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Not All Cyber Pros Are Recession-Proof

By Kim S. Nash

 

Hello. In Tuesday’s newsletter, I asked cybersecurity professionals whether they felt recession-proof amid a growing tide of general layoffs. After all, there’s an ongoing shortage of security talent and what company wants to cut cyber expertise as hacking is rife?

Several readers wrote to say the situation is more nuanced than that. It’s a matter of insulated versus immune. 

As one senior cyber manager put it, “While people may not be cut, a security program may be operating on the razor’s financial edge,” which creates uncertainty about career prospects. 

One area within cybersecurity more likely to be trimmed, if trimming becomes necessary, is training, according to another cyber practitioner. “Getting others to care or understand that everyone has a role to play [in securing an organization],” she said, “is one of the most difficult things. I think because of this, it makes the awareness, education and training team seem more of a burden and less valuable.” 

What other fine points about the prospect of layoffs in cybersecurity should we be talking about? Let me know. 

Scroll down for more news. 

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Cyber Risk

PHOTO: AL DRAGO

/BLOOMBERG NEWS

‘Terrible consumer experience.’ Live Nation Entertainment Inc. faced accusations of exorbitant ticket fees and anticompetitive practices during a Senate hearing Tuesday, held after the company’s Ticketmaster unit last year botched ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s coming tour. Live Nation President Joe Berchtold (pictured) said Ticketmaster was hit with three times the amount of bot traffic than the company had ever experienced. 

  • “This is what led to a terrible consumer experience that we deeply regret,” he said. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R., Tenn.) questioned why Live Nation isn’t able to distinguish between a bot and a consumer. Read the full story. 

Another Twitter whistleblower: A former Twitter employee has told the Federal Trade Commission the company continues to fall short on user privacy and platform security under new owner Elon Musk. (Washington Post) 

  • Read more about whistleblower risks: Whistleblower Reports of Lax Cybersecurity Expected to Rise

Apple patches: Security fixes were issued for Apple devices including Macs, iPhones and Apple Watches and Apple TVs to address vulnerabilities that in some cases can lead to system take-overs. 

157

Number of countries with data-privacy laws, up from 145 a year ago, according to Cisco Systems Inc.’s 2023 Data Privacy Benchmark Study of more than 3,100 security professionals globally.

 
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Careers

Nicholas Kathmann joined LogicGate Inc., which provides risk and compliance systems, as CISO. He was previously director of cybersecurity at Dell Technologies Inc. 

Matthew Iannelli joined TerraScale Inc., which builds eco-industrial systems, as CISO, charged with helping the company move into cybersecurity tools and services. 

  • Baltimore’s city government is looking for a deputy CISO to, in part, develop policies that comply with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework, a set of principles commonly used in government and business. Compensation offered is $99,052 to $163,305. The city suffered a ransomware attack in 2019 that hobbled citizen services for weeks.
  • Sherwin-Williams Co. is looking for a deputy CISO to serve as a liaison with business groups. The paint and chemicals company is based in Cleveland but the candidate can work remotely. 
     
 

Cyberattacks

Students play video games during the opening of the SoLa Tech and Entrepreneurship Center Powered by Riot Games on Aug. 11, 2022, in Los Angeles. PHOTO: JOE SCARNICI/GETTY IMAGES

Not fun and games: Video-game maker Riot Games Inc. said source code for its “League of Legends” and “Teamfight Tactics” games was stolen during a recent hack, as was code for an anti-cheat system. The company said on Twitter that it won’t pay a ransom demanded. Riot is owned by China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. (Bloomberg)

  • Players of “Grand Theft Auto Online” said they had money stolen from their accounts and reported other unusual activities. Publisher Rockstar Games Inc. hasn’t commented. (Bleeping Computer)

 

 

About Us

Write to the WSJ Pro Cybersecurity Team: Kim S. Nash, James Rundle and Catherine Stupp.

Follow us on Twitter: @knash99, @catstupp and @WSJCyber. 

Contact Enterprise Technology Editor Steve Rosenbush at steven.rosenbush@wsj.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Steve_Rosenbush.

 
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