Lalit Ahluwalia

If anything is constant in cybersecurity, it's the change. It's a very dynamic and every evolving field, especially in wake of modern-day threat landscape and digital transformation. Regular learning and staying up to date latest trends is essential to stay relevant in the field of cybersecurity. Also there is an ample opportunity to learn new skills, both functional and technical, for anyone that wants to build the career in this field.

It's not just the Risk Assessment, but the need for continuous compliance monitoring and real time control testing that is considered more important and critical and PE firms are looking for more evidence than just check the box to ensure risk is properly managed. While performing Risk Management, its critical to align to industry leading standards such as NIST 800-53, NIST CSF combined with industry based regulations. As much as possible, bring the element of real time, continuous and automated risk management

It's not just the Risk Assessment, but the need for continuous compliance monitoring and real time control testing that is considered more important and critical and PE firms are looking for more evidence than just check the box to ensure risk is properly managed. While performing Risk Management, its critical to align to industry leading standards such as NIST 800-53, NIST CSF combined with industry based regulations. As much as possible, bring the element of real time, continuous and automated risk management.

Private equity (PE) is an increasingly inviting target as they are perceived to be easier targets with deep pockets, and hence the focus on cybersecurity. A good cybersecurity hygiene lends more credibility and assurance in the investment strategy. Private equity (PE) cybersecurity strategy is critical in investment diligence, confidence in product, value creation and exit. Given the modern day threat landscape, any Investor (Private Equity or VC) would prefer investing in any company or a platform that is secure by design. Applying the "Secure by Design" or "Zero Trust" along with continuous compliance monitoring as a part of product development will go a long way in building the trust with PE/VC firms.

Cyber security is key for Healthcare, especially with Protected Health Information (PHI) at stake. Patient records that were once collected by hand are now entered digitally, instantly added to a network, and synced with insurance information, medical history, and other crucial data. Keeping all that data secure is crucial – not only for HIPAA compliance. The bad actors see healthcare as a very lucrative target and hence high volume of Ransomware attacks. From Digital Identity, Governance Risk & Compliance, intelligence analysts to penetration testers, cybersecurity experts help safeguard confidential PHI data. Also understanding Healthcare (both Providers and Payer segments) services use cases will help apply skills better.

Building a cybersecurity career path involves earning relevant education, gaining practical experience through live experience, obtaining industry certifications and continuously updating skills to stay on top of evolving threats and technologies. Another important aspect for building meaningful career in cybersecurity is to understand the domain where you woudl apply the skill. Each industry has its own unique use cases, data sets, compliance requirements, user interactions, and threat actors. For example Ransomware in Healthcare is not the same as Ransomware in Public Sector. Hence one should start building the understanding of the industry domain along with cybersecurity specialization in order to build a meaningful career.