Keren Elazari
Internationally recognized Security Analyst, Researcher & Writer
1995. Angelina Jolie plays a high school hacker who’s actually one of the good guys. 2018: planet Earth is home to more devices than human beings, 11.2 billion to 7.5 billion. It’s been more than a couple of decades since Keren Elazari found her calling in a movie. And in that time, the world is connected to a point where cyberattacks are more akin to what you’d see in a James Bond movie.
Luckily for enterprises, Keren is on their side. As an internationally recognized security analyst, researcher and writer, she brought a wake-up call to Confluence. Her perspective is to bridge the gap between the hacker community and the enterprise world. And along the way, build an army of cyber heroes hiding in plain sight. If only we opened our minds and hearts to them, the world would be a safer place. And every enterprise could keep the cyber barbarians where they belong: at bay.
Key Takeaways
Don’t judge a skill by the jacket
A black tee, a nose ring, streaked hair: not really the corporate avatar. But underneath the stereotypical hacker garb hides million-dollar savings potential for organizations. And the same is true for any talent: look beyond their look.
Cyber attackers don’t need an invite, hackers do
Outside the enteprise walls is where the wall will be strengthened. Every company must have a ‘bug bounty’ program to nurture the hacker community. Rewards and gamification will help in evolving faster than the threat does.
Rethink what’s outdated before it sinks you
There’s always a device out there operating with a default password, waiting to be hacked into. So start with passwords and go from there: ask what other access methods, systems or behaviours could represent a new point of vulnerability.
It’s actually about protecting a way of life
Cybersecurity is no longer about securing a network or a company’s reputation. Each device and system that customers use, they implicitly place their trust in. When the Internet is a fundamental human right, so is digital protection.
Can your best defense be a friendly offense? It can, if you allow them to.
