DZone
Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile
  • Manage Email Subscriptions
  • How to Post to DZone
  • Article Submission Guidelines
Sign Out View Profile
  • Post an Article
  • Manage My Drafts
Over 2 million developers have joined DZone.
Log In / Join
Refcards Trend Reports Events Over 2 million developers have joined DZone. Join Today! Thanks for visiting DZone today,
Edit Profile Manage Email Subscriptions Moderation Admin Console How to Post to DZone Article Submission Guidelines
View Profile
Sign Out
Refcards
Trend Reports
Events
Zones
Culture and Methodologies Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
Culture and Methodologies
Agile Career Development Methodologies Team Management
Data Engineering
AI/ML Big Data Data Databases IoT
Software Design and Architecture
Cloud Architecture Containers Integration Microservices Performance Security
Coding
Frameworks Java JavaScript Languages Tools
Testing, Deployment, and Maintenance
Deployment DevOps and CI/CD Maintenance Monitoring and Observability Testing, Tools, and Frameworks
  1. DZone
  2. Software Design and Architecture
  3. Security
  4. Live from RSA Conference 2017: Zulfikar Ramzan's Keynote

Live from RSA Conference 2017: Zulfikar Ramzan's Keynote

The CTO of RSA, Zulfikar Ramzan, spoke at RSA's conference about the culture around security and some simple initiatives to start working on.

Jessica Lavery user avatar by
Jessica Lavery
·
Feb. 20, 17 · News
Like (0)
Save
Tweet
Share
2.34K Views

Join the DZone community and get the full member experience.

Join For Free

Once John Lithgow left the stage, Zulfikar Ramzan, RSA’s CTO, took the stage to talk about business-driven security. He implored the security professionals in the room to not draw lines between departments, but instead create connections for better collaboration and enhanced security. Sounds a lot like DevOps.

Ramzan then spoke a lot about how small events can create larger ripples that have lasting impacts on society. For example, he discussed how foreign governments were able to undermine the trust in our democracy simply by attacking the DNC. This created a ripple that may or may not have swayed voters on election day. The point is, while they themselves did not change votes, their actions may have caused others to vote differently. Veracode’s CTO Chris Wysopal spoke about this issue last fall. 

Chaos theory is not just relevant in the technology world, Ramzan posited; technology amplifies its effects. The connections created by our digital world magnify the ripples and speed up the velocity at which they travel. Yet, we must embrace innovation to succeed in the digital world. And this is why we need what Ramzan calls “business-driven security” strategies. Business-driven security isn’t about how many firewall rules are in place, or how many vulnerabilities are fixed (although I think that is pretty important), it is about connecting security to the rest of the business.

How do we do this? Ramzan had four specific calls to action:

  1. Simplify what you can control, and plan for what you can’t. To start, Ramzan recommends consolidating security vendors. He suggests that having dozens of best-of-breed vendors makes it impossible to manage security.

  2. Take every opportunity to adapt and grow – as individuals and as businesses.
  3. Embrace diversity. This was another key theme I heard in several sessions. The job of the “bad guy” is easier than ours. It is easier to destroy than create or protect, and for every advance we make, the bad guys will find another way to get around it. This is why we need the brightest minds, regardless of race, gender, creed, culture and, yes, place of birth, working in cybersecurity.
  4. Be a mentor. Reach out to young students and encourage them to . We need the next generation to take this challenge on full force, and we cannot underestimate the power of mentorship.

Stay tuned for more from RSA... 

security Keynote (presentation software) Connection (dance) Trust (business) career Chaos Session (web analytics) Vulnerability Velocity (JavaScript library)

Published at DZone with permission of Jessica Lavery, DZone MVB. See the original article here.

Opinions expressed by DZone contributors are their own.

Popular on DZone

  • Secrets Management
  • Apache Kafka vs. Memphis.dev
  • DevOps Roadmap for 2022
  • Why It Is Important To Have an Ownership as a DevOps Engineer

Comments

Partner Resources

X

ABOUT US

  • About DZone
  • Send feedback
  • Careers
  • Sitemap

ADVERTISE

  • Advertise with DZone

CONTRIBUTE ON DZONE

  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Become a Contributor
  • Visit the Writers' Zone

LEGAL

  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy

CONTACT US

  • 600 Park Offices Drive
  • Suite 300
  • Durham, NC 27709
  • support@dzone.com
  • +1 (919) 678-0300

Let's be friends: