Security practitioners have a thankless job. They are usually seen as the bad guys who want to block websites and all other things fun that make life at work easier. However, they are the first responders when things go awry, when networks are in danger, or when networks have been compromised.
In that regard, Dark Reading approached security professionals, and they provided the following ten things that made their lists this year:
Lots of breach coverage. Media coverage brings the reality and severity to the front lines, and executive management and board members become very supportive of IT security and pending projects.
Board-level attention. This kind of coverage is building forward momentum for security executives to finally gain a meaningful dialogue with boards of directors and CEOs.
Well-documented security processes.
One CSO is thankful that his team developed what they call an Information Security Concept of Operations document.
Bug bounty programs. Many technology experts say they’re thankful for bug bounty programs.
Freely shared knowledge. The knowledge that security researchers dig up and responsibly disclose is invaluable.
Cryptowall-proof backups. Not only is it a good practice, but it helps keeps businesses from paying out big ransoms to recover data that was never backed up.
The end of Windows XP. It’s never good for security when old operating systems linger around.
Security’s social circle. Security chatter on social media outlets has done a lot to foster knowledge-sharing and strong relationships across the industry.
A wish for future thanks. Practitioners must know that so long as they have a logical and supported case they can do whatever it takes to protect the company without fear of getting in trouble.
An end to the workday. And, finally, IT security can be thankful there are only 24 hours in a day!
To read the full security guru thank-you list, see the full Dark Reading article.
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