In the ever-evolving technology landscape, data analytics and data strategy continue to play a larger role in economics and business models. Director of the Center for Applied Artificial Intelligence at the University of St. Thomas, Dr. Manjeet Rege, co-hosts the "All Things Data" podcast with adjunct professor and Innovation Fellow Dan Yarmoluk. The podcast provides insight into the significance of data science as it relates to business models, business economics and delivery systems. Through informative conversation with leading data scientists, business model experts, technologists and futurists, Rege and Yarmoluk discuss how to utilize, harness, and deploy data science, data-driven strategies, and enable digital transformations.
Rege and Yarmoluk spoke with Greg Edwards on cybersecurity and steps that companies can take to protect their data. Edwards has been a technology entrepreneur since 1998 when he founded Axis Backup, which is a backup and disaster recovery company for the insurance industry. His work with Axis Backup allowed him to see the prominence of cybersecurity firsthand. Now he is the founder and current CEO of Cryptostopper, where he focuses exclusively on cybersecurity for businesses. Here are some highlights from their conversation.
Q. How does the current market present opportunities for cyberattacks to happen?
A. These cybercriminals are making billions of dollars a year and I’m often asked why don’t these guys use their powers for good? And the brutal and honest answer is that they can make a hell of a lot more money running ransomware and attacking people than they can being on the good side of it.
Q. What does it mean to be a cybersecurity professional?
A. We as cybersecurity professionals have to stay ahead of, or at least in parallel with, these cyber attackers, to move on from that thinking that these guys are in a hoodie sitting in their mom’s basement. That’s not who we’re talking about anymore. These are criminal organizations that are run like businesses.
Q. How can small businesses protect themselves from cyberattacks?
A. The biggest thing that small companies need to do is to do patch management, to make sure that every device on their network is up to date and current, from the Windows operating system all the way through the applications that are installed.
Listen to their conversation here:
