Preface

The world is becoming increasingly digitized. Businesses rely on information technology to allow them to compete in the modern economy. However, each innovation brings new threats and vulnerabilities that threaten our livelihoods, our identities, and the global economy. The threats we face have never been greater than they are today.

At the same time, we are facing a historic shortage of information security professionals who will help keep us safe. In the long term, we must attract more people to our field to help secure our environments and protect the most vulnerable among us. In the short term, we must build processes that maximize the people we have and the technologies available to us to defend against capable adversaries who seek to compromise our systems and steal our valuable information.

I wrote this book to share the knowledge I've gained over the last decade I've spent helping organizations defend against cyber threats. Too often, we get caught up in technology and tactics and forget to look at the big picture of what we are trying to accomplish. We see breaches in the headlines, but we fail to understand what went wrong and identify the lessons we can learn to enable a more secure future.

I am disheartened by stories I hear of people who want to get into cybersecurity but find it difficult to get started. We are desperate for talent in our discipline, and it is critical for us to make cybersecurity more accessible. It is my hope that those who read this book will be attracted to cybersecurity as a profession and will acquire the tools necessary to understand the space holistically.

Information is among the most valuable commodities in the world today. Our ability to protect it will determine the opportunities available to future generations.