EDITOR’S COMMENT
THE IMPORTANCE OF
PARTNERSHIPS IN
THE CYBERSECURITY
INDUSTRY
SAM CURRY, CHIEF SECURITY OFFICER, CYBEREASON
Given the market instability, risk
is soaring and many companies
are responding by shrinking from
investments, preserving capital and
hibernating. The big question before us
all is what will be the ultimate fate of the
economy? Examining that first then leads to
a better understanding of the likely evolution
short, medium and long term for the
cybersecurity industry and helps us make the
case for why collaboration and partnerships
might be essential.
Short Term
In the short term, while the novel
Coronavirus is assured to be running amok,
the companies that will do well are those
that have solutions that minimise disruption
and help to protect customers who now
are radically expelled from the reassuring
perimeters on networks tied very physically
to their corporate offices. Keep in mind that
many customers will be slapping controls in
place to control the outflow of money but
they will still spend for things that will help
them stave off existential crisis and keep
critical services running, especially around
remote work.
If a cybersecurity vendor is asking
companies to do significant heavy lifting –
such as ripping-and-replacing things that
don’t deal with the existential threats of
suddenly being remote, is confusing users
by requiring them to use tools they aren’t
familiar with or that could significantly
interrupt the organisations’ operations and
SLAs – they should back off and hibernate
too. If, however, they can help with things
like awareness, strong authentication,
protecting layer eight, detecting the start of
those kill chains, stabilising remote access
and so on, they can potentially do well but
they still need to watch their own P&Ls since
the free flow of cash is still going to be slow.
Medium term
In the next phase, cyber companies will
begin to wither just like any others if
the macro crisis isn’t resolved. No one is
immune, and the free flow of capital is
essential to all members of the economic
ecosystem. Like a land turned suddenly arid
due to environmental change, when there’s
no more water, there is a die-off that is
merciless and relatively quick.
However, in this phase, a new
economy will be emerging. Whether or
not a recession is under way in the classic
sense of a quarter of negative growth,
some companies will be spending and
those who reach equilibrium will start to
consider more complex security solutions.
If you’re one of those cyber companies
that weathered the first phase and can
reduce real risks and the emergent threats
that will come from the adversary’s R&D
and adaptation, you will find the start of
new opportunities.
Long term
In the final phase, looking six months and
beyond, we have two possible outcomes.
We all hope for the first where we exit
quarantine and beat COVID-19 and fight to
rebuild the economy. In this world, we see
hope for inoculation in the future against
future Coronaviruses and the cyber sector
recovers quickly in a narrowed field having
seen some companies fail. It will be a while
until things boom but acquisitions and
mergers become likely and a new crop of
solutions will emerge even as many old
names die because they have gone into
bankruptcy or simple stagnation.
In the second scenario, we still fight
the virus and as with any devastating
economic “extinction event,” new life
emerges and adapts in a less rich and
booming world for a while.
Here is where we learn to live with
Coronavirus and find a hoped-for stasis
and a slow path to recovery, which is not
a new spring for the cyber industry. No
one wants to consider a third scenario
where no one does well, and things become
completely unpredictable.
In the end, there is no one outside
the realities of the macro economic
conditions and there is very little
certainty in future performance of
companies, cyber or otherwise.
Our values are being tested and our
species is at war with a tiny-in-someways
but huge-in-other-ways threat.
How you behave now will tell the world
a lot about what your company stands
for with employees, customers and the
wider community. •
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS
INTELLIGENT
TECH CHANNELS Issue 29
17