Risk Review Helps Discover Weakness with Ralph Russo

If you are addressing the blindspots in your online security, you cannot prevent the costly impact of lost or hacked data. Today's guest is Ralph Russo. Ralph retired from the New York Police Department after over 20 years and served as the commanding officer of an organized crime control task force of local, state, and federal law enforcement. He is currently the Director of Tulane University's School of Professional Advanced Information Technology where he has taught in both homeland security and information technology programs. Ralph holds a bachelor's of Business Administration and a master's degree in Information Technology. As an entrepreneur he has co-owned two startup technology firms.

Show Notes:

• [1:01] - Ralph shares his current role at Tulane University and shares his interest in information technology.
• [2:15] - As more people become dependent on online systems, the more valuable it becomes.
• [3:50] - As an educator, Ralph engages students in the growing field of cybersecurity.
• [4:42] - Ralph describes qualities of great cybersecurity students.
• [6:32] - Cybersecurity can be compared to traditional security.
• [8:48] - Using traditional security as an example, Ralph says that a single door just isn't enough.
• [9:41] - "It is so much harder to secure something when you have to retrofit it rather than designing it for security."
• [12:02] - In some ways it is harder to bring older companies that work more traditionally on board with updated cybersecurity.
• [13:12] - Ralph believes there is a misunderstanding that small and medium sized businesses may not believe they are a target.
• [14:22] - Sometimes the target is not money, it's data.
• [15:53] - Now, there is cybersecurity insurance offered which Ralph believes is a good thing.
• [17:01] - In the near future, Ralph believes that if you do not have the most updated software, you will be denied access.
• [18:40] - At Tulane University, the program is designed to have graduates provide value to cybersecurity immediately.
• [20:44] - The separation of tech and cybersecurity from a company's team is over.
• [22:35] - From a leader's perspective, a data breach is also a loss of money.
• [23:31] - If you lose your company's server, can you afford to be down for a week? Likely not.
• [25:08] - In the cloud does not always mean secure.
• [27:40] - Hacking is now being done by massive criminal organizations.
• [29:21] - Malware is coming from every direction.
• [32:27] - Responsible disclosure is extremely important.
• [34:05] - Your backup should not be in the same place as your primary location for stored data.
• [35:45] - Ralph shares his ideas on what cybersecurity governance will look like in the future.
• [37:33] - There are daily news stories of cyberattacks. Ralph shares an example.
• [39:33] - Phishing is still a huge problem, but awareness is being raised constantly to help.
• [41:06] - Cybercrime undermines a lot of the good that technology does. It reduces trust and introduces fear and confusion.
• [43:40] - Courses and resources are available no matter where you are.

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