“The artificial intelligence (AI) boom across all industries has fueled anxiety in the workforce, with employees fearing ethical usage, legal risks and job displacement,” EY said in its report. The future of work has shifted due to genAI in particular, enabling work to be done equally well and securely across remote, field, and office environments, according to EY. ... “We can say that the most common worry is that AI will impact an employee’s role – either making it obsolete entirely or changing it in a way which concerns the employee, For example, taking some of the challenge or excitement out of it,” Harris said. “And the point is, these perspectives are already having an impact – irrespective of what the future really holds.” Harris said in another Gartner survey, employees indicated they were less likely to stay with an organization due to concerns about AI-driven job loss. ... Organizations can also overcome employee AI fears and build trust by offering training or development on a range of topics, such as how AI works, how to create prompts and effectively use AI, and even how to evaluate AI output for biases or inaccuracies. And employees want to learn.
Importance of security-by-design for IT and OT systems in building a security resilient framework
Regular security testing, vulnerability assessments, penetration testing, and
compliance audits are vital for identifying vulnerabilities and potential attack
vectors. This proactive approach allows organizations to rectify weaknesses,
enhance security posture, and protect their systems effectively. For OT systems,
specialized testing methods that support the unique requirements of industrial
environments are necessary. ... Developers should adopt secure coding practices,
including coding standards, input validation, secure data storage, secure
communication protocols, code reviews, and automated security testing. These
measures help identify and mitigate security issues during the development
phase, eliminating common vulnerabilities. Additionally, training developers in
secure coding techniques and fostering a security-centric culture within
development teams are equally crucial. ... Regular software updates and
effective patch management are essential to address newly identified security
vulnerabilities. Staying current with security patches and updates for all
software components is crucial.
The Case For a Managed Career for Architects
The case for making architecture a managed profession stems from a few
critical factors: Rising Levels of Societal Impact: The impact of technology
is growing daily. This impact and difficulties of technology, not just threats
but the daily interaction of people with technology like subscription models,
social media, passwords, banking etc, is increasingly important to the average
person. ... Regulatory Pressure: Increasing pressure is coming to bear on all
aspects of technology as it relates to government and regulation. From things
like sustainability, privacy and accountability to impacts to purchasing,
monopolies, identity and security. The more prevalent technology becomes in
society, the more regulation that needs to be met to ensure appropriate use.
... New Technology Opportunities/Threats: Avoiding catastrophes in both small
and large scopes is one function of modern professions. Non-professionals are
not allowed to play with dangerous research or deploy dangerous products in
most fields. ... Severe Demand/Quality Problems: The demand for high-quality
architecture professionals is growing daily. This demand can no longer be met
in the role-based education methods that were developed in the early rush of
the 90’s.
Is your bank’s architecture trapped in the past? It’s time to recompose it
The complexity of banking modernisation, particularly the cost and resource
intensiveness associated with a big-bang approach, is one of several reasons
many banks may still be stuck with a legacy technology platform. With
contemporary architectural techniques such as the “strangulation pattern”,
banks can achieve the desired modernisation in a streamlined manner. The
strangulation pattern is a software migration strategy involving forming a new
software layer, the “strangler”, around the legacy banking system. This
strangler interacts with the core system’s data and functionality through
well-defined APIs. Gradually, new functionalities are developed within the
strangler layer in parallel with the legacy systems, allowing the bank to
independently test and refine the new functionalities. Over time, more and
more functionalities, based on needs and complexity, are migrated from the
core system to the strangler layer. As a result, the core system becomes less
and less critical and can be retired entirely or kept as a backup system. Not
only does this approach minimise risk compared to a big-bank switchover, but
it also allows business operations to continue with minimal
disruption.
Cyberinsurance Premiums are Going Down: Here’s Why and What to Expect
The insurance cycle is described in Wikipedia as “a term describing the
tendency of the insurance industry to swing between profitable and
unprofitable periods over time…” Such swings are common to all businesses but
are particularly relevant to insurance. Within this insurance cycle, the swing
is between a ‘hard market’ and a ‘soft market’. Howden defines it thus: “In
simple terms, [a soft market] is when there is a lot of insurance capacity,
and rates are low. Conversely, a hard market is when insurance capacity is
reduced and premium rates are high.” Noticeably, the state of the insured does
not figure. “Insurance markets (cyber, property, D&O, etc) tend to run
through rating cycles,” explains George Mawdsley, head of risk solutions at
DeNexus. “What makes cyber unique is that there is material uncertainty around
how big the ‘Big Storms’ can get, which means capital allocators will make
conservative assumptions on max downside or will not invest. Given the strong
growth projections (demand) for the cyber insurance market, we expect this
dynamic to drive up prices over the long term.”
Productivity and patience: How GitHub Copilot is expanding development horizons
Copilot shines in "implementing straightforward, well-defined components in
terms of performance and other non-functional aspects. Its efficiency
diminishes when addressing complex bugs or tasks requiring deep domain
expertise." ... Copilot's greatest challenge is context, he pointed out. "Code
and code development has a lot to do with the context that you're dealing
with. Are you in a legacy code base or not? Are you in COBOL or in C++ or in
JavaScript or TypeScript? It's a lot of context that needs to happen for the
quality of that code to be high and for you to accept it." ... The impact on
software development from AI will be subtler: "What if a text box is all they
needed to be able to accomplish something that creates software and something
that they could then derive value from?" For example, said Rodriguez: "If I
could say very quickly in my phone, 'Hey, I am thinking of talking to my
daughter about these things. Can you give me the last three X, Y, and Z
articles and then just create a little program that we could play as a game?'
You could envision Copilot being able to help you with that in the future."
How Part-Time Senior Leaders Can Help Your Business
It’s not only CEOs that benefit. With their deep functional expertise,
fractionals often serve as advisors and mentors to other C-suite leaders.
Barry Hurd, a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO), describes his role as
providing expert counsel to full-time CMOs: “I’ve worked with a couple of CMOs
who have hired me to simply double-check their work. I act as the executive
coach, bringing my 30 years of wisdom and experience.” Similarly, Katie
Walter, another fractional CMO, shares an experience where she supported an
executive transitioning into a marketing leadership role: “She had never led
the marketing function before, so the expectation was that I would work
alongside her and help her to become more effective. In this case, I was
introduced to the team as her coach.” The benefits also extend to the
organization as a whole. Because fractional leaders often juggle multiple
roles, they gain access to a wide professional network and are exposed to
diverse working methods. This unique position allows them to introduce new
ideas and practices among the organizations they serve.
How the CISO Can Transform Into a True Cyber Hero
Operationalizing readiness, response, and recovery is where the rubber meets
the road for the CISO. Plans, processes, and technologies underpin operations,
but they each rely on people. Tabletop exercises that focus only on technical
response activities strengthen only one "muscle group" of the organization.
Consider a different kind of cyber exercise — a war game that involves the
entire organization. By exercising the incident management plan with a broader
constituency of stakeholders, organizations can build "muscle memory," test
communication channels, and identify decisions or risks based on a given
scenario. As part of the war game, the recovery team should run through the
sequential restoration. By socializing the order in which operations will
return after a disruption, the team can reduce the number of "Is it back
online yet?" queries received during a real incident. ... There's an old
joke that "CISO" stands for "career is seriously over." But today’s CISO has a
serious role to play as a hero for their organization. It is a simple matter
of evolving from a primarily technical role to a role that incorporates
empowering their human peers and stakeholders to become greater collaborators
in cyber-incident response, recovery, and readiness.
How CISOs can protect their personal liability
One of the most effective and methodical methods of documentation that a CISO
can maintain is a risk register that identifies existing cyber risk and
records risk acceptance by relevant business stakeholders. This can help bring
greater visibility into cyber risk to the board and it certainly helps CISOs
to protect themselves. “In order to run a security program, you have to have a
risk register. It’s like table stakes,” says Greg Notch CISO of Expel, a
managed detection and response firm, and a longtime security veteran who
served as CISO for the National Hockey League prior to this job. ... Even with
rock solid policies, procedures, and documentation, CISOs should also seek to
establish legal protection through tools like indemnification agreements,
employment contractual terms, and the right level of insurance protection.
Kolochenko says CISOs that are unsure of their protections should proactively
reach out to their general counsel and ask them about all of their duties,
liabilities, and protections. If something sounds unfavorable, push back, he
says.
How New Frameworks for Cyber Metrics are Reshaping Boardroom Conversations
Ideally, boards have one or more sitting executives with risk experience, but
the reality is that boards primarily consist of executives with a
non-technical understanding of risk management methods. Risk and cybersecurity
information must be always conveyed in easy-to-understand, business-oriented
language. Start by quantifying risk in monetary or dollar terms. Board members
may not understand the technical details of Monte Carlo simulations or
probabilistic risk assessments, but they do need to understand the potential
impact of risk on the business in the most efficient way. Quantification can
help anyone understand how the business anticipates risk, prioritizes risk
controls, and takes preventative action against risk. Tailor risk information
to board members, depending on their expertise and the board report’s purpose.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to reporting. CISOs can segregate risk
metrics into categories, like security, financial, third-party, or employee
awareness risks. Grouping information together helps non-technical executives
understand how risks are interconnected and what’s being done to anticipate
these risks.
Quote for the day:
“The more you loose yourself in
something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” --
Norman Vincent Peale
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