National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
The entire spectrum of human emotions can be felt while scrolling a Twitter feed. Hashtags are rabbit holes that people voluntarily wiggle down.
However, sifting through the clutter of Tweets, sometimes gold can be found. Contrary to most social media stereotypes, there are smart people on Twitter (including the @CIODive team, @NaomiEide, @its_ahickey and @SamanthaSchann).
Following the Twitter accounts of celebrities or dogs with stagemoms is unavoidable, but the top cybersecurity experts offering sage advice and commentary about the evolving landscape should also be in your feed.
1. Alex Stamos: @alexstamos
Followers: 24,000
Description: "CSO @Facebook, but this account is personal."
Why follow? Facebook and its CSO, Stamos, are making concerted efforts in regards to the site's social responsibility on the internet. Stamos ays he wants to protect users from malicious actors, like those he's currently researching as part of Facebook's cooperation with the Russian investigation.
As part of the "technical security community," Stamos advocates the protection of internet users from potential bad actors.
Encryption can be a very strong mechanism for internal access control and to reduce certain attack surfaces.
— Alex Stamos (@alexstamos) September 8, 2017
2. Michael Coates: @_mwc
Followers: 8,694
Description: "CISO @Twitter - @OWASP Board, @VSA Board, Former @mozilla @shapesecurity"
Why follow? Like Facebook, Twitter is facing mounting scrutiny over its handling of "fake news" and Russian's intrusion on the platform. Still, as the social media platform's CISO, Coates, fills his feed with links to machine learning cheat sheets, relevant cybersecurity news and strong opinions about Uber.
Overall, where do you wish the security industry provided better security capabilities?
— Michael Coates (@_mwc) February 23, 2017
3. Myrna Soto: @Myrna_Soto
Followers: 1,536
Description: "SVP & Global CISO Golfer, Sports Fan, Human Rights Advocate, Technology Centric, Foodie, Wine Enthusiast & Diverse Music Fan. Tweets and thoughts here are my own."
Why follow? Soto is the Global CISO at Comcast and while her Twitter account features her adamant support for the Miami Dolphins, Soto also tweets trending topics regarding female talent or skills gaps across the IT industry.
Women in Tech Speak Frankly on Culture of Harassment, via @nytimes #changeneeded unacceptable behavior https://t.co/r1qMosAiQl
— Myrna Soto (@Myrna_Soto) July 1, 2017
4. Mike Howard: @MikeHowardMSGS
Followers: 3,541
Description: "Chief Security Officer at Microsoft. 22 Years at C.I.A. Leadership Best Practices is a Passion! #leadership #msgs"
Why follow? Howard has been Microsoft's CSO since 2002 and provides Twitter followers with links to leadership strategies and his view on best security practices. His long tenure at Microsoft is certainly a proponent to his career-driven advice.
Microsoft CSO @MikeHowardMSGS & Sr. Director Michael Foynes share how to utilize the cloud, big data & machine learning at #ASIS17 #VSOC pic.twitter.com/tky3hZjfgC
— MSFT Global Security (@Microsoft_GS) September 26, 2017
5. Eugene Kaspersky: @e_kaspersky
Followers: 173,000
Description: "Chairman and CEO of #Kaspersky Lab. 28 years in #cybersecurity. Views are my own"
Why follow? Give credit where credit is due. Although Kaspersky Labs is facing mounting criticism for alleged Kremlin ties, the firm has more than 400 million users. Kaspersky remains outspoken about the software company's innocence and his posts provide threat awareness to a newly skeptical consumer base.
New conspiracy theory, anon sources media story coming. Note we make no apologies for being aggressive in the battle against cyberthreats
— Eugene Kaspersky (@e_kaspersky) October 5, 2017
6. Amanda Rousseau: @malwareunicorn
Followers: 43,600
Description: "Malware Research Unicorn @EndgameInc. Interested in Malware, Reverse Engineering, and Fashion. DEF CON. My thoughts are my own. @VanitySec Creator"
Why follow? Rousseau has been a senior malware researcher at Engame for two years but it's her colorful tweets that make her account so noteworthy. Rousseau embodies the #womenintech hashtag while maintaining her status as a reliable source for identifying cybersecurity threats.
#BadMalwarePickupLines
— Amanda Rousseau (@malwareunicorn) September 13, 2017
Him: Hey girl, did you get the flowers I sent you?
Her: How did you get my address?
Him: Equifax ;)
7. Rebecca Herold: @PrivacyProf
Followers: 7,400
Description: "Infosec, privacy, IT | Tech Entrepreneur | President, SIMBUS360 | CEO, Rebecca Herold & Assoc, LLC aka The Privacy Professor | Expert witness | THIS IS MY ONLY TWITTER ID"
Why follow? Rebecca Herold is the CEO of The Privacy Professor, an information security provider. She has security coverage ranging across industries including developing attack tactics like the DolphinAttack and calls for the presence of women in tech.
#cybersecurity Hey, women vets; FYI! #WomenInTech #InformationSecurity @InfosecWomen https://t.co/K8FGskfgC1
— Rebecca Herold (@PrivacyProf) September 16, 2017
8. Wendy Nather: @wendynather
Followers: 14,900
Description: "Principal Security Strategist at @duosec. Recovering industry analyst and CISO. My opinions, let me show you them."
Why follow? Nather is the principal security strategist at Duo Security but the personality of her tweets make her account one you don't want to miss. Nather is straightforward in the best cybersecurity practices but doesn't shy from ridiculing the downfalls of the tech industry.
As opposed to "normal CISOs"? Hell no. We need to stop this segregation; it's not good for anyone. https://t.co/y756UHf8SN
— Wendy Nather (@wendynather) September 15, 2017
9. Andy Ellis: @csoandy
Followers: 17,700
Description: "@Akamai CSO, Parent, Husband, USAF Veteran, Bostonian, Oenophile, @Patriots Fan, @BKSHarvard affiliate, personal stylists. Tweets my own."
Why follow? Ellis is the CSO of Akamai Technologies, formerly its senior director of information security. Unabashed by his NFL loyalty, he is equally passionate about best information security practices or alerts and inside perspectives on information security.
"Your microwave needs an Internet connection."
— Andy Ellis (@csoandy) March 8, 2015
"Why?"
"To get patches so it isn't vulnerable to network attacks. And DST."
10. Geoff Belknap: @geoffbelknap
Followers: 1,243
Description: "Chief Security Officer (CSO) @SlackHQ | Bay Area CISO Council, Board Member | Former CSO @PalantirTech | NatSec, Cyber and InfoSec Tweets | I'm probably wrong."
Why follow? Belknap has been the CSO of Slack since 2016 while the company has been praised as the innovator of the communication platform market since its 2014 debut. He offers Slack updates and insights while also regularly interacting with his followers.
If your strategy for success assumes everyone and everything will always work as expected.
— Geoff Belknap (@geoffbelknap) October 4, 2017
You're going to fail.
Spectacularly.
