podcast · scale to zero

Building Security Teams

publishedJun 26, 2024· Scale To Zero (Cloudanix)

I joined Purusottam on the Scale To Zero podcast to talk about how security teams actually get built — hiring, sequencing, and the unglamorous work of alignment.

Communication is a security skill

Written and oral communication are core skills for security engineers, and organizations should evaluate for them during hiring. The best finding in the world does nothing if the engineer receiving it doesn't understand why it matters.

Hire against your actual risk

For startups, assessing business risk drives the hiring decision: contractor, pen tester, or CISO — internal hire or external agency. There's no universal first security hire; there's the one your risk profile demands.

Alignment decides everything

Alignment is key to business success, and security alignment is key to the success of a security program. A technically excellent program that the business routes around has failed.

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