Page 94 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Special RSA Conference Annual Edition for 2022

patches and updates just won’t cut it. Daily scanning won’t get the job done either, because a single scan
will miss the 49 others that surface every 24 hours. Agencies must continually seek out and identify blind
spots to stay genuinely protected.

Compliance fails without proper controls

Mastering the basics of cyber hygiene boosts resilience across the board. When agencies get into the
habit of thinking that adhering to compliance standards alone provides security, they lose their cyber
resilience.

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To ensure resilience, agencies must establish controls in addition to compliance standards, while cyber
hygiene will include vulnerability patching, comprehensive asset management, user education, email
protections, and improving password habits. As the post- mortem of every breach shows, human error
almost always plays a role. Even compliance standards can't eliminate people from the equation. If
compliance alone can’t prevent an attack, it can’t be an agency’s security strategy either.

The good news is there's clear guidance for agencies looking for direction on exactly what controls to put
in place. From the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to the Department of Homeland
Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), there are countless free
resources for those seeking best practices, tools, and frameworks to set them on a path to success.

To succeed in cybersecurity, diversify the team

With all our many shortcomings, humans remain a critical component in the defense against threat actors.
As the cyber landscape evolves, IT and security teams must also evolve. Cybersecurity teams must use
creative problem solving and diverse ideas and tactics to meet emerging threats. Unfortunately, limited
viewpoints create a barrier to a team’s ability to mitigate and respond to attacks comprehensively.

Teams are stronger when they leverage the power of their similarities as well as their differences.
Problem solving, strategic planning, and innovation all benefit from diversity and inclusion. Importantly,
diversity drives innovation. As Dr. Telle Whitney, a computer scientist and pioneer on the issue of women
in technology, said, “When we limit who can contribute, we in turn limit what problems we can
solve.” Wise words that point to a fundamental challenge we’re now facing, one that can and must be
solved if we don’t wish to stifle innovation.

Gender diversity has proven critical for organizations of all types across decision-making, problem
solving, and collaboration. Gender diverse companies are 21 percent more likely to have above average
profitability, and companies employing an equal number of men and women manage to deliver up to 41
percent higher revenue. Diverse teams are 87 percent better decision-makers than individuals. Research

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