investments.
To achieve this, Maynard advocates a shift in communication strategy. Rather than relying on the typical technical jargon like “threat vectors” or “zero-day exploits,” Maynard underscores the importance of using language that resonates with the C-suite and above. He suggests that effective communication revolves around concepts like “risk mitigation” and “lost opportunity.”
Translating technical intricacies into tangible business impact can facilitate a better understanding, informed decision-making, and better allocation of necessary resources to bolster the organisation’s cyber defences.
Discussing AI’s influence on the cyber risk game, Maynard describes the situation as a “race” between the defenders (cybersecurity) and the adversaries (threat actors). Every time a tool is built on the defensive side, these same tools end up being used for the attacker side, he explains.
Although there are cybersecurity tools that involve AI and machine learning, he notes that there is significant potential for AI to drive big changes in the industry as the technology continues to evolve and become more refined.
To gain a more complete understanding of the cybersecurity landscape, please watch the full video here.
Let’s Talk
If you would like to learn more about how Adarma can support your organisation’s cyber resilience, please get in touch with us at hello@adarma.com
To hear more from us, check out the latest issue of ‘Cyber Insiders,‘ our c-suite publication that explores the state of the threat landscape, emerging cyber threats, and most effective cybersecurity best practices.
You can also listen to our new Podcast, which explores what it’s really like to work in cybersecurity in today’s threat landscape.
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