Lessons cybersecurity can learn from physical security | Guest Jeff Schmidt

This episode we welcome Jeff Schmidt of Covail to discuss security and risk management, working at the FBI to create the InfraGard program, and what cybersecurity can learn from physical security controls and fire safety and protection.

0:00 - Intro
2:30 - Origin story
4:31 - Stepping stones throughout career
8:00 - Average work day
12:14 - Learning from physical security
17:18 - Deficiencies in detection
22:17 - Which security practices need to change?
24:15 - How massive would this change be?
27:37 - Skills needed for real-time detection
32:00 - Strategies to get into cybersecurity
34:30 - Final words on the industry
37:16 - What is Covail?
38:40 - Outro

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Jeff Schmidt, VP and Chief Cyber Security Innovator at Covail is an accomplished cybersecurity expert with a background in security and risk management. He founded JAS Global Advisors LLC, a security consulting firm in Chicago, and Authis, a provider of innovative risk-managed identity services for the financial sector. Jeff is a board member for Delta Risk LLC. In 1998, he worked with the FBI to create the InfraGard program, receiving commendations from the Attorney General and the Director of the FBI. He is an adjunct professor of systems security engineering at the Stevens Institute of Technology and a Zurich Cyber Risk Fellow, Cyber Statecraft Initiative, at The Atlantic Council. Jeff received a Bachelor of Science in computer information systems and an MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.

Jeff came to us with an intriguing topic. He proposes what he calls a Detect, Defend, and Respond Posture in Cybersecurity, and postulates that cybersecurity can learn lessons from “the mature sciences of physical security and fire protection.” No matter how you’re securing your system now, there’s often room for improvement, and always room for taking in new ideas, so let’s take a closer look!

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