As I've been thinking about how the launch of Ideas to Action, one word has been top of mind describing the way I feel about it: vulnerable. There, I said it. I feel vulnerable about starting something new, about sharing different ideas or perspectives.
But if we were all being honest with ourselves - that's probably how we feel about our various roles in cybersecurity. From the non-technical decision-maker who needs to approve a budget request he might not fully understand; to the CISO working to prioritize risk and efforts, worried she might be wrong; to the help desk technician trying to make sure he is giving the right advice; to the user who is afraid she might have clicked on something she shouldn't have - we all feel vulnerable in this space.
Unfortunately, 'vulnerable' in cybersecurity is not a 'good' word - it usually implies an exploitable opportunity for an attacker. And I wonder if that perception of vulnerability hasn't done us a bit of a disservice - having instead created the conditions for complexity behind which we can hide and keep busily patching our firewalls and reviewing logs without generating substantial progress in the overall security of our organizations.
And it's that culture of complexity that Ideas to Action seeks to address - to reduce the overwhelm that makes us all feel that much more vulnerable and instead create a path to impact in cybersecurity for organizations large and small, public and private.
Simply put, Ideas to Action was created to cut through the noise and complexity, build bandwidth, and make things happen.
My focus at Ideas to Action in accomplishing this is through a few key areas:
- Helping define an executable strategy for growing cyber programs
- Translating the need for new resources as part of growing a program / assisting with effective change management to ensure a smooth rollout of new resources
- Creating additional bandwidth to pursue the more complex aspects of cyber programs by alleviating some of the full-time work burden
So...do I feel vulnerable starting something new? Yes. But the other word that has come to mind is confident. I am confident that with a commitment to making cybersecurity in organizations practical and accessible, more doable, we truly can turn some big ideas into action - making us all more secure.
