Preserving capacity, General Tom Lawson, Chief of the Defence Staff, Keys to Canadian SAR
Issue link: http://vanguardcanada.uberflip.com/i/122908
Security S In many companies now, the CIO is in the C suite while CSOs are not (in fact, most heads of security are not called CSOs). As security becomes ever more important and value-added to business, the prospects for the CSO having greater impact increase. And those who have moved more successfully have probably reached the point where they are one step away from C-suite management. But I know of many that are two or three steps away, and the worry is that there are two or three levels through which their message can be dissipated. Security should be an investment and profits can be greatly enhanced as a result of that investment, but it requires, certainly at the early stages when companies are changing their attitudes to security, not just an investment of money but an investment of thought. Q Given how quickly threats have evolved, especially in cyber space, how critical is the role of intelligence to a strategic understanding of what's coming next? The nature of threats has grown. Cyber is just part of a general portfolio that people are having to assess. You can do just as much damage to a company by failing to identify with whom you might be partnering. We're really talking about threats to IT and although the threat is constantly changing, constantly getting more complicated, and defences must constantly evolve, in principle that is no different than the old business of erecting barriers to keep out criminals – the better ones will work out ways across the barriers. The pace of change is the biggest challenge. With that pace of change, it is a brave individual or organization that can claim that they will be able use regular intelligence assessments to prevent future adverse developments. Much of it will be catch up. We are back to the assessment of risk. You have to work out which risks you can deal with and which risks you might have to live with. A degree of risk acceptance is crucial. Another aspect of the cyber threat is that it does not live on its own. Cyber fraud is conducted by people, and the counter measures eventually have to deal with that human aspect. That's another intelligence element. It's an element which brings in degrees of intuitive understanding as well. Q That suggests a need for greater intelligence sharing. Public-private sharing has long been a challenge. Is there more willingness to pool intelligence within the private sector? A lot of sharing does go on within the private sector. Sometimes sharing is prevented because of the competitive elements in companies, particularly with companies in the same sector. But usually there are ways around that and I think it is fair to say that there is a fundamental understanding that information needs to be shared. But that's not intelligence – the assessment of that information is what makes intelligence. There is also a growing understanding that there needs to be partnership between the private and public sectors. The concept of partnership and sharing information is still not something which has been refined to the point where everybody feels trust and respect in the quality of the information; there are obstacles around the source of information and whether it should be classi- LONDON, CANADA A LONG TRADITION OF DEFENCE SYSTEMS EXCELLENCE Global MILITARY Contractors Home of the FRAUNHOFER Project Centre for Composites The London region's growing defence cluster employs more than 12,000 highly skilled people trained to military specification and QA in over 45 defence-related companies, including: » General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada » Kongsberg Protech Systems Canada » Armatec Survivability » AMTI, a CoorsTek Company » DAVWIRE » IMT Defence » Military Power House » Militex Coatings Inc. LONDON'S STRATEGIC ADVANTAGE » At the juncture of three major highways, offering access to over 150 million people within a one day drive » Close proximity to US Army's major development centres (TACOM and TARDEC) » London International Airport with 24-hour Canada Customs and Air Cargo Services Join the LEDC, in collaboration with CADSI, for The Best Defence II Conference OCTOBER 3, 2013 – LONDON, ONTARIO Best-Defence.LEDC.com Heather Pilot Director, Business Development P: 519 661 4957 | C: 519 851 9848 hpilot@ledc.com www.vanguardcanada.com APRIL/MAY 2013 41