Software Security - Hackable Even When It's Secure

On a recent call, one of the smartest technical folks I can name said something that made me reach for a notepad, to take the idea down for further development later. He was talking about why some of the systems enterprises believe are secure really aren't, even if they've managed to avoid some of the key issues.

Let me explain this a little deeper, because this thought merits such a discussion.

Managing Security in a Highly Decentralized Business Model

Information Security leadership has and will likely continue to be part politicking, part sales, part marketing, and part security. As anyone who has been a security leader or CISO in their job history can attest to, issuing edicts to the business is as easy as it is fruitless- Getting positive results in all but the most strictly regulated environments is nearly impossible. In high centralized organizations, at least, the CISO stands a chance since the organization likely has common goals, processes, and capital spending models. When you get to an organization that operates in a highly distributed and decentralized manner the task of keeping security pace grows to epic proportions.