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Ensuring your IT security isn't a flop

Kirsten Doyle
By Kirsten Doyle, ITWeb contributor.
Johannesburg, 15 Feb 2018
Manuel Corregedor, COO at Telspace Systems.
Manuel Corregedor, COO at Telspace Systems.

When baking a cake, there are three crucial elements to success: the ingredients, the tools you use, and the baker. Without one of these elements, the cake will more than likely flop.

"Information security is no different," says Manuel Corregedor, COO at Telspace Systems. "Organisations keep on changing their recipes for information security, resulting in a cake that no one wants to eat or one which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. As with any great recipe: stick to the original, although you can always add new toppings."

Corregedor will be presenting on 'A simple recipe to ensure your information security cake isn't a flop' at the ITWeb Security Summit 2018, to be held from 21 to 25 May at Vodacom World in Midrand.

Speaking of the common things that organisations continue to get wrong in terms of security, he says they are failing at the basics, such as password management, asset management and patch management.

"However, businesses are also getting caught up in the hype and investing a significant amount of money into technologies which are punted as being the next 'silver bullet' that will protect them against all threats."

ITWeb Security Summit 2018

Registration is already open for the ITWeb Security Summit 2018 Johannesburg and Cape Town. ITWeb has secured cyber security guru Mikko Hypponen, plus at least three other international infosec players as your plenary speakers, including the Rodrigo Branco, Senior Principal Security Researcherat Intel. You can also get involved in #SS18HACK and choose from two half day workshops or a full day Bootcamp, plus five training courses, and much more. For the agenda, click here.

To find out more and register for the ITWeb Security Summit 2018, go to: http://v2.itweb.co.za/event/itweb/security-summit-2018/?page=agendaday1

He says the reason this happens is because executives and/or senior management are being bombarded with marketing 'buzzwords' such as cyber threat intelligence, machine learning, blockchain, APT, 'cyber this' and 'cyber that' - which all promise to address their risks and threats.

It's not to say that these services and products don't work, he says. However, it is important for organisations to understand their unique risks and to choose solutions which will best address them. "Unfortunately, securing an organisation is not as simple as purchasing the latest product or service."

Delegates attending Corregedor's talk will learn about the common mistakes organisations make, from purchasing incorrect but very expensive solutions, to getting advice from inexperienced, self-proclaimed, cyber security experts.

Attendees, in particular senior management, will be given some guidance around how to spot these common mistakes and warning signs, and learn how to address them before it's too late.

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