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Business Record innovationIOWA Weekly | July 18, 2019
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The trick to cybersecurity preparation
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Cybersecurity is a never-ending threat, but the biggest risk to an organization can also sprout from its most trusted asset -- the employees.
BrightWise, a new company born out of collaboration between West Des Moines-based Affiliates Management Co. and Montana-based LMG Security, is meant to mitigate those risks. CEO Sherri Davidoff, who is also CEO of LMG Security, and COO Corey Skadburg, formerly of Affiliates Management, focus BrightWise on producing creative, short online training courses that can accommodate cybersecurity training at all company levels.
After recently presenting at the Monetery Tech Summit in May, Davidoff spoke to innovationIOWA about the challenges that cybersecurity training presents.
Can you tell us about BrightWise?
The concept of BrightWise -- the short little training videos to educate people about cybersecurity -- that has been in the works for many years. Over the past two decades criminals have gotten very savvy, and they’ve learned that they can target individuals in order to get a foothold inside your organization. That was a big shift over the past couple decades that we saw. As a cybersecurity professional, I can tell you that we’ve seen best practices really mature and evolve in terms of how to lock down your organization. But it still remains that the human is the weakest link, so we’ve just had tons of training requests over the years.
We were partners with the Iowa Credit Union League to help serve the
credit unions, and of course training was a big issue that kept coming up. So first we talked to them about maybe producing a white paper together. Then we thought, you know, how can we bring even more value to our local community? And we realized that we could spin up a portal and offer these training videos through the portal, and that would bring far more value than a simple paper or other written document that would go out. That’s the goal, is to protect our organizations -- everything from small to midsized to large organizations, and help them to resist cyberattacks that target individuals.
Are small and midsized organizations prepared to hand threats?
I feel that they often are left out of cybersecurity offerings, because so many other [cybersecurity] companies are just looking for that big payout. We are very community-focused. … LMG has a lot in common with the Iowa communities that we serve. We’re very focused on people. You know, we’re based out of Missoula, Mont., and we recognize that our small businesses and our midsized businesses really make up the backbone of our communities. We certainly don’t intend to overlook the large ones, but we want to be sure to serve the small and midsized ones.
What are the training needs for these organizations? How much experience do staff at smaller organizations tend to have with
cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is a specialty, so large organizations are able to spin up a dedicated cybersecurity team. But without that, businesses can struggle, and that’s where you really need to outsource. Our goal with the training is to make it accessible to businesses and nonprofits and government agencies of all sizes, because everybody needs training. We also can provide customization, so that it fits the needs of … these different types of organizations.
I think the on-demand online format makes it very, very accessible. We studied adult education best practices.
We find that this is best absorbed in small, bite-sized pieces. So you can watch a five-minute video at lunch or while you’re on the go, take your little quiz, and you’re done and you’re educated.
Making it really convenient is perhaps the most important thing for us. Ten years ago, to provide cybersecurity training you’d have to get everybody all in the room at the same time. … In the modern world, you have to be able to provide training on the go in these short, easy snippets.
We need to innovate. The cybercriminals are innovating, and so we need to innovate our
responses. So we’re always coming out with new videos, and we need to be able to update our communities. Small businesses do not have the time to be spinning up all this training by themselves; they really need to rely on an outside provider and an outsourced provider. If we can do this all at once … then it really scales, and everybody wins.
How are organizations getting hacked?
Over and over again,
people are getting hacked in the same ways. They’re getting hacked because someone’s clicking on a link in a phishing email. They’re getting hacked because somebody has a weak password. … It comes down to training the individuals in order to reduce your risk of a cybersecurity incident or data breach.
How was LMG connected with Affiliates Management Co.?
We started working with Policy Works, which is a branch of Affiliates Management Co., several years ago. We jointly worked together to serve the needs of Iowa credit unions, and then as our partnership grew … we again
saw that there was a lot of cultural similarity, and ultimately felt that BrightWise and the training videos were a really great way to bring value to Iowa credit unions.
So much more has grown out of it because BrightWise is available not just for Iowa credit unions, but for organizations all over the country now.
How does your background and COO Corey Skadburg’s background serve BrightWise at the start of this company?
Corey and I have very complementary skills. I’m obviously a geek and I have to do a lot of speaking and presenting, and I bring the cybersecurity specialization to our company, because that’s what I do. Then Corey comes to us from the financial sector. He has a lot of experience in operations and day-to-day management. So he’s ensuring that the i’s are dotted and the t’s are crossed, and that things are getting done, so it’s really been a great collaboration.
I have loved working in Iowa; I feel like we have a lot of cultural similarities. Iowa is very supportive of small businesses and community-focused organizations. I believe in the mission of so many organizations that we work with, so that’s nice to have
been able to build those relationships. Iowa also has a very strong cybersecurity program at Iowa State [University], and a very active cybersecurity community. … I have been really impressed to learn about how much high-tech innovation there is in the state right now. I feel like we just fit right in, and it’s been a pleasure to work with the community.
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IN THE NEWS
Gomez named to lead ag accelerator
The Iowa AgriTech Accelerator has named former Corteva Agriscience research scientist Nadilia Gomez as executive director. Gomez, a plant scientist, has been involved in digital services for breeders, agronomists and farmers, and has served on many industry boards and commissions. "Nadilia has an excellent perspective on agtech, having been a mentor at the accelerator for two years and shepherding Corteva's digital solutions innovation for the past 18 months," said Kerty Levy, the accelerator's interim executive director. "Nadilia holds a Ph.D. in applied plant sciences and has been a researcher at Corteva [previously DuPont Pioneer] for the last eight years. She will be able to bring great value to the startups, helping further their innovations, connecting them with industry expertise and helping them accelerate their businesses." Gomez begins the job Aug. 1.
REG opens first fueling station
Ames-based biodiesel producer Renewable Energy Group has opened its first fueling station, next to its biodiesel plant in Seneca, Ill. REG Seneca has been producing biodiesel for over a decade and employs 53. Last year, biodiesel produced at REG Seneca reduced approximately 556,000 metric tons of CO2 compared with emissions from petroleum diesel.
Computer science to expand in 23 school districts
A state appropriation of $500,000 will help 23 Iowa school districts to expand computer science education. "This investment provides students with the tools they need to excel within a 21st-century digital economy," said Gov. Kim Reynolds. "Teaching computer science and other STEM-related courses is an essential component to any child’s education. That’s why Iowa is preparing our young people for success in cutting-edge careers with programs like this." The
Computer Science Professional Development Incentive Fund, along with voluntary statewide computer science standards, was established as part of legislation signed into law in 2017. Recipients of the state aid are:
Bondurant-Farrar Community School District
Cedar Falls Community School District
Central Decatur Community School District
Clear Lake Community School District
Durant Community School District
Earlham Community School District
Estherville Lincoln Central Community School District
Great Prairie Area Education Agency (a collaboration with Central Lee, North Mahaska, Cardinal, Pekin, Fort Madison K-8, Centerville, Fairfield, Waco, and Keokuk)
Louisa-Muscatine Community School District
Marshalltown Community School District
Mason City Community School District
MOC-Floyd Valley Community School District
Spirit Lake Community School District
Storm Lake Community School District
Waukee Community School District
Futurist to headline tech summit
Global futurist Anders Sörman-Nilsson will speak at the Iowa Technology Summit Oct. 1 in downtown Des Moines. Sörman-Nilsson is a Swedish-Australian futurist and has shared the stage with Hillary Clinton, Nobel laureates, and
European and Australian heads of state. He is an active member of TEDGlobal and has keynoted at TEDx in the United States and Australia. The Iowa Technology Summit runs Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 and will feature 20 interactive sessions in five education tracks.
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FROM THE BUSINESS RECORD:
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ONE GOOD TECH READ
Cloudera's Hilary Mason on how businesses can avoid ruining their own artificial intelligence projects
VENTURE BEAT: An IDC survey of businesses found that for about 1 in 4 enterprises deploying AI today, half of their AI projects will fail. Why they fail can be related to external factors like a lack of talent necessary to properly deploy systems, but sometimes companies implode without the influence of outside forces. In her experience with enterprise customers, Cloudera general manager of machine learning Hilary Mason said the raw ingredients necessary to succeed with AI go beyond data, straight to an organization’s ability to execute against a goal.
IN OTHER NEWS: Venture funds see 9% surge in first-half fundraising (WALL STREET JOURNAL); IRS confirms it trained staff on finding crypto wallets (COINDESK).
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BUSINESS RECORD CALENDAR
UPCOMING EVENTS
Aug. 9: TAI's TechBrew AMTechBrew AM is a morning networking event for entrepreneurs, technologists, government officials, business leaders and funders to connect over coffee and learn about a local technology executive. WHERE: West End Architectural Salvage, 8-9 a.m.
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Aug. 22: The 2019 Hashie Awards
Join the Des Moines Social Media Club at Jasper Winery to recognize Iowa businesses, organizations and agencies who have demonstrated excellence in social media marketing at the sixth annual Hashie Awards.
WHERE: Jasper Winery, 6-9 p.m.
Read more
View our full calendar to see the latest curated business and community events, or suggest an event.
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