Peter Schawacker has been involved in cybersecurity long before data breaches commonly made the headlines. In fact, he’s been helping businesses secure their data long before it was even called cyber security. Currently, he is heading the IT Security Team for Axiom Technology Group. In his career, he has been working with some of the biggest names in the business to protect their data and that of their customers.
The demand for the kinds of services that Peter provides has gone up a lot in recent years, particularly amongst private equity (PE) firms. In the past, such businesses didn’t concern themselves much with cyber security, leaving it up to the portfolio managers and others to deal with. However, the sheer number of security breaches and the resulting scrutiny that brings has forced them to rethink their priorities and take responsibility for their own security. Many of these PE firms are also small to mid-size, which is partly why they haven’t been able to keep up with the latest developments. They just don’t have the scale and resources needed to handle security on their own. That also makes these firms tempting targets. They have enough data and money to make it worth attacking but not so much that the companies or the government will spend a lot of resources to go after the hackers. Fortunately, Axiom is there to pick up the slack.
One of the most important services that Axiom provides is a full survey of the weaknesses a given firm might have, delivering around 200 security assessments a year, with approximately a quarter of those experiencing some kind of cyberattack. Performing this task well and transparently has earned both Axiom and Peter solid reputations as transparent, honest, and interested in keeping the client’s interests foremost. This seems like it should be a no brainer but as Peter points out, there are a lot of charlatans in the cyber world, less interested in helping their clients solve problems than they are in making as much money as possible from each client. This is just bad practice. It means not only that a given security company will lose the trust and business of their clients when they figure out that they are being taken for a ride, it harms the trust in the cyber security industry as a whole.
There is also the fact that most firms, PE and otherwise are looking to implement the least amount of security possible. This isn’t because they don’t care about their clients’ data, but because at the end of the day they need to make money, which in turn means any Axiom client is looking for the lowest cost services that will bring their risk of a data breach down to an acceptable level. Because the sad truth is that it is incredibly unlikely that data will ever be 100% protected. Someone will always leave a password out or share it when they shouldn’t and a hacker will use it to disrupt a firm’s systems, only letting them go when their ransom is paid.
When interacting with clients, it is important to keep all of this in mind so you don’t oversell them. It’s also worth keeping in mind that most people don’t know the details of cyber security and frankly, they don’t want to know. All they want to know is how you can help them and how much it is going to cost. If someone is ever trying to convince you how awesome security is, they are almost certainly trying to sell a bill of goods.
Another thing Peter goes into is who makes the best cyber security professionals. It isn’t who you might think. People who go through a specific IT program are usually farther behind the curve on the latest development and too rigid in their thinking. The best hires for him tend to be high school teachers and musicians. Both are capable of thinking critically and still improvising when needed.
What does Peter think is the most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to dealing with cyber security? Finding who you can trust. The person who knows his stuff, can deliver on time and isn’t trying to oversell you. That is the person who has your interest at heart, who wants to make your systems secure without taking you for a ride.
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