As I mentioned in previous blogs, the new Cybersecurity Adviser will essentially be the “Head Coach” and he/she will need to create an “intelligent playbook” to lead the offense and the defense and to ensure all appropriate individuals are aware of their roles and responsibilities.
Action Step 4 in President Obama’s Cybersecurity plan is:
Designate a privacy and civil liberties official to the NSC Cybersecurity directorate.
On paper, designating an official or officials to focus on privacy and civil liberties makes good sense, however lessons learned have clearly shown that government officials continue to look at privacy and civil liberties as too much of a Technology issue, which leads to gaps and weaknesses with People and Processes.
Technology, People and Processes are the three key pillars that will need to be managed efficiently and effectively if any Cybersecurity action plan is going to be successful and deliver immediate and ongoing results.
Hundreds of Lessons Learned clearly reveal the following:
- Having the best Technology rarely ensures the best results
- Organizations that manage their People and Processes better achieve better results
If you understand privacy and civil liberties, it becomes obvious that both of these issues are more about People and Processes than Technology….so I hope the Head Coach or the Privacy and Civil Liberties official understands the keys to managing People and Processes…
Stay tuned for Action Step 5…