Cybersecurity: Don’t panic & manage your risk

(This show originally aired on October 31, 2017)

Today’s guest is well known in the federal government information technology community.  He is retired Brigadier General Greg Touhill, president of Cyxtera Federal Group. Most listeners probably know him as the United States Federal Government’s first chief information security officer.

The interview ranged from broad general topics like aging technology to some of the details on the new Modernizing Government Technology Act (MGT).

General Touhill’s company, Cyxtera, was just formed in early 2017 from a group of companies.  Cyxtera has a remarkable fifty-seven data centers.  When you combine General Touhill’s experience to efficiently handling data centers, then you have great story.

Rather than delve into popular acronyms like DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) or DCOI (Data Center Optimization Initiative) the discussion looked at data centers from a practical perspective.

For example, General Touhill talked about “hardening the workforce.”  He views cybersecurity of a data center to go beyond checkboxes and involve all aspects of the workforce.  Further, he expanded on a concept called Software Defined Perimeter, or #SDP.

During the interview, he argues that today’s security is in a fast-moving dynamic environment where one needs to be able to articulate risks as well as use edge technology like SDP to protect valuable assets.