In this Spotlight edition of the podcast, sponsored* by RSA Security, we go deep on public sector cyber risk with two interviews from the most recent RSA Conference: Kelvin Coleman, the Executive Director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) and Sean McHenry, the CISO of the Utah State Board of Education. In our second segment, we shift focus to the Pacific. Robert Carey the Vice President of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA Security joins us with the man known as “Dr. AA”: Dr. Aswami Ariffin who is the head of response at Cybersecurity Malaysia.

If anyone doubted it, the sudden emergence of the COVID 19 virus in the early months of 2020 has reminded us all about the vital importance of public sector organizations – from first responders and hospital workers on the front lines, to public departments of health to schools and educators.

Despite that, public sector organizations frequently find themselves in the cross hairs of sophisticated cyber criminals and nation state actors these days. Around the world, threats like ransomware have crippled everything from municipal governments to hospitals to public transit networks, disrupting lives and economic activity for hundreds of millions of people. Add to that the acuity of a global pandemic or other natural disaster and the damage could be even greater.

Rethinking the Role of Public Sector Workers

What are public sector organizations doing about it? At the recent RSA Conference in February, I had a chance to meet with subject matter experts from industry and who have boots on the ground in the public sector to talk about the changing threat landscape.

In this month’s spotlight podcast, we’re bringing you those interviews. In our first segment, we’re joined by Sean McHenry, the CISO at the Utah State Board of Education and Kelvin Coleman, who is Execuitve Director of the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

(L-R) Kelvin Coleman is the Executive Director of NCSA. Sean McHenry is CISO of the Utah State Board of Education.

Industry 4.0 Driving Public Sector Cyber in Malaysia

Malaysia is in a busy neighborhood when it comes to cyber security. The Pacific nation of 32 million people sits smack dab in the middle of the rapidly developing South China Sea, pressed up against Indonesia and in the shadow of emerging Super Power China.

But the country is also developing rapidly: embracing industry 4.0 and the Internet of things as it seeks to modernize its government and economy. That makes managing the country’s CERT a challenging job for one of our next guests, Aswami Ariffin (or Dr. AA) the Senior Vice President of the Cybersecurity Responsive Division at Cybersecurity Malaysia. Dr. AA was joined by Robert Carey, Vice President of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA Security.

(L-R) Aswami Ariffin isthe Senior Vice President of the Cybersecurity Responsive Division at Cybersecurity Malaysia. Robert Carey is the Vice President of Global Public Sector Solutions at RSA Security.

(*) Disclosure: This podcast and blog post were sponsored by RSA Security for more information on how Secur...