Fergie's Tech Blog

Motorola Security Chief: 'Outlaws and Terrorists' Amplify Security Challenges

Ellen Messmer writes on NetworkWorld:

The current era is marked by tumultuous change, high speed and huge danger, said Motorola's corporate security officer Bill Boni, based on his perspective of more than 30 years as a security practitioner.

"Outlaws and terrorists are now positioned to compete -- and sometimes win -- against nation states," said Boni in his presentation Monday at the Infosec conference. Criminals are coming together to "leverage the Internet," sometimes more effectively than the good guys do, he said. Add in the global economic crisis, and Boni said the current era is the most dangerous he can recall.

"I've never seen the world this unstable and dangerous," said Boni, who recently was put in charge of Motorola's physical security as well as information security. From terrorist attacks such as the devastating attack on a hotel in Mumbai to infiltration of payment card networks, as occurred at Heartland Payment Systems, it's clear "there's unprecedented risk to organizations and people," Boni noted.

For security professionals trying to protect corporate assets, there is a need to respond quickly to changes to help companies survive in these trying times, he pointed out. "Speed is the mega-trend facing the organization," Boni said.

posted by Fergie @ 3/11/2009 01:16:00 PM