“When It Comes to Network Security, Washington Should…”

How much should the U.S. government be involved in securing midmarket enterprises? It was one of several hot topics during this week’s “Accelerating America’s Middle Market” conference in Washington DC, hosted by The Wall Street Journal.

Scott Stevens, Palo Alto Networks VP, Technology and Worldwide Systems Engineering, was part of a panel titled “Can Cybersecurity Be Fixed?” alongside Michael Daniel, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator at the White House. Among discussions over private-public sector collaboration in cybersecurity and how midmarket companies should prioritize cyber investments, Scott was pressed on how those organizations should re-architect security to meet the challenge of today’s sophisticated cyber threats.

“We all got comfortable, but what we we have been doing is no longer working,” said Scott, describing how a poorly automated, point product approach to securing networks and endpoints has stymied our collective efforts to thwart cyber attackers. “Attackers are automated. Why are we fighting them with all these manual processes?”

Scott also highlighted the need for better information sharing and collaboration among peers in security. Attackers are organized, he explained.

“They don’t do it because they like each other,” he said. “They share techniques.”

Check out some photos from The Wall Street Journal event below, and learn more about Palo Alto Networks next-generation security platform here.

Left to right: John Bussey, Associate Editor from the WSJ; Michael Daniel, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator at the White House; and Scott Stevens, Palo Alto Networks VP, Technology and Worldwide Systems Engineering

Chad Berndtson

[Palo Alto Networks Blog]