Back @ IT Show

Back @ IT: Building a Cybersecurity Foundation with Ted Harrington

Episode Summary

Ethical hacker and best-selling author Ted Harrington joins me to discuss security as an enabler, its impact on AI and IoT, and the importance of a security foundation

Episode Notes

Many companies positioned security secondary to other critical business applications initiatives and strategic planning. Unfortunately, this can lead to long-term impacts such as costly system updates, regulatory non-compliance, loss of data integrity, and more.

Having security as a foundation to all business applications and systems, and within all business processes, will set you up for success down the road. And, addressing misconceptions around security, and companies that offer security testing is key to mitigating risks and attacks.

To help unpack all of this, I'm joined by Ted Harrington. Ted is a leader of ethical hackers, best-selling author of “Hackable”, keynote speaker, consultant, and podcast host, specializing in penetration testing, secure software development, and related areas of cybersecurity.

Highlights:

01:52: Ted Harrington sets the stage on ethical hacking, the talented group he collaborates with, and the timely book he wrote called “Hackable”. This book identifies misconceptions that companies have about security and replaces them with something more effective.
04:00: What is an ethical hacker? How does this role impact the security world and organizations?
05:18: Media, in many forms, has misconstrued what a hacker really is. Ted highlights the core experience of a hacker is being a problem solver. What a hacker does with that experience diverges into the positive and negative routes.
09:53: In the effort to pivot quickly during the pandemic, many companies positioned security as an afterthought. It was then added as a bolt-on versus building on a secure foundation. This can really impact a company’s long-term business applications strategy.
16:09: The shift to a passwordless model can change how people interact with devices and where things are headed.

Authentication is proof of who you are, and authorization is proving whether you're allowed to do a thing.

18:15: Humans are wired to be lazy based on our evolutionary survival instincts. This sets up humans to be lazy with their passwords.
21:08: What are the biggest vulnerabilities that are happening for the sake of the “rush to market”?

Organizations think about security as a cost center that they want to minimize. They don't see it as an opportunity.

25:06: How the ethical AI component is impacting security for healthcare, finance, and more. Artificial intelligence can help build resilience into systems that have foundational security principles.
32:36: Addressing misconceptions around security, tools and services offered by many companies, and the output of security penetration testing.
36:40: Ted’s book “Hackable” is targeted to those that are tech engineers, Chief Technical Officers, or Chief Information Security Officers, heads of development, and more.
38:18: Ted is happy to chat with folks that are looking for answers to critical security questions and where they need to improve.

Ted Harrington is the #1 best-selling author of HACKABLE: How to Do Application Security Right, and the Executive Partner at Independent Security Evaluators (ISE), the company of ethical hackers famous for hacking cars, medical devices, web applications, and password managers. He’s helped hundreds of companies fix tens of thousands of security vulnerabilities, including Google, Amazon, and Netflix. Ted has been featured in more than 100 media outlets, including The Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, and Forbes. His team founded and organizes IoT Village, an event whose hacking contest is a three-time DEF CON Black Badge winner. He hosts the Tech Done Different podcast.

To get help with security consulting and security assessments, or to book Ted to keynote your next event, visit https://www.tedharrington.com.