Endace Packet Forensics Files: Episode #28

Michael talks to Tim Wade, Director, Office of the CTO, Vectra AI

By Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace


Michael Morris, Director of Global Business Development, Endace

Security Operations teams at many organizations are reviewing processes and tools as breaches continue to happen, investigation times remain too long, outcomes are uncertain, and too many alerts are going unaddressed. Organizations are asking, “why are we spending so much money on security without tangible results?” They are looking at “SOC Modernization” initiatives to help them defend effectively against increasingly sophisticated threat actors.

In this episode of the Endace Packet Forensic files I talk with Tim Wade, Technical Director from the Office of the CTO at Vectra.AI, who shares his insights into the “SOC Modernization” trend and three pillars that he suggests require a change in thinking to ultimately be successful.

Tim starts with a fundamental change in philosophy – he suggests SOC teams need to shift from a “prevention” to a “resiliency” approach to cyberdefense. He illustrates the importance of taking incremental and iterative steps with monthly and even weekly measurement and review cycles to evaluate progress.

Tim suggests SOC teams need to better understand the rules of the game so they can step back and actively work to break them – because that is exactly what our treat actor adversaries are doing every day. Challenge everything and think like your opponent.

Finally, Tim advises CISOs that modernization needs to address challenges holistically. Not just focusing on technologies, but also ensuring they are working on people and processes and gaps in training, communication, and thinking.

Other episodes in the Secure Networks video/audio podcast series are available here.