Threat-sharing, you most likely think it's a great concept, or are very much against it. Concerns over privacy, and data sharing are always top talking points of those worried about sharing threats. But, here's the thing: there are thousands of new threats coming in by the minute, and unless they can be identified, then someone will end up with a major problem on their hands. In order for cybersecurity to improve, known threats must be shared before a company is under attack. Speaking at RSA 2016, Mark McLaughlin, Chairman, President and CEO of Palo Alto Networks, discussed the importance of real-time threat sharing.
"It's way easier to stop a known threat than an unknown threat," said McLaughlin.
McLaughlin said that the ability to share threats as quickly as possible will help shape cybersecurity of the future.
"The cybersecurity industry should not compete on what we know, we should compete on what we can do with it," McLaughlin stated.
This isn't just a concept that Palo Alto Networks is pursuing, this is something that the company is already practicing. Palo Alto, along with Fortinet, Intel, and Symantec founded the Cyber Threat Alliance. The alliance was formed in order to share threats with security practioners from different companies to improve defenses.
McLaughlin also spoke on the importance of developing new technology that focuses on threat prevention, as opposed to just letting a customer know when they have a problem.
"No one is going to prevent everything, that's not what i'm saying. What i'm saying is, if you're not trying then you're probaly not going to," McLaughlin said.
Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, McLaughlin stressed the importance of continuous education.
"You can have the greatest technology in the world, fantastic prevention oriented technology, we could share all the threat intelligence together all day long with each other, but there's still going to be human beings involved."