For Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum members, conversation about security is a topic that never gets old. It’s also one that gets scarier every day for IT leaders everywhere. In fact, as businesses modernize for a new digital reality, more sophisticated threats are emerging. On top of this, users now expect more open, collaborative work environments, while consumers demand more personalized, integrated experiences. All of which put security on the line. After hundreds of technology leaders gathered at multiple events for the Innovation Executive Forum in 2015, several important insights about this new world of security emerged.

1. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Best of IEF 2015:
Security and the weakest link
A look back at the 2015 Softchoice Innovation Executive Forum

2. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Security is a topic that never gets old. It’s also one that gets scarier every
day for IT leaders everywhere.
In fact, as businesses modernize for a new digital reality, more sophisticated
threats are emerging. On top of this, users now expect more open,
collaborative work environments, while consumers demand more
personalized, integrated experiences. All of which put security on the line.
After hundreds of technology leaders gathered at multiple events for the
Innovation Executive Forum in 2015, several important insights about this
new world of security emerged.
Best of IEF: Security and the weakest link

3. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
You are the weakest link
No one opens an email attachment
without first picking up the phone
and making sure that person sent it.

4. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
People aren’t just the heart of IT success. They are also responsible for its
biggest enemy: security breeches.
Which is why the IT leader in Chicago shared his enormous success with
training his people to be weary of every single email attachment. While the
example might seem extreme, it underlines the crucial truth at the heart of
this discussion. People are the weakest link to every security regime.
Technology leaders would be naïve to think technology alone will be enough to
fend off an attack. What is needed is a focus on culture and training.
IEF Chicago
Read the full report

5. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Enter the shadow
We don’t want you to use us because
you have to. We want you to use us
because we are the best option.

6. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
IEF Minneapolis
Read the full report
Call it the consumerism effect, but your workers are expecting more
seamless, easy ways to get their work done. And while many IT leaders
might try and prevent this movement toward more user friendly third party
apps, most modern thinkers know better.
As the IEF discussed at their meeting in Minneapolis, to stop shadow IT you
have to adopt the tools of the enemy. Building user-centric solutions that
are just as easy as the shadow competition is crucial. And sometimes, if
that’s not possible, you need to consider embracing outside services. What
matters is that IT manages to maintain credibility with workers, by always
keeping their interests central. Otherwise the shadow will creep in and you
will have no power to stop it.

7. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Guardians of the brand
All it takes is one Tweet
to set off a firestorm.

8. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
It’s bad enough when your network is breeched. But it’s potentially
catastrophic these days with the speed in which the news will spread online.
This was a key lesson that surfaced at the IEF Atlanta event. The bottom line:
IT leaders today need to recognize a data breech is no longer something that
can be kept out of the public eye. Security, therefore, is central to a brand’s
livelihood.
As serious as this is, there is a silver lining. IT leaders are using the
heightened stakes to implement more robust, far-reaching security solutions
than previously possible. A savvy IT leader will remind stakeholders of how
much is on the line given the sophistication of today’s hackers.
IEF Atlanta
Read the full report

9. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
The “pink shirt” approach
No matter how much
training, people simply
don’t ‘get it’

10. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
That quote refers to the frustrations of one IEF leader in Dallas, discussing
the futility of trying to get users to pick stronger passwords and be more
cautious with email attachments.
But instead of doing the same old warnings, IEF leaders suggested it’s best
to take a few more creative approaches. One of these involved making a
user wear a pink shirt around the office if he/she ever is caught breeching
security protocols, such as downloading attachments from unknown
senders. The take away is simple: IT leaders need to think outside the
box, and play to the realities of their user’s habits, in order to get them to
change risky behaviors.
IEF Dallas
Read the full report

11. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
In cloud we trust
Is getting hacked
better in the cloud?

12. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Let’s assume you are going to be the next target of a hack. The question is:
Is it better to be in the cloud or an on-premise only business? This was a
question raised at the New York IEF, as one leader discussed the merits of
having another party to point the finger at in case of a breech.
But there are far more compelling reasons to put your faith in the cloud,
and start leveraging it for a more secure environment. Trusting the
enormous experience of the provider (such as Microsoft) is one. And built in
compliancy and regulation requirements is another.
IEF New York
Read the full report

13. Best of IEF 2015 | Security and the weakest link
Explore two more curated reports highlighting the best of IEF
thought leadership from 2015.
Want more great advice from the IEF leaders?