The VC Perspective: Embracing Uncertainty & Staying the Course – Alberto Yépez – BSW #267
Forgepoint Capital’s Co-Founder and Managing Director, Alberto Yépez, explains what the current economic challenges mean for innovation and the future of the cybersecurity market. Hear his perspective on what security investments, as well as mergers and acquisitions, will look like throughout the next 12-18 months, and how responsible companies are staying the course amidst layoffs and budget cuts in order to turn uncertainty into a strategic path forward.
Segment Resources: - Forgepoint’s new CISO security priorities model: https://forgepointcap.com/news/forgepoint-capital-builds-first-ever-ciso-security-priorities-model/
Recent exits that Forgepoint supported: - Forescout acquires Cysiv on June 6, 2022(release: https://www.cysiv.com/news/forescout-announces-intent-to-acquire-cysiv and Forgepoint’s blog: https://forgepointcap.com/news/executive-spotlight-an-interview-with-partha-panda-ceo-of-cysiv/) - SentinelOne acquires Attivo Networks on May 4, 2022 (release: https://www.sentinelone.com/press/sentinelone-completes-acquisition-of-attivo-networks/ and Forgepoint’s “why we invested” blog: https://forgepointcap.com/news/attivo-networks-why-we-invested/) - LexisNexis Risk Solutions Acquires BehavioSec on May 3, 2022 (release:https://risk.lexisnexis.com/about-us/press-room/press-release/20220503-behaviosec and Forgepoint’s blog: https://forgepointcap.com/news/executive-spotlight-an-interview-with-neil-costigan-of-behaviosec/) - Cloudflare acquires Area 1 Security on April 1, 2022 (release: https://www.cloudflare.com/press-releases/2022/cloudflare-completes-acquisition-of-area-1-security/ and Forgepoint’s “why we invested” blog: https://forgepointcap.com/news/area-1-security-why-we-invested/)
Alberto Yépez is a Co-Founder and Managing Director at Forgepoint Capital, a venture capital firm that invests in transformative companies protecting the digital future. He is a seasoned investor and serial entrepreneur with a proven track record of building global businesses and leading them to successful exits. Under his leadership, Forgepoint now has the largest portfolio of cybersecurity companies (37 active), one of the most experienced and diverse teams in the industry, and a 75-member Advisory Council of industry experts, customers, and partners who support portfolio growth with guidance and connections.
Alberto serves as Chairman Emeritus of the Hispanic IT Executive Council (HITEC). He was previously on the Board of the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the Board of Trustees of the University of San Francisco. Alberto holds a BS from the University of San Francisco. He also attended the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and the Universidad Nacional de Ingenieria in Lima, Perú.
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Security Consolidation & Beyond the CyberSec Motions – Malcolm Harkins, Paul McKay – BSW #267
There was a time when the perceived wisdom was to buy best of breed security technologies and that would do for your security program. Trouble of is, none of it integrates with each other or your wider IT. With budgets getting tighter, security pros are being asked to look again at big portfolio security providers and work out whether they can use their offerings to slim down. In this session I'll discuss what I'm hearing from our customers, and some of the things we are starting to see people do to balance the need to optimize cost and efficiency without compromising security protection.
Speed, Velocity, and Acceleration. The physics of motion are well documented, and we understand how these scalar and vector quantities differ. In information security and cyber risk management the dynamics are not as well understood which has confused our ability to distinguish between motion and progress. This confusion intensifies our escalating risk cycle by causing a mirage of control that continues to lead us to down a path of compromise and catastrophe, adding to our growing labor and skill deficit. This segment is meant to explore the existing physics and gravitational forces of how we have approached cyber risk management to date, discuss where we are stuck today as well as ideas for a path forward - a reorientation of security operations function so that it is optimized to handle the volume as well as reposition it from an anchor point of continual reaction to one where it can take proactive action in front of the cycle of risk. The heart of these changes is a redefinition of the risk equation we have been using for decades Risk = F (Threat, Vulnerability, Consequence) which while useful initially has created a spray and pray model across most of our organizations. I will explain how to redefine the equation to be Risk = F (Threat, Exploitability, Consequence).
Segment Resources: https://www.uscybersecurity.net/csmag/going-beyond-the-motions-of-cybersecurity/
Malcolm Harkins is the Chief Security and Trust Officer at HiddenLayer. In this role he reports to the CEO and is responsible for enabling business growth through trusted infrastructure, systems, and business processes. Malcolm is also responsible for peer outreach activities to drive improvement across the world in the understanding of cyber risks as well as best practices to manage and mitigate those risks. He is also an independent board member and advisor to several organizations and CISO Ambassador for Reveald. He enjoys being an executive coach to CISOs and others in a wide variety of information risk roles. Key areas of focus include the ethics around technology risk, social responsibility, total cost of controls, public policy, and driving more industry accountability.
Previously Malcolm was the Chief Security and Trust Officer at Cylance. Malcolm was also previously Vice President and Chief Security and Privacy Officer (CSPO) at Intel Corporation.
Paul is a principal analyst on the Security and Risk team. Paul’s research coverage includes cybersecurity risk ratings solutions and cyber risk quantification; CISO and security leadership research in the European market; and European security service providers, focusing on managed security service providers and security consultancies.
Paul is frequently asked to comment on areas relevant to his research coverage and has been quoted in publications such as the Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Fortune, ZDNet, SC Magazine, Handelsblatt, City A.M., and Infosecurity Magazine.
