How to Win a Cyberwar: Use a Combined Intelligence Strategy – Source: www.databreachtoday.com

In times of war, such as the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, intelligence becomes even more important than it is in peacetime. Yet, cyber defenders often focus more on getting inside the adversary’s system to listen to their attack plans than they do on using tabletop exercises to refine their response to those attacks. It’s a tough balance to maintain.

In an interview conducted less than two weeks after the initial Hamas attack on Israel, Red Curry, chief marketing officer at Tautuk – formerly vFortified, said, “Intelligence feeds back to the mission on the ground,” which is to “save lives.” To do that, he said, you need “eyes on the ground.”

His brother, Sam Curry, CISO at Zscaler, agreed that getting the “ground truth” is crucial and said that “the first-hand information collected the hard way is one of the cornerstones of a combined intelligence strategy” that relies on a mixture of ground truth, intelligence and cyber capabilities.

When a war is going on, “we need to get on the ground and learn about the people, the sentiment,” Sam Curry said. After we “find common ground,” we can “use technology to detect threats. That’s how you get that anti-fragility.”

In this episode – Part 1 of the Curry brothers’ interview – on CyberEd.io‘s podcast series “Cybersecurity Insights,” the brothers also discussed:

• Moving beyond resilience to anti-fragile intelligence – systems that come back stronger after being attacked;
• Rethinking what gets taken for granted in designing network architecture
• Why terrorism requires a harder military response.

Sam Curry previously served as chief security officer at Cybereason and chief technology and security officer at Arbor Networks. Prior to those roles, he spent more than seven years at RSA – the security division of EMC – in a variety of senior management positions, including chief strategy officer and chief technologist and senior vice president of product management and product marketing. Curry also has held senior roles at Microstrategy, Computer Associates and McAfee.

Red Curry has over 20 years of experience leading creative and strategic teams for companies such as RSA/EMC, Mettler Toledo, and SSH Communications Security. He has more than a decade of experience safeguarding sensitive data and combating cyberthreats. His work spans various industries, including manufacturing, retail and technology, and he generates ideas that enhance brand recognition and help companies distinguish themselves in today’s competitive business environment.