Symantec CIO Sheila Jordan says that “everything as we know it in the CIO world has really changed in the last five years” and while there’s much excitement, the changes also present “challenges as it relates to security and protecting that data as it traverses” inside and outside the firewall.
In this recently filmed video, Jordan sits down with cybersecurity analyst Morgan Wright to share her insights on the IT data challenges and opportunities for CIOs, changing employee behavior and expectations, and what enterprises need to know today and how to prepare for the future.
This is the first installment of a series of video interviews. Below are a few highlights from their discussion.
Freedom of Data Flow
Today, enterprises depend on data flowing across platforms used by employees, customers, partners and vendors in an environment that includes on premise, mobile and cloud.
Jordan says that today, through mobile and the cloud, there’s a higher level of freedom. However, she says that remote work isn’t really just about having access to email but having access to applications, data and everything employees need to perform their jobs.
CIOs and IT professionals must be able provide that access – securely – to their employees.
According to Jordan, employees want access to data and applications wherever they travel. “We as IT professionals have to enable our employees to do their work wherever they are, whether that’s in Starbucks, at the kids’ soccer game, at home, in the office or traveling globally,” explains Jordan.
While there are greater opportunities with the freedom to access data anywhere, the challenge is about securing the data as it moves.
Protecting Data in Motion
“When you think about all these new modalities of how we’re accessing data, whether it’s phones, Internet of Things (IoT) or cloud applications, we’ve got to think how we protect that data in motion, dynamically,” says Jordan. In a hybrid work environment, the key is to protect information as data flows between mobile devices, the cloud, and on-premise IT.
When Wright asked Jordan whether it was the cloud, unstructured and structured data, personal and corporate identities or the IoT she’s focusing on as CIO, Jordan explains that all are key areas of focus but overall, it’s about the data.
The New Digital World for CIOs
“When you think about the new digital world that's upon us and how we all interact with companies, the level of technology that's being introduced in every kind of industry is at an all-time high,” says Jordan. “And CIOs have to figure out ‘What should I do?’ ‘What's the biggest impact?’ ‘What's the value?’ and ‘How do I deliver growth to the organization?’
“The CIO role has become how we protect that data across the entire infrastructure,” adds Jordan. “It’s not just at the network layer or the infrastructure layer. It’s not just at the endpoint. It’s how we really do architect and protect that information as it really traverses between the entire architectural stack.”
Be sure watch the complete video for more insights from Symantec CIO Sheila Jordan.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the “Technology Trends and News from Symantec’s CIO Sheila Jordan” video series.
For additional insights:
View the full 2015 Symantec Internet Security Threat Report Vol 20.
Download Securing Your Enterprise in the Cloud white paper.