George Finney - CSO at Southern Methodist University & Author of Well Aware; "I love being able to take apart a problem and find a good solution for it."

The CISO Diaries

George Finney, CSO at Southern Methodist University; Author of Well Aware: Master The Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future

George Finney is the Chief Security Officer (CSO) and Director of Digital Interests for Southern Methodist University. George works in a variety of areas at SMU including facilitating IT Security and Compliance, increasing Regulatory Awareness, streamlining the IT Contracts process, as well as advocacy for Open Source software and processes. George joined SMU in March of 2003 as a Network Engineer and worked on several major university IT initiatives, including evaluating Intrusion Detection Systems, implementing network-based packet capture devices and implementing and supporting Network Admission Control. He has developed and matured cybersecurity programs and is an expert in policy, awareness, compliance, operational management and the complex legal issues surrounding security with a talent for building partnerships.

Prior to joining SMU, George worked in the telecommunications industry for several years on Voice Over IP projects, Data Security Consulting, and in Network Operations.

In May of 2008, George completed his Juris Doctorate at Southern Methodist University's Dedman School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Texas.

George was recognized by Security Magazine as one of their top cybersecurity leaders in 2018 and is part of the Texas CISO Council, is a member of the Board of Directors for the Palo Alto Networks FUEL User Group, and is an Advisory Board Member for SecureWorld.

He holds a Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University and a Bachelor of Arts from St. John’s College and as well as multiple cybersecurity certifications including the CISSP, CISM, and CIPP.

George is a frequent speaker, and author of Well Aware: Master The Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future and No More Magic Wands: Transformative Cybersecurity Change for Everyone.

George earned a bachelor of arts degree in liberal arts in 1999 from St. John's College in Santa Fe. He spends most of his spare time cycling, writing novels, and working on short film projects.

Highlights:

0:00 - Introductions and Backgrounds

• George was a liberal arts major in college, studying philosophy and literature. He wanted to be a stockbroker in college.

3:00 – First Job at GTE in IT & Networking - Security Just Came as a Natural Part of it

“I jumped to start up - switched gears from networking to system administration. Inherited an environment that was always locked down. I taught myself security by studying how the previous admin had hardened all of our servers. From there it just ballooned out of control. Then I went to Law School.”

4:00 – Putting Yourself out there While Managing Privacy

Writing his book (Well Aware)!

5:10 - "Little ironic that I'm so focused on people, because when you write a book, you have to go into a cave and isolate yourself from other human beings for an excessive amount of time."

..."I was inspired to write the book... wanted to build a bridge with non-security folks, but who we rely on to be successful in our cybersecurity programs."

"Security Should Start to Get Easy - People Should Want to Work with Us and Help Empower Our Projects because it's Going to Help Not Just their Company, but it Will Accelerate Everyone's Career"

11:45 - "To get the security jobs, if you can demonstrate that you have worked on security projects, supported those things, this will set people apart. It's a personal part of every person's career trajectory."

20:00 - The Pepsi Challenge

• "Back in the 80's Pepsi tried to compete with Coke and had free sample stations in store. It didn't work; Coke is still the leader - why? Because a 30 second commercial doesn't work - it doesn't change behaviors."
• ... "gamification works for some people - you have to meet people where they are."

33:00 - There are Many Barriers to be Broken Down

• "Understand an organization well enough to know what will work and won't."
• "It will take a lot of work to change mindsets. It doesn't come down to just communication; it comes down to trust. I don't like to have a lot of spin. Folks will recognize when you are blowing smoke."
• "You have to focus on your reputation to build the trust both inside and outside the organization."

That's a wrap!

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgefinney/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wellawaresecure

The Well Aware Security Show: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-well-aware-security-show/id1554909473