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Mike Wilkes

CISO at The Security Agency

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Do you trust the data & reports from the big analysts?

Strategy & Architecture

Yes

Sometimes

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111.2k views126 Upvotes59 Comments

What plans do you have to adopt a Zero Trust access model within your company?

Security & GRC Threat & Vulnerability Management Identity & Access Management (IAM)+8 more

Zero Trust access is already in place

Zero Trust projects are underway

Zero Trust projects are planned

No plans for Zero Trust

I am unfamiliar with Zero Trust

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1.2k views

Do you agree with this statement: According to Gartner, by 2024, 80% of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2021-06-10-gartner-says-the-majority-of-technology-products-and-services-will-be-built-by-professionals-outside-of-it-by-2024

Strategy & Architecture Engineering Outsourcing & Managed Services+5 more

Strongly Agree

Agree

Neither Agree nor Disagree

Disagree

Strongly Disagree

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1.3k views1 Comment

Do you think Zero-Trust can be implemented into a OT/ICS Network environment?

Cloud Security & GRC Network+4 more

Yes, fully implemented in all OT network

Yes, but only on some networks.

No, it can't be implemented at this time.

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930 views1 Upvote

Is IT as a department expected to help your organization achieve its sustainability goals?

Yes

My company does not have sustainability goals

Don't Know

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2k views6 Upvotes1 Comment

How concerned are you about having unknown personally identifiable information (PII) on your corporate network?

Risk Management Data Privacy Threat & Vulnerability Management+6 more

I could have unknown PII on my network?

Not concerned at all

Somewhat concerned

Very concerned

Addressing this is a top priority

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1.7k views1 Upvote

How many 3rd-party scripts does your website load into web visitors' browsers before they accept or decline your organization's privacy consent notice?

Governance, Risk & Compliance Culture & Values Legal+9 more

None

1-5

6-10

11-20

21-49

50+

I don't know

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3.5k views2 Upvotes

Has your organization enabled employees to access Office 365 from mobile endpoints?

Device Management Mobile Productivity Tools+15 more

Yes

Other

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2.5k views2 Upvotes

Does your security awareness training address QR code phishing?

Awareness & Training Risk Management Security Strategy & Roadmap

Yes

Other (please specify below)

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1.2k views

How is your company managing the usage of LLMs and Generative AI by personnel?

People & Leadership Security & GRC 5G+9 more

Blanket prohibition.

Company policy that permits certain use cases.

Approval of use cases on an ad hoc basis.

Other (please explain in the comments)

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10.5k views5 Upvotes4 Comments

When you've got production assets running in the cloud CNAPP is necessary, but is it sufficient? Curious to hear other's thoughts on the 2024 Gartner CNAPP Market Guide.

Security Strategy & Roadmap Peer Insights People & Leadership

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency15 days ago

If you have read the 2024 Market Guide for CNAPP, you might have also seen the Table 3 therein which lists certain representative CNAPP Vendors. Some of such names are:
1. Crowdstrike Falcon Cloud Security
2. Microsoft ...read more

380 views1 Comment

I was looking at a client's DNS configurations for MX records and noticed that they have just one entry: smtp.google.com At first I thought this was a mistake, but apparently after April 2023 this is now the recommended setting. One record with a "weight" of "1." I've been managing and configuring SMTP services and DNS records for 30+ years and I've always believed (and seen the belief reinforced over time) that DNS is a SPoF (Single Point of Failure) for many organizations. The most impressive outage of the last few years was in October 2021 when folks at Facebook instantly took down Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with one mistaken BGP configuration change. Question: Why would Google have put all of their DNS eggs in one basket? Meaning, all of their DNS services behind smtp.google.com (in IPv4 at least) seem to live within one ASN: 15169 with over 11 million IP addresses. They seem exposed to a BGP outage and/or BGP hijacking attack with this setup. References: Google Workspace MX record values 9 & MxToolbox (asn:15169)

Cloud Risk Management Availability+1 more

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency2 months ago

Google's public DNS servers use DNSSEC to authenticate responses whenever possible. They also load balance their infrastructure via various means. One example is just a DNS lookup of smtp.google.com, where you are treated ...read more

1 Reply

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394 views1 Upvote4 Comments

I recently attended a Family Office Summit and am starting to formulate what might go into a managed cybersecurity offering to address their particular combination of digital and physical asset risk, reputation and infrastructure/services exposures. What would you add to this initial list? - Executive Protection Services (physical security team) - Mobile Security / MDM - Home Security (wifi, router, IoT review) - Darkweb and Clearweb Identity and Social Media Monitoring - Third-Party Continuous Monitoring (lawyers, foundations, real estate etc)

Security Strategy & Roadmap Security & GRC Security

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency4 months ago

What do you think about using the basic cyber hygiene (implementation group 1) from https://www.cisecurity.org/ as a guideline? I use this when assessing the cyber security posture of larger organizations and I wonder how ...read more

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305 views3 Comments

Are you familiar with the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) from the US Coast Guard around Title 33 of the CFR that recommends updates to the application of cybersecurity to the maritime sector? What do you think of the proposed changes? I'm actively involved with Sector NY Area Maritime Security Committee and would love to hear your thoughts and reactions.

Security Strategy & Roadmap Security & GRC Security

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

NPRM link: https://www.news.uscg.mil/maritime-commons/Article/3683523/notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-cybersecurity-in-the-marine-transportation-system/

308 views1 Upvote1 Comment

I was looking at a client's DNS configurations for MX records and noticed that they have just one entry: smtp.google.com At first I thought this was a mistake, but apparently after April 2023 this is now the recommended setting. One record with a "weight" of "1." I've been managing and configuring SMTP services and DNS records for 30+ years and I've always believed (and seen the belief reinforced over time) that DNS is a SPoF (Single Point of Failure) for many organizations. The most impressive outage of the last few years was in October 2021 when folks at Facebook instantly took down Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp with one mistaken BGP configuration change. Question: Why would Google have put all of their DNS eggs in one basket? Meaning, all of their DNS services behind smtp.google.com (in IPv4 at least) seem to live within one ASN: 15169 with over 11 million IP addresses. They seem exposed to a BGP outage and/or BGP hijacking attack with this setup. References: Google Workspace MX record values 9 & MxToolbox (asn:15169)

Cloud Risk Management Availability+1 more

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency2 months ago

1 Reply

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394 views1 Upvote4 Comments

CrowdStrike outage: Any quick advice for orgs affected? What immediate actions are your IT and other teams taking to mitigate the effects of the outage?

Crowdstrike Outage 2024 IT Strategy & Roadmap Crisis Management+2 more

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency2 months ago

Right now, communication is key!

We have invoked a passphrase protocol to protect our users from social engineering attempts to gain unauthorised access to our users computers or systems by claiming to be from IT support ...read more

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7.2k views20 Upvotes33 Comments

Looking for advice on fine-tuning Microsoft Defender for Endpoint. We're currently using it somewhat out-of-the-box, but we'd like to enhance its effectiveness and minimize false positives and irrelevant alerts. Any guidance on adjusting the configuration or setting parameters to improve detection accuracy would be greatly appreciated.

Security & GRC

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency3 months ago

This is a great question which comes up often. The answer isn’t always simple and depends on your situation, licensing and how defender is implemented. Look into the following basic items:
Implement ASR rules to reduce ...read more

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201 views2 Comments

What do you enjoy the most about working in cybersecurity?

Security & GRC Culture & Values Business Relationships

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency3 months ago

For me, the most enjoyable part of working in CyberSecurity and Technology in general, is the constant challenge and the feeling of accomplishment, when a challenge is met or a project is finished.

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400 views4 Comments

In your opinion, what is the main value your organization's marketing department delivers?

Peer Insights

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency4 months ago

Do you can add some examples of what you are thinking about?

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48.8k views6 Upvotes33 Comments

What are some effective strategies or practices that have helped your team embrace and internalize your software development standards, leading to a culture of compliance?

Engineering Strategy & Architecture

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

Capture the hearts and minds of the influencers within your dev team first, the rest of the organization membership will follow their lead. In order to gain the intrinsic interest of these culture-bearing individuals you ...read more

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1.2k views1 Upvote3 Comments

We are currently looking to build out an Identity Management team in the CISO org covering IGA, IAM and PAM. IGA is a net new function within our company however IAM and PAM currently sit within the IT Operations group. For those that have gone through this type of transition before I would appreciate insights into the following: - what industry are you in? - what challenges did you face and how did you overcome them - did you transition existing staff from the IAM and PAM teams over to the CISO - did IAM fully move over or was there a hybrid approach where human accounts were managed by the Identity team and service accounts / technical accounts continued to be managed by IT Operations or another group?

Operations Management Security Feedback+2 more

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

There is no doubt in my mind that a strong partnership with two functions in a company or enterprise is needed, the first is the HR department and the second is the Infrastructure/IT Ops department.

This is driven ...read more

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671 views3 Comments

Any advice for jumpstarting cross functional relationships when beginning a CISO position at a new org?

Internal CXO Relationships Business Relationships Security Strategy & Roadmap

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

What has worked for me is to publish a 90 day onboarding plan and take this into meetings with your stakeholders and colleagues/peers. Ask them to improve it by suggesting some kind of area of work (or area of risk) that ...read more

161 views1 Comment

Thoughts on fractional CISO roles? What are the biggest pros/cons that come with that?

Security & GRC Personal Development Business Relationships

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

I've found doing vCISO work is more rewarding than full time CISO work because you can provide impactful changes more quickly as everyone knows that your time spent with the team is limited. The flip side of this is that ...read more

230 views1 Upvote1 Comment

Are you familiar with the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rule Making) from the US Coast Guard around Title 33 of the CFR that recommends updates to the application of cybersecurity to the maritime sector? What do you think of the proposed changes? I'm actively involved with Sector NY Area Maritime Security Committee and would love to hear your thoughts and reactions.

Security Strategy & Roadmap Security & GRC Security

Mike WilkesCISO at The Security Agency5 months ago

NPRM link: https://www.news.uscg.mil/maritime-commons/Article/3683523/notice-of-proposed-rulemaking-cybersecurity-in-the-marine-transportation-system/

308 views1 Upvote1 Comment

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Strategy & Architecture
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