Allan Alford - The Business, Product & Security in the role of the CISO by ZeroHourPodcast - The best in cybersecurity talent

Welcome to the latest episode of the Zero Hour Podcast and I’m your host Karl Sharman. Today we are joined by Allan Alford. Allan is Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) at Mitel, previously CISO at Forcepoint and CISO at Polycom.  With 30 years’ experience in IT and Engineering, Alford has a long history with product security as well, having served as Pearson’s Product Information Security Officer (PISO), and as Sr. Director of Product Security at Polycom.

KEY MINUTES
2:20 - Things are not stable for the adults
3:30 - Attending Harvard while at high school
6:55 - Working to pay for your education
8:20 - What cybersecurity means?
9:50 - Making the transition from IT to Cyber
10:58 - Making the transition from Product Security to CISO
12:25 - Picking the right and best products
14:38 - Cloud Security Transformation
16:04 - Being in the role of the CISO
16:53 - The first 90 days in being a new CISO
19:57 - Communicating with board & C-Suite
22:01 - Using metrics to deliver your budget
24:10 - Moving away from security being seen as a cost centre
26:30 - People first approach
29:25 - Choosing Mitel
30:55 - Branding Mitel in the cybersecurity industry
32:00 - Constantly learning
34:28 - Standing out as a vendor
38:20 - Out of your comfort zone
39:50 - Advice for individuals starting in the industry

Three key takeaways
- Educate and train your team
- Never stay still, keep evolving
- Find the business need first

You can find Allan at:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/allanalford/
Website: https://allanalford.com/about
Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/no/podcast/defense-in-depth/id1450197741

Follow us:
Twitter: @zero_hourpod
Instagram: @zerohourexperience
Website: www.beechermadden.com

This podcast is sponsored by:
BeecherMadden - www.beechermadden.com
Cyber Security Professionals - www.cybersecurity-professionals.com