Jeff Snyder, Vice President of Cyber Programs at Raytheon, was recently interviewed by Saudi Arabia’s National Cyber Security Center. The interview comes after Snyder spoke at the 2nd annual International Cyber Security Conference back in March. The complete interview, excerpted below (and edited for clarity) can be found here.
Threats and Challenges
Risk has increased in the incredible proliferation of possible attack surfaces. Moving to the cloud, ubiquitous mobile devices and even common kitchen appliances like coffee makers being connected to the internet mean there are millions of new possible ways for attackers to get into a sensitive system.
One of the big challenges not just in the Middle East but around the world is in developing cyber talent. About a million cybersecurity jobs went unfilled last year, and companies and organizations around the world are facing unprecedented threats from all directions.
However, a recent survey we commissioned with the US National Cyber Security Alliance showed that in Saudi Arabia, young people are among the best prepared, with a sound foundation in information and communications technologies. Strong partnerships with countries and organizations that have made sound investments in developing strong cyber talent are necessary to meet and defeat current and future threats.
What Companies Can Do
Monitoring and remediation tools are only part of the solution in detecting threats … Threat hunting is a very effective strategy to stop attacks and it’s primarily a human-based activity, requiring skilled threat hunting experts to implement an effective program.
It’s also very important for enterprises to incorporate best practices into their security operations to mitigate the risks that targeted attacks pose. Educating employees along with implementing standard IT security controls and monitoring systems can improve an organization’s ability to detect and respond to threats.
The Future of Cybersecurity
Raytheon has been a proud partner to Saudi Arabia for more than fifty years, and we look forward to many more years of strong and mutually beneficial partnership including in the important area of cyber security for the Kingdom.
The Kingdom continues to invest wisely in preparing its young people to operate and succeed in the cyber domain, and we see opportunities to leverage our partnership by work together to continue to develop Saudi cyber talent and to finding ways to better developing and apply new cyber security technologies, approaches and systems.
Raytheon has invested more than $3.6 billion over the last ten years in cybersecurity. [For] example[,] in Insider Threat technologies. Raytheon’s Forcepoint company is a world leader in providing defense-grade cyber products that mitigate even the most pervasive threats. We are also leaders in the managed security services area, with new offerings such as Virtual Operations Centers and proactive threat hunting.