During a session on cybersecurity at Waste Expo in Las Vegas, panelists representing IT, electronics recycling, insurance and cybersecurity echoed each other’s notion that the pandemic threw many departments for a loop in terms of maintaining a high level of data security.
Mike Coogan, director of cybersecurity for WM reflected back two years ago when suddenly, large portions of the workforce were being sent home to do their jobs.
“The pandemic made people rethink how employees interact with data,” he said. Businesses like WM were tasked with figuring out how to deploy their security assets from home. Frank Wilk, vice president and CIO at Casella Waste Systems also shared that the pandemic provided them with an opportunity to really look into their cybersecurity strategies. Plus, there was the issue of cross contamination: using personal devices for work and vice versa.
Billy Bob Brown, assistant director for emergency communications at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and panel moderator, said the goals of cybersecurity can be broken into do aspects: Defend Today and Secure Tomorrow.
Defend today. Everyone should be enabled to have their information secured, Brown said. This can be achieved by doing a general risk assessment of the potential threats your company faces when it comes to secure data and information. Companies should be asking themselves what they need to be worrying about. Defending your data and information comes in the systems and programs your company has set up to tackle breaches and threats.
Coogan explained that its important to strategize defenses. “Block and tackle the problem, and move forward, don’t burn yourself out trying to analyze the attacks,” he said. And, when there is a breach, it doesn’t mean you need to totally restructure your system. “Understand the scope of the issue and move forward,” he said.
Secure tomorrow. Securing your data for the future comes in many forms, not just the way you plan to attack and manage breaches. The panelists all agreed that hardware hacking is a very serious issue that is happening because of neglect of data security or blatant theft. John Segerian, chairman and CEO of ERI shared insights into the destruction of data as an important means of cybersecurity.
“Efficient data destruction is needed to protect your home, your assets and your people,” he said. There is a huge market for purchasing old electronics. Brown shared that up to 50% of bidders on containers have some interest in homeland security.
In securing your data for tomorrow, there are insurance options out there that can support your business. Kathleen Curley, national account director at Cyber Practice Risk Strategies said cyber insurance has hardened over the last two years.
“Limits are restricted and there are policy guardrails,” she said. “It can become difficult to procure insurance but the policies have value so they are important to have.”
