The rise of the hacker next door or across the world: Your customers get it. How about your CEO?

[Audrey McNeil <audrey () riskbasedsecurity com>]

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2997556/network-security/the-rise-of-the-hacker-next-door-or-across-the-world-your-customers-get-it-how-about-your-ceo.html

Remember the old self-help homily, "life is not a dress rehearsal"?

It applies to today's cybersecurity training imperatives.

Just in time for the mobile and application-based "trust economy" consumers
expect from every organization, service or brand that wants to connect with
them, destructive hacker attacks have swooped in as a news headline staple
and crashed the party.

This puts IT in a tough spot, and under pressure to develop simple,
affordable, scalable and irresistible (to the intended user) applications
that almost by definition will cause a crisis-level security breach to
happen soon -- or in the next two minutes.

The security breach, of course, will be all IT's fault.

Fortunately, IT professionals can react effectively by obtaining the
necessary resources for training to improve your ability to keep your most
valuable databases well out of harm's way.

You can raise the odds of a speedy approval for those funds by aligning the
training program you select in a profound and compelling fashion with your
organization's goal of successful, continual brand building.

I suggest your presentation to request this investment is built around the
following themes: faster introductions of exciting, distinctive
applications to an eager marketplace and more meaningful and trust-building
conversations with your customers.

Here are three ways to make the case that the right training program will
contribute to getting the creative, make or break new offerings to market,
ahead of your competition. If you ensure the training you propose is
nimble, substantive and yet robust compared to previous offerings, you'll
be miles ahead of your competitors. Many of them still take traditional
paths to their increasingly difficult cybersecurity tasks. This slows down
their pursuit of the same customers, clients, donors or supporters you want
and hobbles their relationship with the ones they already have.

Find a qualified instructor

If it's led by a qualified instructor for deeper engagement, plans for
student collaboration and interaction and reflects input from the field,
there's a very strong case for an intelligent, sound streamlined process at
its core.

Prove usefulness

Underscore how your choice of courseware will result in a fast, effective
implementation of an up-to-date cybersecurity system is content centered on
strengthening students' decision-making skills. These include penetration
testing, network planning and incident response.

Today's generation of emboldened, stealthy and wily hackers have put a
premium on your fending off an attack at its earliest stages and
simultaneously uncovering and neutralizing your network's vulnerabilities.
You'll thus minimize the time needed to watch for unauthorized access to
your databases, shut down the ones that occur and deliver a solid return on
investment.

Find a solution everyone can use

A third selling point to aim at budget-conscious managers anxious to
implement a solution that can “hit the ground running” is courseware that
allows for easy upgrades and can be taught to a wide range of experience
levels and IT specialists. Compared to topic specific instruction that has
characterized cybersecurity training available up until recently, a
holistic view of network security promises to get more of your troops to
combat ready status more quickly than ever before.

You can reinforce the essential wisdom behind both better decision making
and a holistic approach by highlighting your proposed courseware's
well-researched and designed reference tool in your proposal. For a team
facing ongoing threats under very stressful conditions, it's the next best
thing to having a good teacher always at your side.

More suggestions

Another route to successfully linking your choice of courseware to your
most critical brand building objectives is by positioning it as the
foundation for greater communication between your organization and its
customers.

In an ironic twist, the ceaseless and visible reminders about hacking's
power to disrupt our economy (and its corollary, the unlikelihood of a
digital fortress impenetrable to all future attacks) has perhaps made
consumers at least temporarily forgiving of an occasional assault on their
personal information.

In this cat and mouse game played forever against modern data thieves, many
of whom operate beyond our laws' scope, you'll score big by homing in on
how a rapid deployment of effective defensive maneuvers gives you the means
to alert customers right after the first alarm sounds and follow up
immediately with credible, reassuring updates on your progress towards
guarding their privacy.

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