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Author of "Cyber Security: Future IT-Security Challenges for Tomorrow's Leaders and Businesses"

Interview with Michael A. Goedeker of Hacker Defense Network, USA

By IGI Global on Nov 25, 2014
Michael A. Goedeker is a German American researcher, born in 1971 in New York City. He has worked in the IT Security field for over 16 years, training and consulting for fortune 500 companies. He has worked on worldwide security projects for Accenture, Avande, Microsoft, IBM, Symantec and Sophos.

Interview with Michael A. Goedeker of Hacker Defense Network, USA Mr. Goedeker's current research projects focus on the area of global Cyber Threat, and are aimed at making security products and solutions easy to understand and implement. Author of the chapter "Cyber Security: Future IT-Security Challenges for Tomorrow's Leaders and Businesses", Mr. Goedeker recently took the time to participate in an interview with IGI Global Promotions Coordinator Ann Lupold, elaborating on elevating issues in cyber security and cyber espionage, as well as the challenges that leaders and businesses face in confronting such issues.


Tell us a little about yourself. How did you become involved in the field of cyber security?

I started working with computers back in the 5th-6th grade, working my way through the first Apple and Commodore systems and then IBM and mainframe systems programming in Basic, Pascal and RPG. As I worked with these systems, I soon saw that many things could be done with computers but that applications and getting things to work was by no means easy. After working as an administrator and IT Manager, I began to see the disparity between systems, hardware and operating systems in regards to security. Security as a subject started to grow in the 90’s and my own company and group ran its own BBS (Bulletin Board System) multimedia system. As an admin I started to see the first hackers (not criminals) but folks like me that wanted to take apart technology, explain it and improve it whenever possible. Fast forward to the last few years and I used this passion for technology and understanding complex things in order to explain them to business owners and non-computer folks. In the last years I have consulted governments and organizations on how to secure and lockdown systems against insider and external threats, pointing out the need for easy to understand security policies, awareness campaigns and giving security teams training in defense and attack tools in order to use that “proactive” security methodology to protect their nations and businesses. Strategy, business and security all go hand in hand and hence my work has focused on establishing these links as facts, highlighting security as a critical business function as well as a technical function.

Tell us about the Hacker Defense Network. What is the purpose of this association?

The idea behind Hacker Defense Network is three things:
  • 1- Spread awareness about security and best practices of security to protect business and individuals from criminal hackers and corporate espionage.
  • 2- To form a world wide group of people that research threats and can add value by making security easier to understand by collecting information of attacks and turning this into actionable data that can be used to defend nations, academia, research, businesses and individuals from cyber threats and attacks. To do this HakDefNet had to look at how information is collected and then give security teams easily understandable information as to attacks and how and which defense tools and tactics should be used to stop them (attacks).
  • 3- To use the information we learn about attacks and defenses and make this actionable information that is readily available for security teams and businesses to understand.
The last 20 years of security products and consulting has shown that many service and security product companies have struggled to explain that security is in fact a core business process because it protects revenue, corporate secrets and research as well as nations and individuals. Since cyber threats evolve and become more complex and persistent, security teams more often than not find themselves in a losing battle. These teams face the challenge of finding each and every vulnerability before a cyber criminal does. Knowledge of attacks and defenses as well as methodologies such as layered security and secure code help companies and nations become more secure. All the information about attacks and vulnerabilities needs to be available in an actionable way for defense teams to be able to defend.

So in summary, HakDefNet stands for simplifying security and making intelligence collected from real life attacks into actionable defense information and methodologies. Easy to understand security helps security teams secure infrastructure, business information systems and creates a stable yet secure e-Commerce and e-Business based international economic community.

Tell us a little about your chapter “Cyber Security: Future IT-Security Challenges for Tomorrow's Leaders and Businesses.” What are the most important issues addressed?

Thanks; yes this chapter is focused on looking at things Cyber like for instance Cyber Warfare, Espionage and Crime. In researching cyber threats it’s important to know whom the actors are and how things have evolved in the cyber security space so far. Business leaders today need to be more technical savvy than previously if they are engaged in international business because the threats in cyberspace also impact business dramatically. In the past, security was never seen as a business process but rather a technical group of people who fought for budget. This is not entirely correct as security protects businesses and hence it is as much a critical business process as sales, marketing and operations because it impacts all of these areas and much more. Some preliminary research shows that businesses that integrate security into their core business do better than those companies that don’t because both the security and business aspects are aligned to protect a company’s assets more efficiently than in disconnected executive teams.

What findings have you found most fascinating your research of cyber security and its applications to business and leadership?

Cyber espionage and warfare of some nation states has lead to an increase in cyber crime as well as complexity of cyber threats to businesses. Another interesting finding is that companies that manufacture security products are starting to lean more towards transformational leadership in order to stay innovative and creative. Innovation is a key factor in staying ahead of the very dynamic nature of cyber threats as the complexity of attacks increase rapidly. Lastly the persistence of these new cyber threats means that businesses need to be aware of cyber security and those key skills that business management now needs to understand and learn in order to stay ahead of criminals and attackers.

Where do you see the future of cyber security in regards to its role in society?

Cyber security is and will continue to be a key factor in defining the Internet, international business and world politics. Even today many technologies and nations use cyber technology to gain an advantage over other nations. As technology advances so must our laws and regulations as to what is and is not acceptable. While this process is going on, we need to protect the world economy from the effects of cyber war, espionage and the resulting cyber crime due to reverse engineering of cyber technology.

Who could most benefit your research and study findings?

International businesses, executives, local and national government, DoD, academia and security professionals that seek to secure companies against threats. Another important aspect about this research is building tangible results in regards to security products and services. Lastly passing on information that is critical to building the right awareness.

Is there any message you would like to give to your readers as it pertains to your research?

First and most importantly, I would like to thank those folks that have read the book and my chapter for their time; I appreciate and am grateful for that attention. I have put a considerable amount of time into reducing complex subjects into something that business leaders can understand. This research recognizes how today’s maelstrom of information makes executives struggle to identify which information is key to securing a technical and business advantage to their companies. Understanding the “cyber world” is very important because cyber threats are going to stay with us for some time. The more informed we are about why security investments are important to securing revenue, why we need security processes and teams as well as security products and technology, the better prepared we are to deal with dynamic and complex cyber threats in the future.

Thank you so much, Mr. Goedeker, for taking the time to collaborate on this session! Best of luck in your continued work and research.


Michael A. Goedeker's chapter is part of the book, Impact of Emerging Digital Technologies on Leadership in Global Business, edited by Peter A.C. Smith (The Leadership Alliance Inc., Canada) and Tom Cockburn (Center for Dynamic Leadership Models in Global Business, Canada). This publication combines relevant theoretical and practical frameworks with the latest research and best practices regarding emergent digital technologies. This book is an essential reference source for professionals, researchers, academics, and students who want to improve their understanding of the strategic role of emerging digital technologies in the success of global business. This outstanding reference is part of the Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage (ABSCA) Book Series.
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For anyone that is interested you can stop by the website https://www.hakdefnet.com We have been really busy building the new company and actionable intelligence aligned systems that serve the public and researchers. The last few years was focused on obtaining and creating systems that are data science aligned and also detect darknet based data being sold on various forums for profit. Our latest system and subscription bases service "CyberNSight" uses the best of Open Source and our own IP based on years of projects and security product implementations. If anyone is interested please contact me at mgoedeker@hakdefnet.com I am also always open to Doctoral Research, Professorships and Outreach programs.
Michael Goedeker7 years ago
Reply
Mike has been busy. Building his new business this year but also keeping up to date with cybersecurity issues and research as have I with my new book titled: "Developing and Leading Emergence teams" out in April 2016. Hence the paucity of posts from us both of late.
Tom Cockburn7 years ago
Reply
Mike's chapter covers a number of increasingly important topics. Opportunities as well as threats are discussed in an understandable way,enabling the intelligent lay person to grasp some of the essentials more readily.
Tom Cockburn9 years ago

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