EPISODE 34: IS YOUR RISK MANAGEMENT TOAST?

Compromising Positions - A Cyber Security Podcast

This Episode we are joined by Michael Walford-Williams, a consultant specialising in operational resilience and third-party risk management. His consultancy Westbourne Consultancy Limited sees him working for various clients providing risk management services for the financial service industry.

In this episode, we look at how risk appetite evolves over time, the power of red teaming, how to empower everyone to care about risk and ask the question: ‘Is your risk management toast?’

Key Takeaways:

Risk Appetite is a Moving Target: Just because a threat hasn't hit you yet, doesn't mean it won't. Learn how to adapt your risk management strategy to evolving threats.

Testing Makes Perfect (or at Least More Prepared): Don't wait for a real attack to expose your weaknesses. Simulated attacks like phishing campaigns and red teaming can expose vulnerabilities before they're exploited.

From Paper to Reality: Testing cybersecurity resilience shouldn't just be best endeavours on a piece of paper (business continuity documentation).

Better Red than Bread! Red Teaming Unleashed: Testing, from phishing simulations to physical assessments, to full-blown-red-teaming activities all play a pivotal role in empowering employees and increasing organisational vigilance. And remember, it’s not about pointing fingers—it’s about empowerment.

Risk Ownership: Risk isn’t just IT’s problem. It’s everybody’s job. From the boardroom to the frontlines, we’re all in this together. We will show you how to redefine risk ownership.

Links to everything we discussed in this episode can be found in the show notes and if you liked the show, please do leave us a review.

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We hope you enjoyed this episode - See you next time, keep secure, and don’t forget to ask yourself, ‘Am I the compromising position here?’

Keywords: cybersecurity, risk, resilience, red teaming, risk appetite, RACI, AI

SHOW NOTES

‘Biggest cyber risk is complacency, not hackers’ - UK Information Commissioner issues warning as construction company fined £4.4 million. ICO

The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell

ABOUT MICHAEL WALFORD-WILLIAMS

Michael Walford-Williams is a consultant specialising in operational resilience and third-party risk management. His consultancy Westbourne Consultancy Limited sees him working for various clients providing risk management services for the financial service industry.

LINKS FOR MICHAEL WALFORD-WILLIAMS

Michael’s LinkedIn

Michael’s Website