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Adam Bannister is a contributor to IFSEC Global, having been in the role of Editor from 2014 through to November 2019. Adam also had stints as a journalist at cybersecurity publication, The Daily Swig, and as Managing Editor at Dynamis Online Media Group.
Named one of the top 8 thought leaders in UK Tech by Tech.Co Dr Moores is a prominent government adviser on cyber crime and information security.
Ahead of his keynote address at IFSEC 2015 Dr Moores discusses the opportunities and challenges posed to modern cities by smart technologies, reflecting on a chance encounter with Boris Johnson, CCTV drones and the challenges of pushing projects through in advanced democracies compared to absolute monarchies like the UAE – among other insights.
Register for IFSEC International 2015 to hear Simon Moore’s full keynote address in June. Scroll down to read a transcript of the interview.
Dr Simon Moores on the challenges of making cities ‘smart’ in advanced democracies…
“I will be speaking at IFSEC about what’s up and coming for tomorrow’s smart cities. Looking at examples such as Singapore, Dubai, hopefully London… if you wake up in Dubai or Singapore , it feels like waking up in the future.
“Hotels and shop recognise you, iPads on the table in Singapore. I can’t imagine leaving iPads strewn around tables at McDonalds in London. It implies a certain level of connectivity.
“I was telling a story: 15 years ago speaking in Dubai, sat with the ruler of Dubai. It’s staggering what has been achieved in a short period of time.
“If you present a good idea to ruler of Dubai it happens very quickly. The challenge with London is that in a great democracy no one is tasked with making this a smart city.
“I buttonholed Boris on his bicycle not so long ago and asked him if he had planned to take advantage of any initiatives from New York.
Boris being Boris ruffled his hair said “ask somebody else!” and disappeared into the distance with his bicycle.
“I would like to see a Government department tasked with creating smart cities. London, Manchester, Edinburgh… more joined-up.
On how the security industry is changing…
“The world has changed so much in 15 years. Companies need to understand that the comfortable risk model from 15 years ago has changed.
“Fifteen years ago the threat was vandals. Now it’s highly organised cyber criminals whether they be in Russia, India or drugs cartels from Mexico stealing anything of any value, even data.
“The nature of risk itself has changed. As a consequence we need to re-evaluate the way in which we we anticipate threats, mitigate and pre-mediate.
“We’ve moved from world of probabilities to uncertainities. The Black Swan effect – unknown unknowns.
“How on earth do we deal with all these threats that the security industry is battling with?”
On what businesses can do to protect themselves…
“Businesses can adopt the most commonsense policies – looking after assets, best people in place, policies and procedures… there’s a lots of guidance out there.
But I think the best advice is to look at risk from a hacker’s perspective. What is the single point of failure in your organisation?
“Famous novelist Ernest Hemingway was asked once ‘how did you go bankrupt?’ and he replied ‘slowly and then suddenly’ – sums up where we are with information security today.
“You don’t know for sure whether someone is on your network now or has already stolen your data.
“If you look at the probability that your data has already been compromised in some way… We need to anticipate that and think like the bad guys.
“If data or intellectual property has been stolen, how do you remediate it? How can you protect your customers and the reputation of your company?”
On the ‘internet of things’…
Convergence of miniaturised intelligent beacons whether they be RFID chips, hive and nest home automation… tomorrow is going to look like a swarm of interconnected devices.
“It’s going to have a huge impact on the way we relate to our environment, the cities in which we live as more and more of what we do becomes automated and a data source.
“The big challenge for a city like London will be to learn from cities like New York. How do we leverage the data streams? How do we make our environment more cost-effective, safer and more secure?”
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Video: Dr Simon Moores Warns Security Industry – the Old Risk Model is DeadAhead of his keynote address at IFSEC 2015 Dr Moores discusses the opportunities and challenges posed to modern cities by smart technologies.
Adam Bannister
IFSEC Insider | Security and Fire News and Resources
