EP204 Beyond PCAST: Phil Venables on the Future of Resilience and Leading Indicators
Dec 23, 2024
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Phil Venables, CISO at Google Cloud, dives into the increasing obsession with resilience in cybersecurity, potentially sparked by the rise of ransomware. He discusses the PCAST report’s origins and stresses the importance of shifting from lagging to leading indicators for security. Venables introduces 'Cyber-Physical Modularity' as a key concept for enhancing critical infrastructure resilience. He also emphasizes rigorous stress testing and shares insights on overcoming challenges in implementing these strategies, suggesting that organizations can gain resilience benefits by leveraging Google Cloud.
Organizations should prioritize transitioning to leading indicators for better predictive insights into their cybersecurity resilience and performance.
Learning from external incidents and near-misses is vital for organizations to enhance their cyber resilience and preparedness strategies.
Deep dives
Understanding Resilience in Cyber Security
Resilience in cyber security refers to an organization's ability to prepare for, respond to, and recover from incidents, acknowledging that preventative measures alone are insufficient. Security professionals recognize the need for robust detection and response systems to support preventive controls, as 100% effectiveness in prevention is rarely achievable. Organizations that plan for potential failures, such as security incidents, natural disasters, or software errors, are more likely to sustain their operations amidst challenges. Companies that excel in resilience often manage to maintain service during incidents or recover swiftly, which can enhance their reputation in the aftermath.
The Importance of Minimum Viable Delivery Objectives
Identifying minimum viable delivery objectives is crucial for organizations to ensure they can provide essential services even during crises. For instance, while a water utility may seek to provide uninterrupted service indefinitely, they might aim for the ability to deliver safe water within 72 hours post-disaster. Similarly, financial services should prioritize facilitating payments and essential transactions during cyber incidents, thus avoiding broader economic fallout. This strategic focus allows companies to allocate resources effectively and enhances their planning for resilience and operational continuity.
Learning from Other Organizations
A pivotal aspect of enhancing resilience involves learning from the incidents that befall other organizations, rather than solely relying on one’s own experiences. By analyzing near-miss events and breaches elsewhere, organizations can establish a fast feedback loop that informs their preparedness strategies. This approach underscores the adage that it is wiser to learn from the mistakes of others, helping to anticipate potential challenges without the need for costly or damaging first-hand experience. Such proactive learning can significantly bolster an organization's overall cyber resilience framework.
Adopting Leading Indicators for Cybersecurity
Transitioning from lagging indicators, which reflect past incidents, to leading indicators that predict future performance is essential for improving cybersecurity outcomes. For example, organizations might focus on their ability to reproducibly build and deploy software, which directly correlates to their security posture. By ensuring that infrastructures can be cold restarted and properly maintained, organizations enhance both their security resilience and operational efficiency. Ultimately, leveraging leading indicators allows businesses to better prepare for incidents while concurrently driving productivity and reducing risk.
Phil Venables, Vice President, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) @ Google Cloud
Topics
Why is our industry suddenly obsessed with resilience? Is this ransomware’s doing?
How did the PCAST report come to be? Can you share the backstory and how it was created?
The PCAST report emphasizes the importance of leading indicators for security and resilience. How can organizations effectively shift their focus from lagging indicators to these leading indicators?
The report also emphasizes the importance of "Cyber-Physical Modularity" - this sounds mysterious to us, and probably our listeners! What is it and how does this concept contribute to enhancing the resilience of critical infrastructure?
The report advocates for regular and rigorous stress testing. How can organizations effectively implement such stress testing to identify vulnerabilities and improve their resilience?
In your opinion, what are the most critical takeaways from our PCAST-related paper for organizations looking to improve their security and resilience posture today?
What are some of the challenges organizations might face when implementing the PCAST recommendations, and how can they overcome these challenges?
Do organizations get resilience benefits “for free” by using Google Cloud?