Most large organisations handle physical security and cybersecurity separately.
Physical security comes under facilities or building management. Cybersecurity reports to the CIO or CISO.
But are the disciplines converging, and should cyber and physical security teams work more closely together?
Changes in the geopolitical environment and the threat landscape are changing the way organisations protect their IT systems and operations. Already, we have seen assets such as datacentres come under missile atttack in the Middle East.
And then there is the risk of malicious actors using cyber attacks to disrupt or damage physical systems, such as transport or manufacturing, or even to gain unauthorised access to a business’ premises.
Could a more joined-up approach to security improve defences and operational resilience? And what stands in the way of improved co-operation?
Our guest is James Blake, former CISO and now vice president, global cyber resilience strategy, consulting and response at Cohesity.
About our guest:
James “Jimmy” Blake is Vice President of Global Cyber Resiliency Strategy, Response & Consulting Services at Cohesity, where he helps organisations strengthen operational resilience across both traditional business continuity and disaster recovery scenarios, as well as destructive cyberattacks.
For nearly a decade, Jimmy has been at the forefront of expanding the role of modern data management platforms beyond backup and recovery into governance, digital forensics, incident response and cyber resiliency operations. He is a frequent conference speaker, white paper author, and media commentator on cyber resilience, ransomware, operational recovery, and security strategy.
At Cohesity, Jimmy helps shape cyber resiliency product direction, leads the company’s Cyber Event Response Team (CERT), and heads its proactive cyber resiliency consulting practice. CERT provides 24/7 support to organisations responding to and recovering from destructive cyberattacks, while the consulting team helps customers build the operational capability needed to recover to a trusted state, not simply restore systems quickly. In these roles, Jimmy works closely with some of the world’s largest commercial and public sector organisations.
Jimmy is also an Advisory Board Member for the South West of England Technology Cluster, where he supports efforts to connect, promote, and strengthen the regional technology sector across Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wiltshire, Bristol, and Gloucestershire.
